Recovering From Gout

Hi there Yvonne! It is good to be back to "see" all the familiar posters.

My brother-in-law takes Allopurinol, but the doctor (a rheumatologist) did not recommend that for me since I had only had two episodes and they were years apart. I believe Allopurinol is a drug that is taken "from now on" like blood pressure meds; my BIL takes it every day. The doctor said if I developed more frequent attacks then she would put me on it, but so far, so good.

I don't like taking steroids but I can say that in my case, they were miraculous in stopping the gout. My foot was totally swollen and there was "fever" in the joint. When stepping into bath water, the pain was like a bad burn. Just weird and something I'd rather not experience again!!

I hope Hal is feeling better now; I know how terrible gout is.

 

Thanks, Beth!

My gout is gone, and I'm glad that the Naxypropenozyadide medication worked for you, Beth!

During my "Bout with Gout", I lost 8 pounds, largely from eliminating the "Cowboy Diet" of Beef, Beans, and Beer! (Actually Rum & Coke)

Cherries were also a big factor in neutralizing the Uric Acid crystals in my joints.

Hal

 

I don't know what "Naxypropenozyadide" is; I used Naproxen and a steroid dose pack
(methylprednisolone). I got no results whatsoever from cherries but I'm glad they helped you. Gout is pure misery.

I didn't make any major changes to my diet other than cutting out beer while I was having the flare up. (Not that I drink a lot of it but I enjoy one occasionally.) It has been 4 years but the memory is still vivid!

 

I believe the naxypro whachmacalit is just another fig newton in the imagination of the writer. Not that I’m a pharmacist mind you but after having the inability to break the word down I went to doctor Google for guidance and found absolutely nada.

 

It's no wonder...I made up that word!
Howl

 

Yeah, we already figured that out. But here’s the thing. This is a forum and yes, there is a lot of bull being thrown around but normally it’s in the right places and at the right time.

Because of a search engine, I was sent to another forum a half hour ago as a non-member because I was looking for some answers to a problem I am having with a commercial piece of equipment.
My exact same problem was being discussed and every answer was serious and to the point which made my life a little easier and financially better than it would have been had I not looked for some good opinions coupled with experience. I like that. A serious subject with serious people giving serious answers.

Your imaginary “cure” is probably being viewed by a whole bunch of people with your same problem or worse and yet you give them nada but a miracle cure that doesn’t exist.
For every member on line right now there are probably 20 or more non-members viewing this forum and undoubtedly, since gout is a real problem with a lot of people, someone took your bull seriously and is hoping their doctor can prescribe it.
Though you may think the whole affair is funny, to someone who needs some real relief, your imagination ain’t funny.

 

Bumping the ole' gout thread (RIP, Hal). Since having cancer treatment in 2021 I have had more frequent gout attacks. I recall that on the day I had cancer surgery, I had to limp through the hospital since I wasn't allowed any Naproxen or steroids prior to the surgery. During my cancer treatment I was never told that the cancer drugs could be increasing uric acid levels in my blood.

I have had minor skirmishes with gout in my foot that are usually short-lived since I keep a supply of Naproxen. It used to be that 2 or 3 days of the anti-inflammatory would knock out the gout for a while. Unfortunately, my latest flare has been going on for a couple of weeks and the Naproxen has not worked. Today I called my PCP who sent a steroid dose-pak. Ahhhhhh, relief!

I plan to discuss the various prescription medicines such as Allopurinol when I see her next month. I was told by a rheumatologist that Allopurinol is not recommended during an active gout episode but can be started once the symptoms dissipate. I also read this tidbit on the Mayo Clinic website...

"Allopurinol is used to prevent or lower high uric acid levels in the blood. It is also used to prevent or lower excess uric acid levels caused by cancer medicines or in patients with kidney stones. A high uric acid level can cause gout or gouty arthritis (joint pain and inflammation)."

All that blather to say... is anyone taking Allopurinol or any other Rx for gout? Do you have side effects and is the medicine effective against gout? How much monitoring is done for this type of prescription medicine? Any info appreciated.

 

My Dr Berg recommendations:

 

Henry VIII had very bad gout, and he ate almost all meat, with wine of course, but I don't think he drank beer. I would have to see a lot more data to believe that sodium bicarb would cure gout.

 

Ditto. I have tried most of the widely-touted "treatments"... tart cherry juice, celery juice, apple cider vinegar, changing my diet, etc., etc. NONE of them make any difference at all in my experience, though many people claim that they are miracle cures. I am not going to spend hundreds of dollars on "natural" unregulated supplements when I can get an actual medicine for a $5 copay. The only relief I get is from good old Big Pharma... steroids and Naproxen. I probably should go back to the rheumatologist to make sure I don't have rheumatoid arthritis as it is often mistaken for gout. Can that diagnosis be made from blood work or are x-rays used?

I'm reading up on the various gout prevention medicines and believe I will start with the old standby Allopurinol. It seems to be tried and true. I was hoping to hear other people's experience with it but I suppose it really doesn't matter since we are all different when it comes to medication response.

 

All the "alkalinizing" and such just makes me question the idea. The human body pH stays between 7.35 and 7.45, a very tight range, and anything you do to change it gets peed out through the kidneys. If the body's pH goes outside this range, you can get very, very sick (alkalosis/acidosis). Ingesting sodium bicarb just changes the pH of the stomach and makes it hard to digest protein. I don't know about a baking soda compress. There could be some validity to that...don't know. I never saw any evidence in the 60 years I spent in healthcare of an autoimmune component to gout either. although there cold be one. We don't know everything. It IS an inflammatory process, however, and that is why naproxen is one of the recommended treatments. Allopurinol is the go-to for uric acid, but colchicine also works by a different mechanism.

Rheumatoid arthritis is normally screened for using a blood test-- the RA (rheumatoid arthritis) or RF (rheumatoid factor). It tests for the antibody that is responsible for the disease. Gout generally begins in the feet/toes, although it can start elsewhere. RA often starts in the hands/fingers, although it, too, can start in other joints.

Does this look like an autoimmune process to you?

https://www.2minutemedicine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/gout.jpg

 

LOL. I have no idea what I'm looking at. I have been reading quite a bit and I believe my symptoms are definitely gout. For one thing, the joint pain/swelling/"fever" are always in the big toe joint on my left foot. Most recently it seems to also be spreading to the second toe joint.

I have only recently learned that cancer treatment can exacerbate gout. My oncologist knew I had gout (and so did my PCP), so I have to wonder why they didn't prescribe Allopurinol or something similar during my cancer treatment.

 

It is a photomicrograph of uric acid in synovial (joint) fluid. The pain of gout is attributed to those little needles stabbing the joint tissues. I just didn't get Dr. Berg alluding to an autoimmune process. Autoimmune syndromes/diseases stay with you for life and don't turn on and off to my knowledge, like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis etc. They are generally treated with some form of immune suppression.