Gout Advice?

[Muzzy]

Most people get their 1st attack in the big toe area which is a give away.. At the time it feels like you have broken a bone (but for the life of you, you can't recall banging it). The area becomes all colours of the rainbow and is almost impossible to touch or even look at!

My 1st attack was in my left ankle and I suffered for days before going to the hospital confused as hell as to what was wrong... The doctor diagnosed tendinitis which proved to be wrong... A few days after this I went to hospital again because the pain was soooooo bad and he took one look from a distance and said oooh that's gout.

I knew nothing about this disease before getting it but I could diagnose it easily now!

 

[Garage_Doors]

Thanks SM. Appreciate that , have a lot better understanding now

 

[perseus]

Tendinitis

How would someone recognise if they had Gout or not ?

Read several times on this thread " i had my first attack of gout" , How would you know it was gout if you are not a doctor ans what are the symptoms ?

You wouldn't. More likely to be arthritis. Even when I had a foot injury, everybody said it was gout. It was my Achilles Heel. I wish I had gout, I said. It would not be so cripplingly painful.

 

[Hillian1]

Thanks SM. Appreciate that , have a lot better understanding now

Normally occurs first in the big toe, mine was easy to diagnose, The toe swelled up and went a vivid red colour, almost like a Tom and Jerry cartoon toe. The pain is something like having red hot needles thrust into joint below the nail and the toe itself throbs worse than a toothache.
Walking is virtually impossible and even trying to put on socks or shoes is torture.

 

[RexCathedra]

In the States, general dietary triggers are looked on with suspicion, unless you personally can work out a cause-and-effect relationship, they won't modify your diet at all, except for general good nutrition.

My GP's rule of thumb for hydration is to take your body weight in pounds, divide by two, and be sure your total fluid intake (it's total, not just water, etc, one takes in a fair amount in the ordinary course of things with coffee, etc) is that many ounces. How to do that calculation involving a weight in stone, and fluids in liters, or imperial fluid measure, is left as an exercise to the reader.

First attack at 40. Hydration, and naproxin or indomethacin, has done the trick for me. 14 years on I haven't had an attack bad enough to need the cane I bought coming off the first one in at least six or seven years. I'm not sure where it is -- it may be in the props cupboard at my kids' old school!

 

[Tricky Dicky]

You wouldn't. More likely to be arthritis. Even when I had a foot injury, everybody said it was gout. It was my Achilles Heel. I wish I had gout, I said. It would not be so cripplingly painful.

Gout is a form of Arthritis - I think another name is Gouty Arthritis

 

[Muzzy]

Latest attack, in the achilles this time. A result of having a nice bit of roast beef.

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[Tom Hark Preston Park]

What you've got sounds like what I get once in a blue moon, usually as others have said, on a single toe joint. No idea why. Most recently about a fortnight ago. Stuck my foot in a basin of cold water for a couple of hours and that must have helped because it was more or less gone within a day. The pain that is, not the basin.

Most likely cause that set it off I reckon was the couple of bottles of Gaymers Pear Cider I had that day. Either that or the West Ham game the day before...

 

[perseus]

My gout was getting better, but I had a nasty attack on Tuesday evening.

 

[Muzzy]

My gout was getting better, but I had a nasty attack on Tuesday evening.

I keep thinking that.. Then it comes back and well and truly bites hard.

I'm on crutches now and cannot put any weight on my heel... How long for? Who knows?

Deffo gonna get to see a specialist ASAP.. This is the 2nd attack in just a few weeks.. Been taking my meds to no avail.

 

[spongy]

I feel for you mate, I get it in my right ankle and I don't walk anywhere for 3 days normally, first time it flared up I went up to a&e thinking I'd busted my foot somehow, the pain is unbearable.

I was told it was gout and told to go home, I asked for crutches to help me get about and they said no as its not broken, even though it is generally accepted that its more painful than a broken bone....

Keep off your foot, stay hydrated and keep off booze for a few weeks, not even a pint, just detox for a while and eat really healthy, then you can start to re introduce trigger foods and a bit of alcohol at a time til you get another flare up, should be able to get your limits as to what causes it

 

[sydney]

haven't read the thread as it would be too painful , avoid anything from the belladonna family ie. tomatos , grapes , peppers, gooseberies , red and white wine (unfortunately) and rich cheeses such as gouda , stilton and brie.

build up of uric acid crystals in the joints , once it starts you are f***ed , unless you wanna give up all the above and drink 2 gallons of distilled water every day............good luck

 

[Muzzy]

I feel for you mate, I get it in my right ankle and I don't walk anywhere for 3 days normally, first time it flared up I went up to a&e thinking I'd busted my foot somehow, the pain is unbearable.

I did the same with the 1st attack but they said it was tendinitis, ended up on sticks for 2 1/2 weeks till they got the correct diagnosis!

Alcohol truly doesn't seem to affect me at all! Trigger foods for me are mussels and (now) red meat it seems.

 

[readingstockport]

What you've got sounds like what I get once in a blue moon, usually as others have said, on a single toe joint. No idea why. Most recently about a fortnight ago. Stuck my foot in a basin of cold water for a couple of hours and that must have helped because it was more or less gone within a day. The pain that is, not the basin.

Most likely cause that set it off I reckon was the couple of bottles of Gaymers Pear Cider I had that day. Either that or the West Ham game the day before...

A common misconception - and one I was guilty of until advised otherwise by a specialist - is that gout only occurs in joints. It most definately does not. Some of my worst attacks, and the ones that took longest to diagnose eventually needing the specialist, were in the ligaments and tendons of my feet. Uric acid crystals can form anywhere, including in muscle, ligaments and tendons but most commonly in joints. Most gp's will only ever see gout affecting joints and so are often unaware of the possibility that it can effect soft tissue as well. My gp and my physio certainly were both unaware of this.

I ended up having over 6 months of physio thinking that I had torn/pulled/otherwise damaged muscles before I found out otherwise.

 

[Hillian1]

Life hates me.

Having just recovered from a particularly nasty bout of Achiles Tendonitis which left me on crutches until this last Tuesday I have woken up with a gout attack in my toe which feels like someone pounding on the thing with a club hammer, it really does look like a Tom and Jerry cartoon throbbing toe.

Anyone with a quick fix? got the grandchildren later and got knows what I'm going to do.

 

[Phat Baz 68]

If you drink alcohol,stop as that is a cause of gout.

No it isnt !!

 

[Phat Baz 68]

Life hates me.

Having just recovered from a particularly nasty bout of Achiles Tendonitis which left me on crutches until this last Tuesday I have woken up with a gout attack in my toe which feels like someone pounding on the thing with a club hammer, it really does look like a Tom and Jerry cartoon throbbing toe.

Anyone with a quick fix? got the grandchildren later and got knows what I'm going to do.

Colchicine mate but only available on prescription does it for me !!

 

[Hillian1]

Colchicine mate but only available on prescription does it for me !!

Thanks, but this does not help today's dilema.

So far today I have taken 3 500mg Narproxen tablets, 4 600mg Ibuprofen (brought last year in Spain) covered toe in Ibuprofen gel and have a bag of frozen sliced peppers on it.

And the grandkids just arrived.

 

[severnside gull]

NOTE: I am not a doctor and all this is from my own 'research' and experience.

What drugs are you on? Itake 100 mg of Alopurinol a day and naproxen for inflamation and pain relief.

Also are you overweight and/or generally unfit? If so then lose weight and get fit. Both are indicators in frequency and severity of attacks.

If you are getting these attacks then I would think you have a trigger food as well which is kicking them off. Try to find out what the foor is. I've heard of some people being triggerd by soya milk for example and my brother is triggered by chopped raw tomoatoes but not by cooked tomatoes.

Finally rehydrate. The majority of people are between 2 and 5 % dehydrated, which doen't sound a lot but 3% causes deterioration in mental performance and 10% causes death. Ensuring full hydration will allow the kidneys to function better and help to clean the blood better.

I would suggest the OP goes to his doc and asks about either Colchicine (which is good for countering attacks quickly but has the side effect of giving you diarrohea) or a "dsily for life" dose of Alopurinol. If you get gout regularly the latter is the best bet.

I used to get gout in the whole of my left foot - couldn't walk. I lost 6 stone and now very rarely(I would have said never) have a problem although on a recent trip to New York I eat a burger a day and having been off red meat for over two years it triggered an attack.

 

[BigGully]

I had a prolonged Gout attack last year, it brings you down no doubt ...

I did some research on the net, doctors even the hospital and of course asked some mates that suffer the same stuff.

I concluded that actually most of the advice is outdated, you know 'red meat', booze, even newer stuff like 'seafood' mussels presumably being the worse.

The conundrum was this, after weeks of having excruciation pain I had to expect that ultimately the attack was likely to go, surely.... then what lifestyles changes

But which part, booze ?? Red Meat ?? Seafood ?? Stress ?? seemed to cover most bases here !!!

I was hardly hitting these hard as it were, so after going to the doctors and he surprisingly asked if I drank red wine, in as much as the newest research suggested this was not a contributory factor ......... how about those tablets that my mate swore by

I decided that I would give my body one last chance, not blighting my life with exclusions, unless it came back, I would continue in moderation with most things, even those suspected of effecting a gout attack.

I am eating and living as I was before and not one problem with gout for over 18 months, of course if I had accepted exclusions or lifestyle changes back at my last attack I would be offering flawed advice on what you should be doing to help you with this condition.

Its a difficult and painful condition and I am guessing irrespective of lifestyle or diet, you are either predisposed to get it or not.

Of course if you have multiple gout attack and have a chronic condition then medical advise is necessary, but if its a rare painful attack then it might just be one of those things that happen and will pass and you can continue your life without exclusions.