I got it the first time after finishing about 6 weeks of intervenous antibiotics. Mine usually flares up 2 days after some sort of impact to my toe or foot. Like jumping off something high or stubbing one of my big toes. I'm allergic to Allopurinol, found that out the hard way.
If I take 2 aleve right when I first notice a slight bit of pain, I'm usually fine within 12 hours. I will usually take 1 every 12 hours for a couple days after that. If I wait 4 hours before taking aleve, I'm screwed and have to go through that awful pain for the next couple days. Sometimes that pain starts in the middle of the night while sleeping. That's when it usually gets me.
Drinking lots of water seems to help prevent a flareup.