stringbreaker

And its painful. Noticed a bit of pain in my right foot Tuesday after work didn't think too much about it till I looked at the foot when I took a shower and it was swollen. Went to the doc yesterday and he took some blood won't know for sure unless it flares up again and they have to take fluid from the joint itself. the pain and swelling is a lot better today after mega doses of anti-inflammatory med. Anyone out there live with this and what works and doesn't for you. Funny thing is that alchohol and beer especially can trigger gout but I don't even drink and I rarely eat red meat so go figure.

djnzlab1

HI,
Before he stabs the joint I believe there's a very effective med for gout,
I'lld google gout and see what pops up.
Doug

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/gout-medications

whoops last line says he must ID first and treat with meds after checking for gout in fluids.. Dang nabit, maybe he can push some predisone into the joint with a bit of lidocaine for pain relief that should make it all better for now..

stringbreaker

Looked at the blood test results online today and the uric acid levels weren't abnormally high but I have to go back on Monday so I can see what the doc says then.

brokenknee

There is a guy at work that suffers from gout. (although I think he brings on most attacks by himself. He is known to have a drink or twelve from time to time)

I will try to remember to ask him what he does for the pain. He may just try to drink it away as when it flares up he is usually absent for two to three days.

deraltekluge

I've been living with gout for ages, now. When it flared up, the pain was so intense that I couldn't do anything. I was given something to stop the pain (I forget its name...it was very effective, and I took it for only a few days), and a couple of other medications for long-term use: colchicine and allopurinol.

Once I got on those, gout was no longer a problem. There were only very rare, very minor flareups...nothing that interfered in any way with any activity. I've had no flareups at all for several years. I was taken off the colchicine a couple of years ago, and my dosage of allopurinol was greatly reduced, without any recurrence of any pain.

vtc12ip

I have had it flare up from time to time. I have taken Alka Seltzer with good results. I think the alkaline in Alka Seltzer breaks up / dissolves the uric acid in the joint. Or so I read after Googling it. Anyway, it seems to work for me.

Timtruro

pure grape juice, not diluted, it works. Gout used to be referred to as the "rich man's disease", associated with glutony etc. but not so. Anyone can be pre-disposed.

brokenknee

I did remember to ask him, unfortunately he wasn't there. It most likely had something to do with the Superbowl and one of the reasons for his gout in the first place.



Hopefully I will still remember tomorrow.

oldbobcat

I'll have to try that.

If I feel an episode coming on I find cycling pretty good therapy after plenty of rest and hydration. The movement promotes circulation and doesn't stress the feet.

My MD prescribes indomethacin, which I use at the onset, and colchicine, which seems to flush out my system if it gets to the "don't want to put on my shoe" phase.

deraltekluge

For me, before I started medications, exercise seemed initiate flareups.

stringbreaker

Took the indomethicin it worked great, now five days later no pain or swelling.

sauerwald

Stringbreaker

About 7 years ago, I had a heart attack, after which I made many lifestyle and dietary changes (which is part of why I am on a bike now). A year or so after that, I started having issues with gout. There is a medecine that the Dr gave me which worked, but it had side effects similar to the preparation for a colonoscopy, so I didn't really see that as a solution.

Like you, my uric acid levels were not abnormally high. I did some research and found that the gout can be triggered by high levels of niacin in the blood - and one of the things that I started doing after the heart attack was taking lots of B vitamins. I cut back on the B vitamins, and the gout went away.

Agree with others who have commented that it is difficult to imagine how bad the pain in your toe could be!

NYmtnbkr

I have had bouts with gout my entire adult life. I try everything to help it to go away my best recommendation is to loose some weight. I have a normal body weight but I force myself to drop 3-5 pounds when an outbreak occurs. I have found that this has the greatest impact on getting rid the of gout. I don't know why but it is what works for me. Good luck, I feel your pain.

Pat

oldbobcat

Losing about 35 lb.s has already helped, and I'm going for 15 more (see resolutions thread). But I'll have to try your mini-fast strategy.

deraltekluge

Back before I was taking medications, I'd lose weight, too, when a flareup of gout occurred. It wasn't by choice, though...it hurt so much to go to the kitchen that I'd pretty much quit eating for a while. When the pain was in my hands, I couldn't operate a can opener...

carbondale

I've been bother by gout for several months. Feels like someone sneaking up and putting a propane torch to my toe for no reason.... just sitting at my desk. And this was happening 6 - 10 times daily.

I'd heard that cherries and cherry juice helped, and saw cherry juice on sale the other day (pure cherry juice and cherry juice concentrate). Bought it and have had 6-8 ounces daily and ZERO pain in the toe for 5 days now.

Try it. Also frozen cherries are pretty cheap and go well in a protein smoothie.

Also heard that apple cider vinegar helps too. Mix it in water if you don't like sipping vinegar (like me)

Professor Foo

I'm genetically predisposed to high uric acid (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!), overweight, and have had bouts of gout in my feet (for me its in my arch left foot and big toe right foot) and kidney stones. Cut out all soda, and cut down on red meat, etc. I'm also on 300mg of Allopurinol a day. Since I started the meds I haven't had any instances of gout, and no instances of kidney stones. During my last stone, I finally found out what the "10" is on the pain scale of 1 - 10!

BlazingPedals

I've had mild bouts of it occasionally. Usually in the first joint of one of my index fingers. I drink lots of water and cut back on protein, and it goes away. Here's a short article:
https://arthritis.about.com/cs/gout/a/foodstoavoid.htm

The Weak Link

For some reason gout is the one disease that people are proud to have. No one ever brags, "I have COPD!", and certainly no one brags that they gonorrhea and stuff like that, but gout sufferers are a very proud lot.

Two months ago my right ankle blew up and hurt like crazy to the point that I borrowed my wife's walking aircast. I was in misery for three days, then saw the ortho guy. He diagnosed it as gout (or maybe pseudogout, or a variant thereof. In lieu of aving a big needle thrust into my ankle I was content to live with the diagnostic uncertainty). After ONE dose of indomethacin I flet like a new man.

If I didn't know all the bad stuff that can happen to indomethacin users, I'd stay on that stuff all the time. It's much more potent than ibuprofen or Voltaren.

I'm pretty proud of my gout.

howsteepisit

Thats because gout used be known as a disease of good living.

stringbreaker

I haven't had anymore problems since the first outbreak. I did the indomethacin till I took them all and haven't had any more major pains. Just a jab every once in a while nothing major. Still have my other variety of aches and pains. Odd thing is when I'm on the bike for about 5 minutes or so almost all my various ache go away. Guess I'll have to ride more.

carbondale

I started experiencing gout pain earlier this year. It was many times daily. Heard about Cherry Juice and bought some and - swear to God - it stopped the next day. Now, maybe once a week, minor pain. Get pure cherry juice. I get a brand called Summer Harvest. I've also bought concentrated cherry juice.

wrafl

Gout? OUCH! I get that flare up once in a while. I take 200mg of Allopurinol daily and if there is a flare up, I take colchicin as needed. Certain vegetables, alcohol indulgence and sea foods causes the attack. A rich man's disease? Yea right. I'm not rich but get it now and then. Maybe I'm rich in uric acid.

CHAS

Had pseudogout diagnosed. My right big toe joint is twice its normal size. Makes pedaling in stiff sole shoes much easier than walking.

It is caused by the accumulation of too much of a salt in the joint. It causes arthritis.

bruce19

My Doc did a blood test for me. Apparently, the max. level for uric acid is 6.5 and I was at 8.0. He prescribed indomethicin and it worked well. The only side effect was a sort of disconnect, like an alcohol buzz. DO NOT mix with beer, wine, etc. I did (just a drink or two) and it was like being drunk.