Gout, anybody else suffer from this?

[Rondar]

Yeppers, I get gout once or twice a year bad, and it has hit me now.  I take colchicine (sp), and Indomethecin when I get it.  Also I have been doing the cherry juice thing.  Left foot is swelled up and big toe is pointed on side of it.  If you have gout or had it, you know what I am talking about.  Right now it it throbbing like a horrible migraine headache and cant walk on it or have it under the covers tonight.  I finally got out of bed and got on computer because I coudlnt sleep.

So, if any of the rest of you suffer from this, what do you do about it and do you have any better remedies than I currently have?  The drugs for me were prescribed a number of years ago, so I dont know if there are new ones out that are better or not.  I bought a bunch of the above drugs in Mexico a few years ago so I would always have them, and my M-I-L buys me some every once in a while when they go to Mexico for their medicine.

[WhiteHawk]

Guy I work with gets it.  He drinks a lot of beer, and swears that is why.  There are a lot of websites on this.  Maybe check them and watch our drinking and your diet.

[nirvana]

What's your diet like?  I hear a diet high in entrails (liver, tounge, etc.) can do it.  Or is it just a random thing?  All the same, I never get it.

[Morpheus]

A friend of the family would get it, he only got it in his foot from what I remember. And it came on from eating cheese and other dairy products, but mainly cheese. I remember him saying how incredibly painful it was.

[Rondar]

I'm not a cheese person, in fact on pizza I try my best to get some of the cheese off.   I drink some, but I dont drink beer and havent had even one mixed drink in the last 2 weeks.  Only thing I can come up with is that  friend came over and we watched movies and he brought a jar of mixed nuts.  I did eat 4-5 handfuls, but have done that in the past and not had trouble.    

I dunno, I've had gout for around 20 years now, and havent tied it to any one thing.  Just seems to come around and visit once in a while.

Still waiting for others who may have this to chime in and tell your story.

[WhiteHawk]

what gout is is a buildup of uretic acid in the body and you dont pee it out fast enough, it crystallizes and settles in the joints, usually the big toe, but apparently , any joint is a potential target.  So, one must find out what causes a buildup of uretic acid in the body.  It can only be something you eat or drink, or maybe some kind of kidney or liver malfunction.  Try keeping a detailed food and drink log and crunching some data when you have a flare up.  You may find something like diet lemon-lime soda or something goofy like that causes a flare up.  Also, one website said to watch out for beef and pork, as it has been linked to gout.  I guess every case is different.  Good luck.

PS.  Just a bit of barnyard doctoring but, I had a bunch of minor health problems about 2 years ago, just getting older ithought.  High blood pressure, etc.  Found out through a food log and help that, even though I ralrely used table salt, I was eating 400-800% of my RDA of sodium every day.  Ham and cheese sandwich w pickles and a can of soup is over the RDA limit on sodum.  I watched my salt, i lost 30 lbs.  My blood pressure is rock solid 120/70 and all those little pill bottles went right into the trash.  Try watching your salt and see if things dont clear up for ya.  Read the SODIUM on the back of your food.  And be shocked at how much salt you eat in a day.

[rpm]

My Dad was misdiagnosed with gout in the early 70's. It was actually diabetes and he wound up losing his big toe. They sent me thru the battery of tests because it's suppossedly hereditary, but I came out OK. That didn't stop me from having to eat the same diet my dad did. Lots of eggplant, squash and oatmeal. I still hate eggplant to this day.

Dad's leg joints would swell up and have to be drained off, sometimes twice a week. It finally got so bad he managed to get an appointment with a specialist thru a relative. Turns out he had diabetes and a host of heart, liver, and kidney problems, not gout.

[DieAz]

Originally posted by Rondar
I take colchicine, and Indomethacin when I get it.  

yea, I get an attack about 2 or 3 times a year. used to get it 6-8 times a year. had gout for 16 years. ask your Doc about putting you on Allopurinal, it converts uric acid to urine so it can be eliminated from the body. once you start, you will have to take it everyday for life though, its not that bad.

I have prescription for colchicine too, when I feel an attack starting (when you have as many attacks as I did, you learn to recognize it), I take it too. usually take Advil for swelling, unless it gets really bad, then I go to Doc for Indomethacin.

Increase water intake helps. don't drink Alcohol, it dehydrates you causing uric acid concentration build up.
don't lose weight rapidly, it dumps too much purines in blood that gets converted to uric acid. you can lose weight but have to do it guadually.
moderation is the key to eating, only eat very little of any type of food that is high in purines. the types highest to lowest are along the lines of internal organ meats, then darker meats, then lighter meats, then veggies like beans, then whole grain cereals, then green veggies.
I'm guessing cheeses are somewhere in between dark and light meats, and the rest of the dairy products are in the whole grains area.

the latest I've read, gout's root cause is a certain area in the DNA chain isn't turned on (DNA breaks down over time when it replicates) and the body no longer creates a certain protein (IIRC Allopurinal was a failed cancer drug from the 1950s, the noticable side affect was uric acid levels drop dramatically. thus it became the drug to eliminate uric acid.
my costs for Allopurinal 100mg is around $3 for a 30 days supply, colchicine 0.6 mg is around $2.75 for 30 days supply. Indomethacin 25mg $10. these prices are with an insurance plan.

oh here something interesting colchicine was used over 3000 years ago in Egypt. the dosage was well ummm guessed at. the patient was told 50/50 chance, it'll either cure you or kill you. I can tell you now, those that risked death by taking it, they knew well the pain of gout. to me those that wouldn't chance it, ain't never had it.

hope some of this helps you out.

and for those wondering, yes I would have risked death, I know the pain full well.

[Rondar]

DieAz, That is a great post and fantastic help.  I might just look into Allopurinal.    By the way, is it a green pill?  I recall somebody told me a while back in just visiting around, that they took something everyday for gout and all they could remember was it was green.

[DieAz]

Originally posted by Rondar
DieAz, That is a great post and fantastic help.  I might just look into Allopurinal.    By the way, is it a green pill?  I recall somebody told me a while back in just visiting around, that they took something everyday for gout and all they could remember was it was green.

Allopurinal is white, round, kind of like an over sized aspirin, virtually tastless.

Edit: my Indomethacin is a green capsule type pill. colchicine is like a mini aspirin, and kinda bitter tasting. and by the way, don't use aspirin for pain and swelling, it will dehydrate you a little and adds to the acid side of your PH level. need to take something in the NSAID line of drugs for pain and swelling.

[E25280]

Along with what WMDie said, the thing I was told to watch out for was "game meats", especially venison.  Turns out, for me the trigger was always Deer sausage.  Whitehawk's advice about keeping a food log is a good one.  Avoidance of an attack is really the key, and hopefully a change in diet can do that for you.

Thankfully in my case I have only had a handfull of attacks in the last 5 years.  For those who don't understand the pain we are talking, I used the following description to tell my family and co-workers what it was like.

Picture stepping on a very sharp rock with your tennis shoes.  It obviously doesn't cause you much pain since the sole of your shoe is cusioning it, but you know it is there.

Move the sharp rock inside your shoe.  You will notice an extreme increase in the pain level.  In fact, it has gone from almost no pain to very very painful indeed.  Maybe, if you have a very high pain tolerance, you can almost walk without a limp and fool your friends that the rock is not inside your shoe, but not for any length of time and with great effort and self control.

Now -- move the rock inside your foot, under the skin, inside the joint where your big toe attaches to your foot, and let it grind there.  The increase in the pain's intensity vs. the rock inside your shoe is about the same as when you first moved the rock from the sole of your shoe to inside your shoe.  Except now, you can't just take off your shoe and pull out the rock. . .

Hope you feel better soon, Rondar.

[Leslie]

For me, the trick is to catch it when it first starts to hurt, or before it sets in good.  One colchicine pill and one indomethacin capsule knocks it out overnight.  The effect is almost instantaneous.  Go to the doctor and request the gout pills.  Try to hold onto 'em 'til you need 'em next time...so you have it on hand and don't have to wait too long.  Once it sets in, it's there for about three or four days and is excuciatingly painful.  Don't wanna let it set in to start with.

Seems like I get gout about twice a year or so.  I've had the window open when I went to bed each time.  Maybe weather changes bring it on.  

Some things that I've heard may contribute to gout are:  tomatoes, asparagus, liver, cigarettes, overuse of alcohol, not drinking enough water.  Heck, I've gotten gout after doing garden tilling and working in the soil all day in hot weather.  Walking on uneven soil and pulling roots for hours probably ain't good for one's  feet.  That time it coulda been an ant bite reaction, or dehydration.


But if I have the colchicine and indomethacin on hand and take just one each when I feel gout coming on, it stops it pretty fast.  Only time the gout set in was when I had to go to the doctor's office, because I was out of gout pills.  If I don't catch it at first sign, it'll set in overnight.

Haven't heard colchicine was dangerous, but yep, I'd chance it before experiencing full blown gout.




Les

[DieAz]

Originally posted by Leslie

Haven't heard colchicine was dangerous, but yep, I'd chance it before experiencing full blown gout.
 

3000 years ago they used it in its raw form, thus the dosage was impossible to regulate. an O.D. causes bleeding out of every orifice, a person bleeds to death.
colchicine comes from the roots of a specific plant that is very poisonous, of the Lilac family (can't remember offhand which).
the pill is mostly filler, the max dosage in one pill is 0.6 mg. try to imagine cutting a piece of root, of unknown quality, the right size to get the safer, lower dosage of these pills we have today.

most drugs are poisons, and are heavily regulated by law, in manufacture, and by who can prescibe them.  OTC is self prescribed.
most of the OTC drugs are poisons as well. wasn't really that long ago when people had to have a Doctor's prescription for aspirin. after awhile, since it was very commonly used, it became OTC. (for those that don't know OTC = over the counter)
I could write on all day and night on this subject, so I'll stop here.

oh and one other food type to limit intake of, is the nightshade family, like tomato, potato < should have been listed in the beans area of other post.
keeping a food log is a very good idea. one thing to keep in mind the higher purine content a food has the less you want to eat of it. I consider the organ meats off limits. I don't eat any at all, anymore.

[Leslie]

That's why I said, go to the doctor.  Even if you hoard them, the standard prescription is 10 pills.  




Les

[DieAz]

Originally posted by Leslie
That's why I said, go to the doctor.  Even if you hoard them, the standard prescription is 10 pills.  

 
maybe a state law there? is that the standard for any pills? if so, that doesn't sound right.

I get Allopurinal 60 pills 30 day supply < this I take 2 times a day morning and evening.
colchicine 60 pills 30 day supply< this I take as needed 2 times a day.
the Indomethacin 30 capsules for 5 days if used as directed.< this is the one I go to Doctor for, well this and a write out of work note for FMLA.

Indomethacin is a NSAID, you can use OTC Advil (Ibuprofen) as an alternative. Advil (Ibuprofen)  is a NSAID as well.  ask your Doctor or Pharmacist about the max dosages of Ibuprofen that you can use in case gout hits and you need the relief right then. you may have to do what I did, I told Doc either give something to cure it or give me a .357 to shoot it out. < got the ball rolling. I got the info and drugs I needed.

I don't even have to go to Doc for the prescriptions for Allopurinal or colchicine. when I get to a couple days worth left, I call the Pharmacy tell them I need refills on Rx #######, they do their thing and I go pick them up the next day or so.