UHG..suffering an attack now. I was fine this morning...walked the dog about a mile plus with no issue. Before lunch could feel this coming on. I had salmon last night....jury is out if that caused it reading all the net...no alcohol. I recall the morning pee being a little stinky....dehydrated? Oh...this sucks. It's like 60 degrees in Jan...was going to spend some time in the garage. :(

I have been taking 600mg of Allopurinol a day to keep my serum uric acid as low as possible (2.2-2.6, versus 7.2 prior to taking the Allopurinol). My liver enzymes are still normal and the uric acid is low and no gout attacks since last April. In my case, gout has NOTHING to do with diet, it's a metabolic disorder, like diabetes and it requires the appropriate dose of the right medication (Allopurinol) to keep gout from flaring up. What's your uric acid count? If you don't know this and you're not doing anything to keep the number below 6 (if you have gout), the high uric acid level will continue to cause gout and it will only get worse. This is not a disease to treat with diet alone!

Thanks..for me it's a once in a while thing. It's been years since the last flare up. I should probably get all that checked.

If you have gout, the damage to your joints is being done constantly, even if you don't have a flare-up. Gout can attack the toes, knees, hips, elbows, spine, shoulders, etc... Once the gout damage is done, osteoarthritis usually moves in and sets up shop in the damaged joint. You really need to get this under control before you have permanent damage done to your joints. Ask me how I know....

Thanks for the info. I'll have to call the Dr. I spent the bulk of yesterday chugging water and I got some dried cherries. Its actually much better today. I can walk again, but I'll hold off on running. :)

I had my first gout attack around 2002, roughly.

Got on a plane feeling a bit stiff in the ankle. Got off barely able to walk, sat at gate waiting for wheelchair attendant who never came, finally grabbed an unused baggage cart, used it to struggle to the car, which took nearly half an hour to move 400-ish feet. Spent the next month going to doctor who couldn't diagnose it, was on crutches for a week, a few months later I got into a rheumatologist and by then the attack was over so they said it might have been psoriasis-related arthritis but who knows? No idea where they came up with that.

Then nothing until a few years ago. Gout came back hard, week long attacks on and off for most of a year. When the ankle wasnt in agony, it was barely able to bend, and very weak. Occasional crutches, a cane almost all the time. Couldn't run, jump, bike, walk on uneven ground, raise onto my toes, do anything but walk slowly on pavement. Gained a bunch of weight which led to, or at least coincided with, all kinds of other problems, from needing more cholesterol and BP meds to repeated gallstone attacks to (my favorite) kidney stone. Felt like an old sick man.

Months seeing an orthopedist who finally said it was probably gout and sent me to a rheumatologist, by the time I got in to her the attacks were mostly over but the ankle was still stiff and weak. But she did start me on allopurinol with colchicine, the latter gave me a way to suppress the attacks and get some control back. I started losing weight.

After that, things have gotten better until right now I have same range of motion in both ankles, I can run again (except that I am morally opposed to running), no issues at all - except my sUA (serum uric acid) is still about 6 so I'm on 600 mg allopurinol to get it down. I'm off the BP drug and one of the cholesterol drugs, still trying to get off the other.

Moral is, gout can come, go away for a long time, then come back hard. The uric acid keeps accumulating in your joints. The damage keeps being done. One day you wake up incapacitated. So, go to the doctor, don't merely treat the symptoms, figure out how to get the sUA down, be it diet or meds.

I'm no expert but I have learned a great deal about gout. The closest analogy I can use is diabetes, which is another metabolic disorder. Both diseases (diabetes and gout) require monitoring, diet modification, activity modification and MEDICATION to control and prevent acute attacks and permanent damage. Diet alone will not do it. Serum Uric Acid is the key and getting the level down as low as possible is the MOST IMPORTANT thing to do if you have gout. Some do this with Allopurinol or other newer meds (Uloric, etc...). You have to find the right dose of Allopurinol to lower your SUA, for me it's 600mg a day. I eat a semi-vegetarian diet (no red meat, only chicken or fish once or twice a week, no alcohol of any kind, no high fructose corn syrup, etc...), I drink tart cherry juice and water (1/2 to 1 gallon every day) and I keep my weight down, but this isn't enough to lower my SUA by more than 10% or so, so I MUST TAKE ALLOPURINOL for the rest of my life, which is something I've resigned myself to. The Allopurinol doesn't raise my liver enzymes (I have liver disease, so I have to be very careful) and I take Vitamins C, D and E every day.

Again, gout has to be actively managed, just like diabetes. Too many people ignore it until they have a flare-up and they are oblivious to the fact that the uric acid is constantly building up in their joints, causing a deterioration of the joints that cannot be undone. My rheumatologist told me that I most likely had gout for 10 years before I has my 1st attack, so the damage done was significant and wouldn't go away. When I drive a car with a clutch or play the drums, my feet are sore for a time afterwards. I take 220mg of Aleve (naproxen) twice a day, as needed for that chronic pain cause by the after-effects of gout. The Dr told me that osteoarthritis moves into the joint that is affected by gout because the gout sets up an inflammatory process that causes osteoarthritis to continue even after the gout is under control and not active in the joint.

This is why it's so important to keep your SUA under control (as low as possible, 6-7 is way too high!) because once the osteoarthritis sets in, you have permanently damaged the joint and will have to live with pain. I talk to people with gout all the time and they say things like "I don't worry about my gout until I have a flare-up, then I go to the Dr"), which is bad because they are not treating the disease, just ignoring it until the damage has been done....

Sorry about getting on my soapbox.... This is a very sensitive subject for me....

I do I appreciate it. My dad would have flare ups but I never understood it as more than "old man problems"...I never had problems at the time...I can no longer compare notes.

The most painful physical experience I've ever had - bar none!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1326054814.jpg
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A closer look at the above photo: :eek:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/The_gout_james_gillray.jpg

The Gilray painting is a favorite of mine because of the creative way he expressed the intense pain of gout. You look at it and you just know how much it hurts... like no other pain I've ever experienced.

how is everyone doing? any updates?

600mg of Allopurinol is working great for me!!

less stress at work is working for me. my attack lasted WEEKS, back in january. interestingly i missed this thread. i think it may have been pseudo-gout, definitely brought on/exacerbated by some crazy stuff at work.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1351119770.jpg

i couldn't hardly make it to the toilet from the computer, fifteen feet away. very very painful. i've been somewhat fearful ever since. some of the worst pain i've ever experienced.

ouch!!

nynor..your "fearful" comment is smack dabs on!!

i've never been so well hydrated in my entire life. i am painfree. somedays i get some sort of phantom pain as a reminder. i monitor pee color with every visit to the loo.

i am on 300mg allupurinol. monthly blood test to monitor liver.

every time i get some phantom pain in my feet, i start wondering if 'this is it' all over again.

No flares. A couple of twinges. My SUA went up a lot, to 8 or 9. No idea why. I'm up to 600 mg allopurinol/day. If my SUA doesn't get to a nice low level by year end, I will ask my doc to add Uloric or similar.

I had it on and off for a couple years and started playing with my diet. Since I stopped eating shellfish and mussels, I have had only one minor flare up in probably four years.
Most people are not as lucky as me, but it never hurts to try cutting certain things from your diet and trying to isolate a trigger (if it exists for you)

Based on Art's recommendation I went and got my Uric acid checked. Doc said it was OK, but I had blood in my urine (trace amount). Then I had an ultrasound of my kidneys and an injection where they could see my kidneys and all. They found a "lucency". So I went to a urologist who found nothing he was concerned about. In a month or so I have to go back to the Dr to be tested again. Wild times.

Oh yeah, had a flare up and got on the cherries again. Works great. I'm not a fan of healthy things it I actually like the dried cherries. Thanks!

Urologist never hear of the cherry thing.

I've been on 300 mg of Allupurinol for 8 mo.s or so - only a few painful/momentary shots through my feet now/then...UNTIL this past August when I decided to get serious re: my Diabetes and cut out as many carbs as possible. Good news is I've lost 15 lbs.,bad news is I've been eating more protein via eggs/meat, etc. Two weeks ago it returned in full battle array and I've been house-bound for the past 10 days. 'Been using a walker & crutches to get around...a great friend has been bringing me food & sympathy. Today it looks like it's tiring of me & about to go back into hiding - that nasty swelling is going down.
I'd like it gone by mid Nov. - Thyroidectomy scheduled then.
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My Gout always seems to migrate around one (or both) feet.
Starting in one joint, then moving to my arch, then over to my little toe joint, then back to all of my toes, then hitting my heel, rinse & repeat.
I met one fellow who had so much pain that he asked several Dr.s if amputating his feet would rid the affliction.
I'll say it again, if there exists a worse pain on this earth, I don't want to meet it.
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This image gets close to the sensation:
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/The_gout_james_gillray.jpg

man..don. if i can do anything....pm me.

i never in my young life knew something would change my life like this. getting a rheumatology doc/specialist was the best move for me.

i dont go a day without imagining a twinge of pain and worrying. it is truly a monkey on my back. i cut waaaay back on meat. 25% of what i used to eat.