Gout

[Buckshot Bear]

Any of you poor sods like me and suffer bouts of gout  

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

Never had until age 73, then once so far in big toe and then in little finger. Very painful. Don't like it. I'm 74 now. Hoping it doesn't repeat....

[Rip Snorter]

Haven't had it in years, but Indocin / indomethacyn is the magic bullet.  Talk to your Doc.  

[Dusty Devil Dale]

My Brother-in-law had it very bad and frequently.  He tried everything his doctors prescribed to no appreciable effect.  He then tried the 1 tablespoon per day (morning) of Apple Cider Vinegar.  He claims it reduced both the frequency and intensity.   I can't vouch either way -- it's just what he claims.  He's been doing it now for over 10 years and claims it makes his Gout tolerable.   

Worth a try?  

(I don't know what drugs he actually tried or whether his doctor was knowledgeable or not)

 

 

[Rip Snorter]

9 minutes ago, Dusty Devil Dale said:

My Brother-in-law had it very bad and frequently.  He tried everything his doctors prescribed to no appreciable effect.  He then tried the 1 tablespoon per day (morning) of Apple Cider Vinegar.  He claims it reduced both the frequency and intensity.   I can't vouch either way -- it's just what he claims.  He's been doing it now for over 10 years and claims it makes his Gout tolerable.   

Worth a try?  

(I don't know what drugs he actually tried or whether his doctor was knowledgeable or not)

 

 

Only once the Indocin didn't work, that of course, on a big Hawaiian vacation.  Every other time, particularly caught early, 3 or 4 capsules first reduced the pain then knocked it out.  Whatever works, and i'm sure there are considerable individual variations.  There may be something better now - been half a dozen years since I had a problem, but I keep the stuff fresh & handy.

[Buckshot Bear]

I'll have to ask my doc about Indocin, I take Colichine for a bad flair up but the cure can be worse sometimes than even the gout with that medicine.

 

I do have a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar daily like Dusty Devil Dale mentioned above and also a couple of tablespoons of cherry juice.

 

A gout flare up is a right proper b#stard of thing to go through.  

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

Diet has a lot to do with flare ups. What has doc had to say about that?

[Rip Snorter]

The first time I experienced it, I was at  meeting away from home- had been in a tournament the week end before.  Was painful enough that I thought I had fractured my ankle.

[Buckshot Bear]

Just now, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

Diet has a lot to do with flare ups. What has doc had to say about that?

 

Prawns, red wine, cured meats can be triggers for me if I overdo it. 

[Buckshot Bear]

Just now, Rip Snorter said:

The first time I experienced it, Iwas at  meeting away - had been in a tournament the week end before.  Was painful enough that I thought I had fractured my ankle.

 

My first experience 30 years ago was the same, I woke up in the middle of the night wondering how I'd broken my ankle.

[Pat Riot]

Yes! And for me the cure…or the prevention is I cut out all seafood. I used to get it bad in my feet. It took me a couple of years to figure out what caused it. 
I thought it was wheat beer, but that wasn’t it. I found a list of foods that might cause gout and cut them all out of my diet and then slowly reintroduced things a little at a time. It came down to me stopping seafood all together. Even salmon and steelhead, my very favorite fish to catch and favorite thing to eat. 
That may not be your trigger. You have to figure it out on your own. 
 

Be careful with lists online. Some tree hugging do-gooder buttheads mask their idea of what everyone should eat with authoritative lists of foods to avoid for gout. 

[Buckshot Bob]

I’ve had gout in the big toe and kidney stones, my Dr said they go hand in hand quite often, both are from my body either producing too much Uric acid or not being able to get rid of enough. 
allopurinol has got rid of it for me . I’m told different people have different causes , they tested my kidney stones to know what medications to try 

just remembered that they also tested blood for the uric acid levels. You Dr may be able to find your problem that way also 

[Rip Snorter]

I don't even trust Mayo or similar on line.  I am fortunate to have a sharp Doc who I do trust, and so far, he's been right every time I've consulted him.

[T.K.]

It all comes from uric acid. I take Allopurinol to keep the UA level down. 

[Pat Riot]

Oh, I forgot to mention, I used to drink a lot of iced tea (sweet) and coffee. After getting gout in my ankle I kept the coffee, but stopped the tea and I only drink water and coffee and my once a week or more I will have a Pepsi. 
I don’t think tea had anything to do with it but pure water is better for your system. 
 

I never tried the meds because of the side effects. 
 

Also, every time I had a flare up the doctor would give my Norco or Vicodin for pain. Then one Urgent Care doctor gave me Prednisone (steroid). I was a bit miffed, but by gawd, that knocked that gout down fast. The next morning I was fine and walking normally. 

[Buffalo Creek Law Dog]

I asked the pharmacist what was the best over the counter med for gout.  He said Naproxen, He said it is as close as you can get without a prescription.  It works.  I had it for about a week when Ifirst  tried it and it took about 2 days and it was gone.  The Pharmacist also said if you take it the same day it occurs, it will get rid of it a lot sooner.  Whenever I get it now, I take  a Naproxen right away and it is gone within hours. 

[Lawdog Dago Dom]

 Gout is a minefield in the worst way. Beer is supposed to be horrible for gout. Shortcake's late father, tough old Irish bird, took his gout medicine WITH beer.

Ouch.

A big part is trial and error. No "one size fits all," with this.

Fortunately, a large grocery store near us had a licensed dietician on duty. For a small fee, I was given a nice list of foods to avoid, foods I could eat once in a while, and foods I could do everyday. Also the pharmacist was a gout patient. Nothing like input from a fellow sufferer with a pharmacology degree.

He told me the colchicine pills they prescribe for attacks are actually a poison. But in a low dose it attacks the excess uric acid that causes pain. I wondered why these pills were so small, like the tip of a fingernail.

Like most of us grey haired folks, diet seems to be the key to what ales ya.

I'd rather buy food than a bunch of little pill bottles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pat Riot]

16 minutes ago, Lawdog Dago Dom said:

 Gout is a minefield in the worst way. Beer is supposed to be horrible for gout. Shortcake's late father, tough old Irish bird, took his gout medicine WITH beer.

Ouch.

A big part is trial and error. No "one size fits all," with this.

Fortunately, a large grocery store near us had a licensed dietician on duty. For a small fee, I was given a nice list of foods to avoid, foods I could eat once in a while, and foods I could do everyday. Also the pharmacist was a gout patient. Nothing like input from a fellow sufferer with a pharmacology degree.

He told me the colchicine pills they prescribe for attacks are actually a poison. But in a low dose it attacks the excess uric acid that causes pain. I wondered why these pills were so small, like the tip of a fingernail.

Like most of us grey haired folks, diet seems to be the key to what ales ya.

I'd rather buy food than a bunch of little pill bottles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hit the nail right on the head! 

[Rip Snorter]

Speaking just for myself, if beer were a trigger, I'd be popping my pills all the time.  I like my IPA.  Keeping weight down, a moderate diet and age appropriate exercise seem to do the trick.  The last attack half a dozen years ago, can't recall if it was 2 or 3 capsules and it was gone.  The last pill was insurance as the pain had abated.  The stuff is cheap and if it works for you it is a great emergency fallback.  I have it at home and when i travel.

[Pat Riot]

3 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

Speaking just for myself, if beer were a trigger, I'd be popping my pills all the time.  I like my IPA.  Keeping weight down, a moderate diet and age appropriate exercise seem to do the trick.  The last attack half a dozen years ago, can't recall if it was 2 or 3 capsules and it was gone.  The last pill was insurance as the pain had abated.  The stuff is cheap and if it works for you it is a great emergency fallback.  I have it at home and when i travel.

I wonder what you changed in your diet that helped?

 

I figured out Salmon was my (final) trigger when I didn't catch any one season and I refused to pay $20 a pound for it. It dawned on me one day that I hadn't had an episode in nearly a  year. I had given up all other seafood so my occurrences were no longer occurring every month or two. I  was down to occurrences only in the Spring...right after Salmon Fishing Season.

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

Purines are the villain. Purines are found in certain foods, including red meat and organ meats, such as liver. Purine-rich seafood includes anchovies, sardines, mussels, scallops, trout and tuna. Alcoholic beverages, especially beer, and drinks sweetened with fruit sugar (fructose) promote higher levels of uric acid.

 

I love chicken livers and sardines, but they can flare me.

 

If you're overweight, your body produces more uric acid and your kidneys have a more difficult time eliminating uric acid. If other members of your family have had gout, you're more likely to develop the disease. Gout occurs more often in men. Certain commonly used medications, like low dose aspirin, diuretics, and ACE inhibitors (blood pressure) can increase flares.

 

Gout sucks.

[Pat Riot]

3 minutes ago, Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 said:

Gout sucks.

Amen!

[Buckshot Bob]

3 hours ago, Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 said:

 

 

Gout sucks.

Your not kidding, but I’ll take a gout attack before kidney stones. The first time I had a gout attack I was working midnights, couldn’t figure out what the heck I did to my big toe that night, went to works medical facility on the way home and the nurse was 99% sure I had gout. She was right,  It’s amazing how bad a toe can hurt. But the feeling of being knifed in the lower back of kidney stones makes it seem , not so bad 

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

3 minutes ago, Buckshot Bob said:

Your not kidding, but I’ll take a gout attack before kidney stones. The first time I had a gout attack I was working midnights, couldn’t figure out what the heck I did to my big toe that night, went to works medical facility on the way home and the nurse was 99% sure I had gout. She was right,  It’s amazing how bad a toe can hurt. But the feeling of being knifed in the lower back of kidney stones makes it seem , not so bad 

 

I can't speak from experience, but patients state kidney stones are the worst pain they ever had.

[Buckshot Bob]

Just now, Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381 said:

 

I can't speak from experience, but patients state kidney stones are the worst pain they ever had.

So far it’s been the worst for me . The first time I had them I couldn’t figure out why I kept throwing up and then dry heaving. The ER Doc said it’s the body’s natural reaction to the pain , it thinks it’s been poisoned and it’s trying to get the bad stuff out . The last time I had them they had to break them up because they were to big to pass and put stents in . I’m glad I was out for that , and when they removed them . 

[Captain Bill Burt]

The urgent care doctor tried to tell me I had gout last week.  I said no, go back and look at the X-rays again.  Sure enough it was a broken bone, not gout.  Not sure which is worse.

[Rip Snorter]

Just now, Captain Bill Burt said:

The urgent care doctor tried to tell me I had gout last week.  I said no, go back and look at the X-rays again.  Sure enough it was a broken bone, not gout.  Not sure which is worse.

Having had both, the difference is that you have to do something to break the bone, usually it heals and you are out of there.  The dam' gout can ambush you any time, no accident, incident, or warning.

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

I've had both gout and stones (kidney and gall).  My doc tells me that the search for a dietary cause is a waste of time; after years of trying to eliminate my triggers, he put me on Allopurinol, and it has done the trick for me, without side effects.  

 

Kidney stone pain is the worst I have had; I made such a howling in the ER one night that my wife threatened the nurse with a malpractice suit if they did not give me something for the pain; we knew exactly what was wrong from past experience, but the nurse was reluctant to administer anything stronger than aspirin until the doctor that was on call came in (3:00 A.M. on a Sunday); she finally held the phone up so that he could appreciate the level of my distress; I got an immediate injection of morphine and slid peacefully into La La Land.

 

I had an odd episode several years ago.  I was having an attack affecting one large toe.  My young son was seated across the table from me, and as kids are prone to do, he swung his feet.  Smacked my toe straight on.  Flash of pain, followed by an audible "snap" like a cracking knuckle, except the sections of the joint were compressed.  And then....nothing.  immediate relief from the pain.  Doc guesses that the movement of the joint smashed the crystals in the joint, but that must have been an amazingly perfect alignment.

 

LL

[Linn Keller, SASS 27332, BOLD 103]

My father has never had kidney stones; he said gout was the worst pain of his life.

He's had good success with cherries as a treatment.  Ripe, red cherries.