Gout

[JonB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ticker I have been battling gout for years. Usually get an attack after getting dehydrated, either from activity, weather, or wine. You can get overnight relief with a steroid shot, however you shouldn't get these too often. Allpurinol daily helps.

To break the inflammation immediately, the steroid shot the joint works great, just be ready for what it feels like to stick a big needle into a small inflamed joint, big ouch! But was feeling better the next day. Following this with Allopurinol daily has kept it at bay for years. I still have the uric acid level checked annually, and it has been maintained in the normal range, without any gout flare-ups. I would be afraid to stop taking the Allopurinol and risk another round of gout... Also my Dr. likes me to avoid sources of inflammation due to other risks associated with inflammation, so I just keep taking the Allopurinol...

[marko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst Your Dr. was correct. Unlike other amputated things, big toes will grow back. And you never know where!

Y'know, when I wrote that down I actually wondered if someone would pick up on my poor sentence structure and even thought of adding "the gout that is, not the toe"

"Eats leaves and shoots"

[OHjosh]

I work at a health store and have studied naturopathy for 20 years now. As posters note, the uric acid crystals come from protein breakdown, but it really a cascade effect from too much sugar in the diet (fruit sugar being the main culprit). That sugar burden includes alcohol intake.

TART cherry juice can put the crystals back in solution of the blood so it can be excreted. We tell people 8 oz. four times a day, with a lot of water in between. (This juice also helps with arthritis and sleep.) Note the word "tart"; other cherry juices would just add sugar to the body.

[Bryan Barnfellow]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OHjosh I work at a health store and have studied naturopathy for 20 years now. As posters note, the uric acid crystals come from protein breakdown, but it really a cascade effect from too much sugar in the diet (fruit sugar being the main culprit). That sugar burden includes alcohol intake. TART cherry juice can put the crystals back in solution of the blood so it can be excreted. We tell people 8 oz. four times a day, with a lot of water in between. (This juice also helps with arthritis and sleep.) Note the word "tart"; other cherry juices would just add sugar to the body.

Did I read 8 ounces, FOUR times a day, of TART cherry juice? My mouth is puckered just typing this!

-BB

[marko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by OHjosh TART cherry juice can put the crystals back in solution of the blood so it can be excreted. We tell people 8 oz. four times a day, with a lot of water in between. (This juice also helps with arthritis and sleep.) Note the word "tart"; other cherry juices would just add sugar to the body.

Remember that in doing so, like Alopurinol, it will 'give' you or increase your gout until the purines have left your system. That was my experience anyway.

[OHjosh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan Barnfellow Did I read 8 ounces, FOUR times a day, of TART cherry juice? My mouth is puckered just typing this! -BB

Yeppers.

Hippocrates: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”.

[splitwdw]

Aleve at first sign of gout. Works for people I know.

[6miths]

Aleve (naproxen) and Indocid (indomethacin) are both anti-inflammatory medications used for acute episodes. Colchicine is the medicine used historically for acute flares and is very effective as well. Fructose is not metabolized into uric acid but it does use up ATP in the course of its breakdown and the resultant AMP is ultimately broken down into uric acid. Fun fact is that humans are the only meat eating animal that doesn't have the enzyme which breaks uric acid down. In fact, almost all organisms have it except for us and great apes who are wise enough to be vegans! Some sort of a curse on us!

[mickeyd]

OP here. Thanks for all of the informational responses. They helped a lot.


My foot is painless today! Dr. says lab results indicate elevated uric acid. If it returns they will look to Allopurinol to relieve pain. Need to stop by local military hospital at my convenience and get an x-ray on the foot. Will take care of that in a couple of weeks.

[bubba]

I was diagnosed with gout in my right large toe 3 or 4 years ago. I've taken Allopurinol and Colchicine (that's likely misspelled) daily since. I'm tempted to drop the Colchicine. Even though my blood work looks good (I don't think it was ever over 7), my toe aches constantly and has limited the shoes I wear.

My exercise each day is about a 4 mile walk each morning. That is so hard on that toe, but the exercise so far has been worth it. There is swelling in the joint that never goes away. I'm afraid I let this go too long before the Rx and have permanently damaged that joint.

I didn't know about the sugar. I'll work on reducing that as much as possible. My downfall is white wine, and I know I'll not give that up (at least I don't plan to right now). Maybe I'll add the tart cherry juice and see. I take a Tart Cherry supplement pill and if that helps, I sure would hate to do without it.

[msieweke]

I learned a few things about gout. None of this is new, but I hadn't found it before.

Gout can be caused by either hypothyroidism (by lowering kidney clearance of uric acid) or hyperthyroidism (by increasing uric acid production).

Lithium may help keep uric acid in solution. This should prevent crystals from forming. A typical dose is 5-10 mg at each meal (15-30 mg/day).

Vitamin C may increase uric acid clearance in the kidneys.

A few weeks ago I had a pretty severe gout attack in my right foot. It was a higher level of pain than I've seen before. I was already taking 5mg lithium. I increased to 10mg/day, but it didn't seem to help much. I may try a higher dose.

It turns out my need for thyroid hormone had decreased and I was taking too much. I've been gradually lowering my thyroid dose over the last couple of weeks, and my foot is much better.

I hope someone out there finds this useful.

[marko]

Quote:

Originally Posted by msieweke I learned a few things about gout. None of this is new, but I hadn't found it before. Gout can be caused by either hypothyroidism (by lowering kidney clearance of uric acid) or hyperthyroidism (by increasing uric acid production). Lithium may help keep uric acid in solution. This should prevent crystals from forming. A typical dose is 5-10 mg at each meal (15-30 mg/day). Vitamin C may increase uric acid clearance in the kidneys. A few weeks ago I had a pretty severe gout attack in my right foot. It was a higher level of pain than I've seen before. I was already taking 5mg lithium. I increased to 10mg/day, but it didn't seem to help much. I may try a higher dose. It turns out my need for thyroid hormone had decreased and I was taking too much. I've been gradually lowering my thyroid dose over the last couple of weeks, and my foot is much better. I hope someone out there finds this useful.

NOT a Doctor here but after 50 years of dealing with severe gout one thing I've learned is any change in meds can bring it about.

What often happens is that purines hiding quietly in your system can be leached out by gout 'cures' and actually cause an attack. Cherry juice or Alopurinol will do this to me.

[msieweke]

This is part of the reason I keep detailed records of:
everything I eat or drink, including time of day
supplements
morning pulse
morning body temperature
sleep time and quality
exercise (including pulse during)
mental, physical, and emotional state through the day
body weight
unusual physical symptoms (gout, cramps, etc.)
medical test results
and several other things

Sometimes a change takes days or even weeks to show all its effects. I've been tracking most of this this data for 7 years, so I can look for long-term patterns. Sometimes I only recognize a pattern after it has appeared several times. I'm occasionally confused when a symptom is similar for deficiency and excess.

I didn't start doing this because of gout, but the data has been helpful in tracking what makes gout better or worse. My biggest trigger (and biggest weakness) is sugar. Until this last time it always got better when I cut my sugar intake. It took me almost 2 months to realize I was hyperthyroid, because the symptoms (other than gout) changed so slowly. And I can be a bit dense .

[sengsational]

I was trying to look-up how often gout strikes in non-foot joints. 5%, < 1%, ??

[msieweke]

I don't know the statistics, but I had gout in my hip joints long before it hit my foot. It was like having tiny needles in the joint that would poke me if I bent my leg a certain way. I didn't know what it was then, and it went away on its own. Now when a gout attack hits my foot, my hips become a bit sore, but nothing like they were back then.

[NoMoreJob]

My wife had gout symptoms in her toe (to the point that I wheeled her into the doctor's office) just a couple of days after she drank beer along with eating a feast of various seafoods which she's not accustomed to doing. She was tested for high uric acid but the levels were normal. The doctor diagnosed it as 'pseudogout' and gave her some medication. The pain started clearing up almost immediately. That was over 5 years ago and the problem has never recurred. She now avoids large quantities of seafood.

[Foodbuilder]

What medication for pseudogout did you take?

[NoMoreJob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Foodbuilder What medication for pseudogout did you take?

I'm sorry, she doesn't recall. It was many years ago. She does know that it was one of the same medications prescribed for gout.

[wallygator69]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubba I was diagnosed with gout in my right large toe 3 or 4 years ago. I've taken Allopurinol and Colchicine (that's likely misspelled) daily since. I'm tempted to drop the Colchicine. Even though my blood work looks good (I don't think it was ever over 7), my toe aches constantly and has limited the shoes I wear. My exercise each day is about a 4 mile walk each morning. That is so hard on that toe, but the exercise so far has been worth it. There is swelling in the joint that never goes away. I'm afraid I let this go too long before the Rx and have permanently damaged that joint. I didn't know about the sugar. I'll work on reducing that as much as possible. My downfall is white wine, and I know I'll not give that up (at least I don't plan to right now). Maybe I'll add the tart cherry juice and see. I take a Tart Cherry supplement pill and if that helps, I sure would hate to do without it.

You may have arthritis in the big toe knuckle. They can carve it out. CHILEE-ECTOMY.. Surgery is painful for a week or two but worth it. I had it done 14 years ago and am only recently having some issues with it. Ask your Dr.

[CoolRich59]

Tough week for me.

Had a mild gout flare up in my ankle a week ago Friday. It wasn't too bad; in fact, I was wondering if it was just a mild sprain instead.

No such luck. On Monday night, it ratcheted into a major flare up. I was in bed for the next two days. I kept putting off going to the doc because it seems like I always go just as the worst is over and I end up paying for the visit and the Rx when I don't need it anymore.

I gave in and finally made an appointment Wednesday morning. But by noon, the pain was diminishing and I cancelled the appointment. Thursday, I was able to start getting around.

The kicker came Thursday afternoon. The DW had agreed to babysit the grandkids. I tripped on a toy that was left out and sprained the same ankle. Yep. I sprained the ankle that was still enflamed with gout. Wow, did that hurt!!

Today (Saturday) I am finally able to get around the house a little bit.