gout

what are the symptoms and treatments for gout?

[TrudieC]

If you click on the blue Gout at the top of this page  you will see some good information.  It can cause pain in the feet and legs but a lot of people suffer it in their big toes.  The drug cochicine can help as well as restricting your intake of aspirin, alcohol, red meats and high fat foods.

[bigkev414]

Gout symptoms are usually a sore big toe joint (or knee occasionally) which gets red  suddenly overnight without warning and becomes excruciatingly painful. So painful that even the weight of a bedsheet is agony! You can't put a sock on, let alone a shoe. Treatment can be prescribed medication such as colchicine but be warned; the side affects can be horrific! The only treatment that works for me when i get it occasionally is an into inflammatory injection right into the joint. That is so painful that usually they give you gas, but it clears up in about 48 hours. Otherwise it can last for several weeks. If you do nothing and have gout it won't go away until it's ready and you must see a doctor. The best preventative I, and thousands of other people have found WHICH ACTUALLY WORKS is to take BLACK CHERRY CONCENTRATE daily. This does reduce the uric acid level in your system which causes the gout pain. I have proven this by having blood tests one year apart, and  always had a high uric acid level but after taking the cherry concentrate the level was NORMAL. The doctor was amazed. You will know if you have gout, believe me! good luck

[edokeeper]

There are two types of gout - one from uric acid crystals and one from calcium (called psuedogout.)  There is an enzyme that your body makes to deal with purines and folks with gout either don't make it or don't make enough.  The basic course is to avoid fast weight loss, foods high in purines (there is a website that lists all the foods but the ones that surprised me were oats, beans, fruit and nightshade plants.  Give up tomato sauce. bell peppers and eggplant!  Geesh!)  Asparagus has been on the list for ages, as has shellfish, small oily fish such as sardines and anchovy, organ meat, turkey and red meat.  Alcohol is also a no-no.  According to the gout website, only 5% of all gout sufferers are women.  The test to determine which type you have is to aspirate the fluid from the affected joint during an outbreak.  You may not feel this is necessary since the medication is the same for both but the diets are different.


If you have repeated bouts, as I do, you can take allopurinol to deal with the purines.  It won't prevent every outbreak but it will prevent most.  Colchicine is a two thousand year old treatment for gout attacks - do NOT take it daily unless you have an attack.  The stuff is really toxic to your liver and will age you overnight.  There is another drug, than cholchicine, which starts with an E and escapes my brain right now and it is much kinder to the body.  It doesn't work for everyone (didn't for me but did VERY well for a friend.)  Start with that one, not the cholchicine.

What does if feel like?  Like your joint is full of tiny razor blades that have been heated red hot.  Even when you don't have an outbreak, you can sometimes feel those little razors sharpening up.  The joint swells and turns a livid red.  It can be hot to the touch but may not be.  When I get it in my knees, I get these hot, red spots just below the patella.  No swelling and it is among my shortest bouts.

It may be sensitive to pressure (your sheets or your socks) but might not be.  You can also develop nodes on the spaces between joints.  I had one for years along side my left pinkie that one morning just deflated.  Soon after, one formed above the nail root in my right great toe.  They can become permanent.  I have had it in my great toe a few times and I now have a small bunion type deformation at the base of that toe.

Some people are lucky and just get one bout every several years or in their lifetime.  Some folks, like my Dad, get it several times a year.  

You can have two panels included in your regular blood work - one for uric acid and one for calcium.  You may find that a dietary change makes more than enough difference in either that you might never need the medications.