Gout

[hbelkins]

Has anyone here ever suffered from gout?

I've had several attacks in my big toes over the years. Painful, but not immobilizing.

Last summer I had a gout attack in my left knee. I was unable to stand, bend my leg straight or put any weight on it without suffering excruciating pain. It took me a full week once I was prescribed colchicine to be able to stand and walk, although it was with some pain for the first couple of days.

The doctor prescribed allopurinol as a prophylactic to ward off future attacks, but it failed me around Christmas. This time it was in my right knee. It took longer this time to be able to stand and walk, and even now I'm still having a lot of pain in the knee.

I don't consume any of the traditional triggers for gout. I don't eat organ meats, shellfish or "sweetbreads," and very rarely consume alcohol. I have no idea what triggered this last attack.

I'm still taking colchicine and allopurinol, and just last week started taking tart cherry, apple cider vinegar and vitamin C, as these are supposed to be very good at lowering uric acid levels and removing the crystals from joints.

Being unable to stand or walk is a frustrating, helpless feeling. Plus, last summer the loss of leave time during that attack kept me from attending the Twin Cities meet, and now I won't have enough leave time to attend the Shreveport meet because I had to use what vacation time I had after running out of sick leave.

[adventurernumber1]

I have never had gout, but I may have some information that could help.

IIRC, I believe my grandfather has gout, and has suffered from that sort of thing for a few decades. I think he used to, when he was younger, eat all kinds of meat, but now I think most of the only meat he eats is chicken, fish, turkey, and that sort of thing, because it seems like that is easier on his gout.

At this moment, I can't think of any other foods that would be recommended to eat with gout, but that's something that came to my mind.

[bandit957]

I've had burning in my feet, which could be gout.

[index]

I complain that the joints in my leg ache all the time, but I can at least stand and walk, so should I be complaining? I do have a lot of pain issues with my legs and feet, (and entire body in general, especially my torso) although I would assume they are not as bad as what starts to happen get as one approaches their middle ages.

My father had to retire early because his foot was in such poor shape, and it is still to this day, and despite numerous corrective surgeries, it is still a large thorn in his side. He has had gout once or twice, and it really makes it a lot worse to deal with for him. Gout, being a crystal formation, also makes me think of kidney stones... God, I hope I never have to deal with one of those.

[bandit957]

My father had to retire early because his foot was in such poor shape, and it is still to this day, and despite numerous corrective surgeries, it is still a large thorn in his side. He has had gout once or twice, and it really makes it a lot worse to deal with for him. Gout, being a crystal formation, also makes me think of kidney stones... God, I hope I never have to deal with one of those.

I had kidney stones once. It was quite lovely.

[US71]

Has anyone here ever suffered from gout?

I've had several attacks in my big toes over the years. Painful, but not immobilizing.

Last summer I had a gout attack in my left knee. I was unable to stand, bend my leg straight or put any weight on it without suffering excruciating pain. It took me a full week once I was prescribed colchicine to be able to stand and walk, although it was with some pain for the first couple of days.

The doctor prescribed allopurinol as a prophylactic to ward off future attacks, but it failed me around Christmas. This time it was in my right knee. It took longer this time to be able to stand and walk, and even now I'm still having a lot of pain in the knee.

I don't consume any of the traditional triggers for gout. I don't eat organ meats, shellfish or "sweetbreads," and very rarely consume alcohol. I have no idea what triggered this last attack.

I'm still taking colchicine and allopurinol, and just last week started taking tart cherry, apple cider vinegar and vitamin C, as these are supposed to be very good at lowering uric acid levels and removing the crystals from joints.

Being unable to stand or walk is a frustrating, helpless feeling. Plus, last summer the loss of leave time during that attack kept me from attending the Twin Cities meet, and now I won't have enough leave time to attend the Shreveport meet because I had to use what vacation time I had after running out of sick leave.

Do you drink a lot of soft drinks? I've read that could also be a contributing factor. 

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

I've had burning in my feet, which could be gout.

Or neuropathy?


iPhone

[Hot Rod Hootenanny]

I've had burning in my feet, which could be gout.

Or diabetes.

[wxfree]

Bobby Hill had gout once, because of his change in diet.  Hank thought the pain was from athletic training and was proud.  He was shocked when he found out it was gout.  It was really funny, almost as funny as when he and Peggy thought Bobby had gotten Luanne pregnant.

[freebrickproductions]

IDK why, but hearing about gout always makes me think of this Calvin & Hobbs comic:

[Road Hog]

I've had gout attacks before and they can be awful. Ibuprofen works great for me on the immediate pain, but I keep a jar of tart cherry juice at all times as a preventative and it's helped a lot.

Even though I eat a lot of fish, I've had to avoid Asian foods because they tend to bring it on for some reason. I haven't noticed a connection with alcohol really because I've had them when I hadn't touched a drop for three months.

[hbelkins]

I've had gout attacks before and they can be awful. Ibuprofen works great for me on the immediate pain, but I keep a jar of tart cherry juice at all times as a preventative and it's helped a lot.

I can't take ibuprofen. That's what about killed me last spring.

[US71]

I've had gout attacks before and they can be awful. Ibuprofen works great for me on the immediate pain, but I keep a jar of tart cherry juice at all times as a preventative and it's helped a lot.

Tylenol? Advil?  If you take too much of any of those, it was mess you're kidneys up. I take stuff like that sparingly.
I can't take ibuprofen. That's what about killed me last spring.

[Otto Yamamoto]

I've had gout attacks before and they can be awful. Ibuprofen works great for me on the immediate pain, but I keep a jar of tart cherry juice at all times as a preventative and it's helped a lot.

Tylenol? Advil?  If you take too much of any of those, it was mess you're kidneys up. I take stuff like that sparingly.
I can't take ibuprofen. That's what about killed me last spring.

Tylenol does your liver, ibuprofen does your kidneys. Maximum dosage of Tylenol is 3 grammes daily, ibuprofen 2.4 grammes. After that, you're going to to run into trouble. Tylenol is good for analgesia, but does nothing for inflammation.

P00I

[US71]

I've had gout attacks before and they can be awful. Ibuprofen works great for me on the immediate pain, but I keep a jar of tart cherry juice at all times as a preventative and it's helped a lot.

Tylenol? Advil?  If you take too much of any of those, it was mess you're kidneys up. I take stuff like that sparingly.
I can't take ibuprofen. That's what about killed me last spring.

Tylenol does your liver, ibuprofen does your kidneys. Maximum dosage of Tylenol is 3 grammes daily, ibuprofen 2.4 grammes. After that, you're going to to run into trouble. Tylenol is good for analgesia, but does nothing for inflammation.

Aleve any better?

[hbelkins]

I've told the story before. I had no idea what had caused my kidney failure until the doctor was removing the temporary dialysis port from my neck before I left the hospital, so I asked.

"Did you take a bunch of Advil," he asked.

That was it. I'd been given 800 mg ibuprofen 4x per day for my sciatica (at least that's what I think it was; they never figured out what caused that incapacitating hip pain that caused me to miss my own New River Gorge meet) and it was killing my kidneys.

I asked what I should take should I have a headache or other pain, and the doctor said Tylenol. I'd always heard that acetaminophen was bad on the liver, so I asked about that. The doctor said that it was only bad if you take some ungodly amount per day and then drink an equally-ungodly amount of alcoholic beverages.

Aleve is naproxen, which is also processed by the kidneys, so I was advised to stay away from it as well.

[cpzilliacus]

Gout is awful.

Only thing that (in my case) seemed to help in the  longer term was weight loss and in the short term taking colchicine (unfortunately someone on Wall Street is now getting very rich selling the same stuff under the brand name Colcrys).  Colcrys did help me.

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

From what I've read on about Gout is that it is a cause of foods being acidic in nature.


iPhone

[LM117]

I asked what I should take should I have a headache or other pain, and the doctor said Tylenol. I'd always heard that acetaminophen was bad on the liver, so I asked about that. The doctor said that it was only bad if you take some ungodly amount per day and then drink an equally-ungodly amount of alcoholic beverages.

My mother takes Lisinopril and Carvedilol, along with a low daily dose 81mg aspirin, all for high blood pressure and atrial fibrillation.

Because of those medications, she was told if she needed pain relief for a headache, backache, etc., then she had to take Tylenol because the Ibuprofen wouldn't go well with the Lisinopril and that it could raise blood pressure.

[kphoger]

From what I've read on about Gout is that it is a cause of foods being acidic in nature.

Food is acidic because people have gout?

[US71]

From what I've read on about Gout is that it is a cause of foods being acidic in nature.

I think you mean Gout is caused by foods that are acidic in nature ?

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

From what I've read on about Gout is that it is a cause of foods being acidic in nature.

I think you mean Gout is caused by foods that are acidic in nature ?

Exactly!

[kphoger]

From what I've read on about Gout is that it is a cause of foods being acidic in nature.

I think you mean Gout is caused by foods that are acidic in nature ?

Exactly!

That would be an effect, then.  Not a cause.  Polar opposites of each other.

[TheArkansasRoadgeek]

From what I've read on about Gout is that it is a cause of foods being acidic in nature.

I think you mean Gout is caused by foods that are acidic in nature ?

My bad, it was late when I was on and I thought I'd contribute...
Exactly!

That would be an effect, then.  Not a cause.  Polar opposites of each other.

[US71]

At least you've got decent healthcare to help you through this