Sorry to resurrect this thread but....woke up Sunday morning with serious pain in my big toe.


Getting blood draw now and on my way to the pharmacy to get some drugs.

Fork.

Been there. Done that. And got the tee shirt. Would have to think long and hard to wish a good flare
up of gout on a worst enemy. could go to bed at night and all was well but upon waking in the morning could not let foot touch the floor. Am now on a daily meds and been 2 or 3 years since a flare up. Best wishes . ............... drill sgt.

Doc put me on Colchicine until the bloodwork comes back tomorrow. I stand by my previous statement: Fork.

Ask your doc about Diclofenac 75 MG for helping to reduce the inflammation of the joint and the pain, works great, easier on the stomach than indomethacin...

Its not a steroid and is used for treating arthritis pain and swelling, which is basically Gout...

I had 2 attacks in 2009, close together. Doc prescribed colchicine for pain and allopurinol for control. I stopped drinking beer, and life has been good since.

Had my first attack in the late 80's, I knew what it was because my father had it before they knew how to handle it. Doc put me on Allopurinol. 30 plus years later and no attacks. Knowing how much my father suffered I consider Allopurinol a true wonder drug.

Unfortunately I must report that suffering severe edema (from my recent congestive heart failure) massively amplifies gout, even in places I didn't know I had it. My right hand has been next to useless for several weeks. And I had to discontinue Diclofenac, as it encourages more swelling.

I'm currently on Colchicine and Allopurinol, and am improving, though gradually. I should buy some tart cherry juice, too.

Allopurinol is my friend. I actually don't take it all the time, but if I start having that feeling coming on, I start back on it and within a few days it is gone. Might not work that well for everyone, but for me the as-needed use is the ticket.

quote:

Originally posted by slabsides45:
Allopurinol is my friend. I actually don't take it all the time, but if I start having that feeling coming on, I start back on it and within a few days it is gone. Might not work that well for everyone, but for me the as-needed use is the ticket.

I'm not a doctor so you should check. But if you have high uric acid levels, you should probably continue to take allopurinol even if you don't have gout. It's my understanding that elevated serum uric acid levels could damaging to kidneys, etc. Also, I think the body can store uric acid in tissue.

I'm waiting on a return call from my Doctor. My uric acid level was 8.2, well above normal. Fork

ETA: Just got message to go get my Allopurinol and a 5 day Prednisone pack.

Just curious. Why prednisone and not colchicine? Seems like efficacy of colchicine is pretty well proven. IME, I'd prefer colchicine side effects over prednisone's.

The Colchicine didn't help at 24 hours. Pain level at 8 or 9. I am 4 hours on the first dose of prednisone and already feel improvement. I can't get my Allopurinol until Thursday because the Air Base pharmacy is closed tomorrow Veterans Day. Only take Prednisone for 5 days. They said the Prednisone may make it difficult to sleep. I just woke up from a nap

Allopurinol is my friend. I have not had a flare up since my Doc prescribed it.

I remember the pain like it was yesterday. as others have said, I would not wish it upon my worst enemy.

Day 4 on Allopurinol, quit prednisone 1 day early. So much better.

I'm finally getting my right hand back on Allopurinol. (I actually typed this with both hands, yay!).

I have a co-worker with this, so I directed him to this 2014 study on Montmorency tart cherries and the potential beneficial effects of their high levels of anthocyanins.

I like to think I've mastered gout. Here's how I do it. No drugs generally. To manage gout you need to see it as a symptom of excess. Your filter organs get backed up, and the body stores the toxins in your joints until the blood can be cleaned enough to begin work on that too. And the inflammation response is dam fuckin nasty in gout. Childbirth kind of pain.

So the trick to not getting gout, or minimizing the hell out of it is to keep your filter organs able to stay up to speed. It aint the booze giving you gout, it's total overload. I drink tons of beer and eat tons of meat for lifting. I don't get bad gout anymore. If I do it's because I stepped out of line and I usually know it's coming. People blame meat and booze, but you never get gout when you're drinking. It's always the next day, for me it will be 3 days after a hard weekend. I know how to get gout immediately. Drink a bunch. Next day eat fast food and take a long drive. I can get away with 2-3 days of this and then bam. It'll come. Worst gout I ever had was driving across the country, cause I'm stuck in a position all day, eating bullshit food and had beers at night. When I feel it coming on here is my 2 options I go to.

1. Turmeric, Black Pepper, Coconut oil. Cheap powder Turmeric at Costco. Don't be shy. Get it down. If I am fighting one coming on or a general buildup, I'll drink it 5-10 times a day. You'd be surprised how well this works. It might knock it right out. It's like a miracle because anyone who knows gout, knows dam near nothing will touch it.

2. If it's getting worse, 880 mgs of Naproxen Sodium. Last line of defense and works wonders. Don't let it progress take this as soon as you know it's going to flare worse. Drink beer with it if you want because these are both blood thinners and will help. No shit. Doc won't tell you that but I've seen it from experience. There is a point of no return in my experience if you get a bad gout attack that you are waiting it out or go to the doc. Once that inflammation goes whole hog, you're in for a ride unless you get bailed out with the big boy stuff and it's all dam toxic. I think we all agree who cares at that point.

If it's acutely happening try to thin the blood and increase blood volume with lots of fluid, but make sure your electrolytes are going in at a similar rate with the water. More water dehydrates you if you don't have the electrolyte balance right.

Beating gout is about lifestyle. Don't overload your organs. Get in shape dammit. Gotta move the blood. Get your liver pumping better. People blame the kidneys but it's not their fault. It's the liver. Take L-methionine 1000-3000 mgs, and Choline-Inositol 3000-6000 mgs. According to Dr Rand Mcclain this will reverse a fatty liver in a couple months. Low end dose for maintenance, high end dose for hard core cleanse type deal. Like if you are getting gout, don't drink for a month and take the high dose of those things, and get a fiber supplement. This helps the liver get moving. Funny, it also will help you lose weight, and make dam near any condition improve.

Give blood every time you can, just not with gout. It'll make it hurt worse in the acute attack. This helps keep your blood clean and reduces overall toxin levels. Hit it from every angle, give blood, sweat, exercise gets the lymph moving, and don't put in tons more bullshit. Personally I don't know why everyone doesn't give blood regularly. There is an iron link to gout too, which is why you see it less in women. They bleed.

An analogy that helps me, and applies to allergies too is the body is like a glass. It can only hold so much water. So as you fill the glass and it gets full, it spills and that's the metaphor for symptoms. Empty out some liquid, toxins, allergens, etc and you won't have spill over/ symptoms.

Get vitamins, and be balanced with nutrients, workouts, and water. Gout is chronic so whatever your doing that keeps you with gout, you have to change.

Stress. THIS IS HUGE!!!! Your liver and kidneys and everything don't work well when you're over stressed. It will literally kill you. But for us lucky ones, it can bring gout.

We actually are lucky. This is the way we deal with metabolic syndrome. When you look at the way other people's bodies deal with it, gout is one of the better options but hurts. Kidney stones, diabetes, etc etc.


Gout is telling you something. It's not a disease it's a condition. FIX IT!!


A word on meat, and other things that make the blood thicker. This can cause you problems and where balance comes in. I think Pork gets a bad rap because pork is more inflammatory than other meats. But not because it's special to gout or anything.

We aren't in the 50s anymore gents, but docs still tell you the same shit as then. It's not meat, booze, and a life sentence of vegetables. Meat has been shown to have almost 0 effect on serum Uric Acid. It's a metabolic disease and is made worse by sugar, bad oils, fried foods, and any combination of overload to your system. You can eat whatever you want, but not in unlimited amounts. Drink all you want, but balance the diet portion then.

Dam gout I hate it and love to help anyone with it. It put me down hard more than a few times and I've come out on top. I had to learn what works and I dug through the medical literature relating to food and gout. Learned quite a bit. You can have a high uric acid level and never get gout. For us lucky ones our body stores in the joints. Fight on MEN!! Don't let it beat you!! It's made me tough as nails, I don't fear any pain because I've already had gout so bad I thought it was over.


I felt it migrate around, neck, back, wrists, fingers, Few ankle episodes that kept me down hard, Knees by far the worst I've experienced. Low back, elbows, achilles, but generally it's very mild and I can just feel it. Now I don't have it at all. Moving and cracking joints the right way and it goes away.


For the record, cherry juice 8 outta 10 times didn't do shit for me. I remember once it did though and it was like immediate. So who knows. Turmeric, black pepper and coconut oil or any good oil is magic.

My first encounter drinks one AFB 1980, thought I broke my foot, on cargo rail, by time end of shift could barley walk, went to E/R was diagnosed as Gout, Too much White Wine.
Was put on Sell time and put on quarters for week.
Since then have been on Allopurinal that was long time ago.
Learned slot, would you believe, Peas, Mushrooms, Shellfish, Beef, Beer, White Wine can put you into big toe misery.
Knock on wood haven't had an attack in years, but tomorrow could happen. Have not changed my diet, but try not to go overboard on stuff that will activate it.
All I can say the pain is the worst I have ever had.

quote:

Originally posted by GaryBF:
Gout is caused by high levels of uric acid in your blood. You need blood work to check your uric acid level. A drug like allopurinol may be needed.

A course of Prednisone is a short term fix.

This 100%. I used to get it pretty severe a couple times a year. I totally changed my diet for unrelated reasons and have never had it since and no longer take any RX for it.

Prednisone is what you want for flair ups but older Dr.s will give you colchicine which works but you might throw up or shits your pants before it starts to work.

Be careful with any juice home remedies because most of them are loaded with sugar and it requires a lot of oz’s.

I’m switching from allopurinol to febuxostat (generic Uloric), because my kidney function has been getting worse, and there’s some evidence febuxostat is better at preserving and in some cases improving kidney function.
After reading a lot in the medical literature (4 am one recent morning) I decided my worsening kidney function (measured by creatinine levels) was most likely due to gout, even though my uric acid level has been under 6 for years.
My PCP is willing to give it a try, so we’ll see.