I Have The Gout! Whimper!!

[Rick-o]

Thanks all for your kind and wonderful responses! We truly do have a great forum here.(tu)

[rgG]

Sorry for your pain.
I glanced quickly at the topic and thought it said “I am the Goat whisperer?”
Prednisone is indeed a steroid. My kitty used to be on a daily dose of prednisolone which is similar.

[anonymouse1]

Second the allopurinol.

Also, try getting rid of "white" carbs-sugar, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes.

[davester]

Be careful with the colchicine and do not stray from the dosages that your doctor specifies. It can have very serious side effects.

[archipirata]

So sorry, been there. SUCKS donkey ba!!s. I used to get about 3 attacks a year and nothing helped. About 6 years ago my doc put me on allopurinol 300mg/day and I've never had another attack.

[Dennis S]

I had it coming on once when I was eating lots of the meat davester mentioned. I cut the meat out and it went away.

[tuqqer]

Good suggestions, here. I

My experience echos what davester and testcase have written: 1) Start with the general stay-away list of foods that affect a lot of gout sufferers. 2) Track your water intake and learn to stay hydrated more than most folks. 3) Find your own particular trigger foods that really cause problems in your own body (mine are beer, red/organ/sausage meats, culinary mushrooms, anchovies, red wine, and shellfish.

I don't use the gout meds, but as others have noted, they can really work for most people. I generally stay gout-free most of the time, but maybe once or twice a year, I get caught by restaurant food that uses hidden flavor concentrates.

Last thought: I think a lot of people's joint pain and arthritis is actually on the same spectrum that gout comes from. It may not come from a built-up of uric acid per se, but of other metabolites that the body simply can't break down from the foods its being fed. I've seen this proven by watching friends alter their diets and then their joint pain goes away.

Good luck with the process, Rick-o, you'll find your way out and through.

[davemchine]

You can have a blood draw to determine your uric acid level. If it’s high your doctor can prescribe allopurinol to lower it and avoid future problems.

[davester]

davemchine wrote:
You can have a blood draw to determine your uric acid level. If it’s high your doctor can prescribe allopurinol to lower it and avoid future problems.

The trouble with medications is that they have significant side effects and must be taken for life. IMHO, better to switch to a low purine diet, stay hydrated, keep the weight off and eat foods that are known to reduce uric acid levels or otherwise reduce gout symptoms (tart cherry juice, berries, turmeric, celery seed, etc). My policy is that drugs are always the last, not the first recourse, only to be tried if other therapies have failed.