Good to know that the diagnosis was not gout.
For others with pain in the big toe joint, would suggest that before going to arthritis pain mitigation, that a blood test for high uric acid be given for the possibility of gout. Treatment, diet and exercise is very different.
As mentioned earlier, gout usually initiates from high levels of uric acid and can come and go. When it comes, the pain can be unbearable, resolved only by plunging the foot into a pan filled with ice cubes. When it goes, a day or a week later, all seems well... but, the more times it happens, the more times it will happen.
I suffered from gout many years ago, and had to change my diet to avoid purines. BTW... the only effective pain pill for Gout is colchicine, which has been used for 1800 years, but a few years ago was taken off the allowed FDA list for lack of testing... only to reappear shortly thereafter from a Pharmaceutical company... under the same colchicine generic name, but the newly brand named Colcrys... Price per pill gone from $.10 to $6.00 under either name.
Colchicine is usually prescribed as a continued use preventative drug, rather than a pain killer.
I have become more suspicious of diagnoses. Several years ago, I was diagnosed with, and tested by a neurologist for carpal tunnel syndrome. Electronic nerve testing and ruling out other diseases. This ended with the carpal tunnel operation and several weeks of recuperation. No positive results. Pain and numbness continued. Finally diagnosed (in lieu of any other possibility), with bilateral idiopathic polyneuropathy... with no reasonable cure. Something to live with.
My personal philosophy now, is to listen to the doctor, and trust... but verify. Every ailment and disease known to man, is now somewhere on the internet. Three or four hours of intense searching and study should bring a reader up to and perhaps beyond the level of the most knowledgeable physician for that specific problem.
Having been recently diagnosed with Afib and after scans and tests, the doctor explained to me what was going on... Since I was able to get a copy of the CD test review of the scans, I spent five hours reading about how to read the scans, and compared the results to the math factors that indicate risk. Reading recent abstracts often provides information that even our own doctor may not know about. In my own case, understanding some of the nuances of the studies led me to make a more comfortable decision about my treatment... with which the doctor agreed. Small differences but significant with regard to medication and future testing.
I know this is somewhat off-topic, but given the amount of interest in healthcare in general, a small voice suggesting that becoming more involved in health diagnosis and treatment is not a matter of mistrust of ones doctor, but more a comfort in understanding what is going on with ones own body.
