[Newfie]

Gout! Harrumph!

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'G')out! Harrumph!

[GHung]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'G')out! Harrumph!

[dohboi]

Yes, lots of water is a good idea. And I hear sour cherries are also useful. Unfortunately, beer seems to be a major culprit here wrt gout!

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dohboi', 'Y')es, lots of water is a good idea. And I hear sour cherries are also useful. Unfortunately, beer seems to be a major culprit here wrt gout!

[dohboi]

Sorry to hear you have this, T. It is said to be the most painful kind of arthritis there is. It is also in my family, and I have had a bout or two...not looking forward to the next ones!

Does that drug have any side effects?

[Tanada]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('dohboi', 'S')orry to hear you have this, T. It is said to be the most painful kind of arthritis there is. It is also in my family, and I have had a bout or two...not looking forward to the next ones!

Does that drug have any side effects?

[Newfie]

Those rare folks allergic to Allopurinal? That’s me! The ONE thing I allergic to. I’ve a MD friend who claims to have lost a patient to the stuff. My gout flares are pretty mild, by comparison. I can usually keep them in check with ibuprofen

But I’ve got some other weird stuff going on as well. I’ve some kind of systemic inflammation that causes weird problems. Ibuprophen helps that a lot. I seem to be tolerating the level I take OK, no liver function issues. All the same I moderate it’s use as much as possible.

.

[jupiters_release]

My friend had gout whole adult life, went starch-free not just gluten-free, he's healthy now.

[diemos]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'W')e really need to find a way to wander back toward the thread topic.

[Rod_Cloutier]

Get a 2nd opinion. The doctors told me they thought that I had gout, and I suffered and suffered, avoiding uric acid, eating cherries ect. Nothing worked.

Later I went to another doctor and he suggested it was just a fungal infection on my foot, and he gave me a anti-fungal cream to put on it, which in turn cleared the issue up in about 10 days.

Just like lawyers vary in skill and capacities, doctors are the same. Shop around and get another opinion.

[Newfie]

Man do I hear you. All-in-all I’m pretty healthy. However I’ve had a long standing problem that no doctor has been willing to address. My current MD told me the symptoms were “next to impossible”.

Now the gout is gout and I pretty well know when I have it. My other is is a systemic inflammation of the nervous system that also creates depression. There is some research to indicate there is a feedback loop for a few between inflammation and depression; one can exacerbate the other.

In my case it started with sensations like having the flue, aches in the mussels. It developed into refered sensations, run a finger down my forearm and I’d feel it across the side of my head. Foot pain that would start at my right toe, move around to near the heal, cross to the left heel, and disappear in the left toe, to reappear in the right toe, over 36 hours. Now that’s flat weird.

Yet the MD keeps telling me it’s orthopedic, I need better shoes. So I humored hi, orthopedist sent me to physical therapist, they actually helped when I told them I wanted to work on my back. There I discovered my right side is less limber than my left, so I need to do stretching exercises.

I’m convienced I have some kind of neurological issue in my spine. My THEORY is my spine is agitating the CNS and creating an inflammation. Exercise and ibuprophen help. Laying around all day, like I’ve been doing recently (cabin fever on the boat due to bad weather) has agitated it. The 3 outer toes on my feet started to go numb. So I did some back exercises and all is good, well better. I do try to moderate the ibuprophen but sometimes I just gotta revert to it. MD is concerned about me taking too much, so I asked him for an alternative, so he asked how my pee stream was. Rigid thinking, I’m outside the box, does not compute, they might have to think. He is a decent guy just with limitations.

But NOW I’ve got this nifty international health insurance. Maybe I can find someone down here in the Carribean who has some fresh thoughts.

In the meantime I’m coping OK and doing better than most folks my age. I’m not about to let these quacks back home touch me.

[AdamB]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'G')out! Harrumph!

[MD]

indeed it does. I've had a couple of gout episodes. The crystals gathered into two old injury sites. One in the left foot. one in the right. Scar tissue is the culprit. Gave up beer, sodium, asparagus, and some other stuff as a result, and no more episodes. (asparagus? who knew?) Fortunately I have a mild case. Water, water, water. All day long. Might also help me avoid kidney stones. More painful crystals to be avoided at all costs!

[Outcast_Searcher]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Rod_Cloutier', 'G')et a 2nd opinion. The doctors told me they thought that I had gout, and I suffered and suffered, avoiding uric acid, eating cherries ect. Nothing worked.

Later I went to another doctor and he suggested it was just a fungal infection on my foot, and he gave me a anti-fungal cream to put on it, which in turn cleared the issue up in about 10 days.

Just like lawyers vary in skill and capacities, doctors are the same. Shop around and get another opinion.

[MD]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Outcast_Searcher', '
')
I have ended up mainly treating myself via watching my diet (for me beef, pork, and oriental foods (I suspect the spices) are gotchas), moderating the type of stress I put on my joints, etc. does more than anything doctors have suggested, .

[Newfie]

Yes to self doctoring. I’m less likely to do damage than they are.

[MD]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Newfie', 'Y')es to self doctoring. I’m less likely to do damage than they are.

[Newfie]

I’ve some good news, for me anyway, I think.

Long story short I’ve finally traced the source of my gout back to coffee or caffeine if all things. Conventional wisdoms is coffee is an anti-inflammatory. However there seems to be a minority of folks where it works differently. It’s especially bad if you are an episodic coffee drinker, in that case it works like Alipurinol and releases Utica acid into your system. It is well known tha alipurinol can cause a gout attack when starting the drug. Further I’m allergic to alipurinol.

I drank coffee regularally for 40 years and had physical problems the last 15 or so. Living on the boat I don’t drink coffee but tea and water. My symptoms decreased on the boat but came roaring back being here in Philly. After a few bad days I cut out coffee and the symptoms went away almost immediately. It also makes a significant change in my attitude, for the better. And it’s not just my feet and ankles but the muscles in my legs as well.

So it seems I’m in some small group of folks that have a odd ball reaction to coffee. I didn’t start out that way but it developed over the years. It got to be a real problem. No doctor has been able to help me. I’ve been to feet doctors and physical therapist, they have recommendations and exercises that are useful but didn’t address the core issue. I’ve been tested for Lyme Disease and other stuff. I’ve tried a number of diets. Nothing has worked.

It has been a short time so it remains to be seen if this is a permanent improvement. At this point the change is significant and I’m hopeful it’s for real and sustainable. We shall see.

I’ll miss coffee, OTOH rum seems to be no problem!