~Husband diagnosed with Gout~Any Advice?~

[FlowerFairy]

Hi Donna,
NSAIDS have helped a lot of people,me for one,however,they can irritate the stomach and can lead to gastrointestinal bleeding and peptic ulcers..that's why you should take them with food or an antacid and not on an empty stomach. They are hard on your kidneys as well and like a lot of other medications have a lot more side effects than what I have mentioned here. I'm having a major flare up with my arthritis and my Dr. told me NOT to take anything(NSAIDS)because i'm haveing some kidney problems. He said if I absolutely had to take something for my arthritis,to take Bextra b/c it was easier on my kidneys. It doesn't work for me so i'm just toughing it out.

[Orkrist]

I also have gout, and it started when I was 28 (I'm 30 right now, on my third attack in as many years). It is the worst. Nothing works for me, Ibuprofen doesn't do anything, Indomethacin doesn't do anything, its horrible. I would almost prefer amputation. Then I would just get it somewhere else.

I see everwhere on- line about how gout is "easily remedied", but this is bull. The only thing that worked for me was going totally vegetarian, and even a limited vegetarian diet, taking an herbal supplement (Gout Cure, not a plug, for some it does nothing), drinking tons of water, totally eliminating alcohol, and dropping some weight. Problem is, I work two jobs and go to law school full time and it just isn't the best time for major life style changes. Also, every gout diet you see is contradictory: brown rice v. white rice, eat banannas, don't eat banannas, soy is good, soy is the devil. I just steer clear of red meat, shellfish, and pork. I eat chicken and turkey, but not during an attack. Frankly it doesn't seem to matter, once you have an attack it seems to just do its own thing. I should probably have a steak dinner tonight with a nice Red Zin, just to pass the time until it goes away. Kidding.

Anyway, Gout is infuriating and debilitating. I wish everyone luck in their treatment of it. Once this attack subsides, I'm trying allopurinol. My father takes it and it seems to work. He does not drink at all and watches his diet soomewhat with regards to purine levels.

Good Luck All

[1btg]

Originally posted by Orkrist:
I also have gout, and it started when I was 28 (I'm 30 right now, on my third attack in as many years). It is the worst. Nothing works for me, Ibuprofen doesn't do anything, Indomethacin doesn't do anything, its horrible. I would almost prefer amputation. Then I would just get it somewhere else.

I see everwhere on- line about how gout is "easily remedied", but this is bull. The only thing that worked for me was going totally vegetarian, and even a limited vegetarian diet, taking an herbal supplement (Gout Cure, not a plug, for some it does nothing), drinking tons of water, totally eliminating alcohol, and dropping some weight. Problem is, I work two jobs and go to law school full time and it just isn't the best time for major life style changes. Also, every gout diet you see is contradictory: brown rice v. white rice, eat banannas, don't eat banannas, soy is good, soy is the devil. I just steer clear of red meat, shellfish, and pork. I eat chicken and turkey, but not during an attack. Frankly it doesn't seem to matter, once you have an attack it seems to just do its own thing. I should probably have a steak dinner tonight with a nice Red Zin, just to pass the time until it goes away. Kidding.

Anyway, Gout is infuriating and debilitating. I wish everyone luck in their treatment of it. Once this attack subsides, I'm trying allopurinol. My father takes it and it seems to work. He does not drink at all and watches his diet soomewhat with regards to purine levels.

Good Luck All

Hello there Orkrist and the rest of the fellow gout sufferers. Allopurinol, (or zyloprym), it's a long term medication and once you start using it , you must use it for the rest of your life. What allopurinol does, is "fooling" your body into cut down on uric acid production because that is what allopurinol does, causes a gout attack and when you first start taking it you need to take "COLCHICINE" with it.

Colchicine is the only drug that miraculusly dismantles uric acid crystals from the affected joint.
UA crystals attack the cartlige of the joint and not the bone, causing extreme inflamation and excruciating pain. COLCHICINE is the drug of choice for an accute gout attack. Colchicine does not work with any other type of arthritis!. If you take this drug and the gout don't go away , it's not gout attack but some other form of arthritic pain.

Drinking alcohol it's not a proven fact that will bring on a gout attack. I stopped drinking years ago and I still get vengefull gout. Cherries don't work either, at least not on me. I noticed that potato chips or anything deep fried causes me an attack. Any foods high in purines, must be avoided. (Like sardines or anchovies, sweetbreads, livers and other organ meats).

One thing is for sure, colchicine is the miracle anti accute gout attack drug and it's so inexpensive. They make that out of saffron roots.

I also want to note that I never touched allopurinol.
I hope all of you have as less attacks as possible.

[sjg2752]

Hi All,
I was wondering when anyone was going to mention Colchicine,and Allopurinol. I know more men than women usually have Gout.But my mother developed Gout Arthritis along with Osteo. The DR.she was going to put her on Colchicine & it gave her diarrea bad. Then she cut the dosage down,and also gave her Allopurinol.
But she told her when she had a flare up of the gout to stopped taking the allopur'l & just take the colchic'e which was totally wrong. Well she was really suffering.So I decided it was time to change Drs.And am I glad we did. The DR. we have now told her to always take the Allopurin'l & when the Gout flared up to take the colchic'e for a few days with it.She also put her on a higher dose of Allpurin'l ,and as luck would have it. She hasn't had much of a problem at all with Gout. I think in the last 6 months she has only had to add colchc'e once for just 2 days. So this has really worked for her,and I'm sure glad I got fed up with the other DR.& switched to a new DR. Good luck to all of you.I sure hope you all feel better soon. sjg

[zip2play]

I came down with gout about 25 years ago and it was 15 years ago that it was finally diagnosed although I suspected it far longer. Until the "podagra" or big toe attack comes, most doctors flounder around without a clue.

Anyhoo,

Daily allopurinol of 200 mg/day has prevented all but one attack in the last 10 years which was brought on by a massive indulgence in milk chocolate for several days (high in xanthines- uric acid precursors). Now if I'm having a chocolate feast, I turn up the allopurinol to 300 mg. and can eat anything I want and still keep my uric acid below 6.
The massive attack I spoke of took 16 colchicine to abort (never again.)

If you have gout, don't screw around with it, get on allopurinol. Uncontrolled, the disease is a killer and will destroy your kidneys as well as your joints.