Gout

[XCashier]

Saturday, woke up with my left foot swollen and hurting like hell. Sunday, it was still hurting, so went to UrgentCare. It's gout. Huzzah, I have the disease of kings. (Why can't I have the riches of kings instead?!)

So, I'm having to make a lot of dietary and lifestyle changes. Wish me luck.

[MoonCat]

Bummer! Good luck to you! I assume they have info and stuff for you?

[Teefies2]

I suffer from it as well. I have found that reducing red meat and fats from the diet helped me. Good luck to you, know that you have a sister-in-arms

[AccountingDrone]

Lucky - dietary control is not as difficult as it could be now. More availability of foods now. Though while I was in midst of being diagnosed I sat down with my nutritionist and we slogged through the recommendations for the low purine gout diet, the diabetic requirements and noted that they are effectively diametrically opposed. *sigh* Made me glad I have chondrocalcinosis instead [well, in a manner of speaking. No clue what causes flares, can only be treated with meds and not diet so there really isn't much I can do to avoid a flare other than hammer down colchicine and indocin at need.]

My brother has standard gout, he found he almost oddly defaulted to a moderately low carb diet avoiding the legumes and stuff that is higher in purines. He wasn't much for red meat and fatty foods anyway so his changes weren't so drastic as someone who lives on cheeseburgers and pizza =)

[XCashier]

Bummer! Good luck to you! I assume they have info and stuff for you?

Yep. I also checked online. From what I'm seeing, it's mostly meats that are the problem; even high-purine vegetables are okay for the diet in moderation. So basically I have to go mostly-vegetarian, lots of fruit, veggies, whole grains, low-fat dairy and no more than six ounces of meat (preferably lean chicken) per day. Oh, and lots of water, tea is okay, no more soda.

The problem is, I'm on my own on this diet. No one else in the family will help. Son's an insanely picky eater, hubby's only slightly better. I hate having to do things on my own, even though I've had to all my life.

[csquared]

Me too.

You may want to talk with your doctor about meds. I am taking Allopurinal to control the Uric Acid and Colchicine for pain relief.

As your Uric Acid levels drop, the crystals in your joints will dissolve. This can be just as painful as the inflammation. The first couple of months on Allopurinal, I had several flair ups. Thay have been few and far between since.

[Kit-Ginevra]

Amputation.Quick and easy solution.

[dalesys]

Amputation.Quick and easy solution.

Right. Your neck, por favor?

After all, soupicide is painless...

[XCashier]

Amputation.Quick and easy solution.

That solution doesn't have a leg to stand on.

I am taking Allopurinal to control the Uric Acid and Colchicine for pain relief.

They gave me the Colchicine for the gout flares and Oxycodone (generic Percoset) for the pain.

As your Uric Acid levels drop, the crystals in your joints will dissolve. This can be just as painful as the inflammation.

Thanks for the warning. The swelling is going down, slowly. I can walk, a little, and it still hurts, though not quite as bad. I've been eating better, so it seems to be so far, so good.

[Aria]

I had gout exactly once... after a really bad cold that gave me a wicked sore throat. So bad that I didn't want to swallow so I wasn't drinking much at all. I'm convinced that caused it.

The medication I was given was amazing, though. One day I was in horrible pain and the next day it was almost gone.

[AccountingDrone]

Amputation.Quick and easy solution.

I joke with my doc that is what I would like to do whenever I end up with a chondro flare ... then I point out that with my luck I would end up with phantom pains ... *sigh*

[Crossbow]

I've had gout for years, and have been on medication to control uric acid levels. The only real dietary factor I ran into was shellfish. Cutting way down on the amount of shrimp I eat helped a lot. I never was a huge red meat eater to begin with, so that wasn't a big deal...