Gout flare up...

[MaryB]

No gout but fibromyalgia flare ups. Never have figured out the trigger. Docs keep saying I should have gout but never had the symptoms.

[Parson]

I use black cherry juice concentrate from the health food store, black works best

[wallenba]

It's almost midnight, pain has gone from a 10 to an 8. Just had corn flakes and skim milk with a banana for dinner. Chugging water, took two Tylenol at 6 PM. More cherry juice and some dried cherries. Kept foot elevated. Took my allopurinol at 8 PM. Walking is a bit better now. I can bend my toes a bit now, and swelling and temperature of joint is down. Should be better in the AM.

Oddly, my last attack was after I switched to whole grain breads. Stopped that, got better. Doc said, that too is bad for gout. Yesterday, for the first time in ages, I had shredded wheat for breakfast... yep, whole grain again. Weird. I do take a diuretic, Amiloride. Doc never said anything about that. Have to ask him next time I see him.

Thanks for the commiseration guys, and for reminding me about the cherries.

[6bg6ga]

I should mention the last bout with it ended up with me being off work a full week. The medicines had zero effect. I couldn't walk and ended up crawling like a little kid. The cherries Like I mentioned in a prior post didn't do anything except put money in the grocers pocket. I even asked the MD. about cherries and he laughed and said what I already had discovered. He said they don't do a thing. Been thru all the internet recipes and tried all of them without any good results.

[rnelson11]

A prescription medicine called "Indomethicin" works miracles for my gout. I carried the stuff all the time in my "work bag" for years, and when I felt the beginnings of an attack a dose of the stuff PREVENTED the attack.... it just never develops into a full-blown occurrence. Wonderful stuff, at least for me.

Come to think of it, I haven't had an attack in years, but man alive.... those who've never had gout should:

1) thank their lucky stars, and

2) hope they never do get it

because the pain is simply indescribable.

I have the same drug and have done the same thing for years.

[6bg6ga]

Your lucky. I must have had a severe attack because indomethicin didn't help me. Simply had to wait a week before I could get my shoes back on.

[Beagle333]

Cherry juice does seem to speed it up for me.... but I will guess that the cure is like the trigger....... 'different for everybody. I can eat all the beans I want.... tons of em! But chocolate cake on the same day as a beer and I can't walk for a week (thank Goodness mine have never exceeded a week).... but my cousin can eat a forkful of beans and be down for 2 weeks. My buddy can eat 1 shrimp off a cocktail tray and be down for 2 weeks. Neither of us are bothered by the other person's triggers. Cherry juice helps them. But I know several others who have different triggers, and cures.

[wallenba]

Well, here I am again. Pain this AM is intense, back with a vengeance. Feeling desperate, almost can't think straight. Will call the doc first thing Monday if not getting better. Putting it under cold water for a few seconds now and then helps, temporarily. Tylenol is doing little or nothing. Thought I was improving last night. Not!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I'm feeling sorry for you brother.

My friend who I previously offered his advice to you in a previous post, stopped by last night and he is going through a flare up now as well, it started on tuesday, he hasn't had a flare up for a couple years and he credits the Celery seed extract, which I mentioned in that previous post. His cure was to take this everyday as a preventative, well he stopped taking it about a month ago, now he regrets stopping. Maybe it was just a coincidence?

Interesting tidbit, Celery seed extract has a diuretic effect, natural and gentle as opposed to most medications. I commented to him that others on CB said a diuretic was Bad. He said, you have to keep drinking lots of water and he believes that gentle and natural diuretic action helps flush the system of uric acid...in conjunction with drinking lots of water. I am no doctor, and neither is my friend...but I think that would be a good question for your Doctor when you see him on monday.
Jon

[ph4570]

If you can get some prednisone that will get you out of pain within hours -- at least it does for me. I would not have survived the attacks on my knee without it.

[6bg6ga]

I think the key to it is drinking water. The other little cures are just coincedence according to MD's I have consulted. I spent probably $50 on cherrys and dark cherry juice ..no effect. Prednisone no effect other than making me sweat. My Dr had me take more water pills. I'm convenced once you get it runs its course and our over it.

[Mtnfolk75]

My better lookin' half was first afflicted with this curse about 10 years ago. Docs put her on a Blister-pac of Alipurinol and it seemed to tame it some. After several more bouts they put her on a daily dose of it. Black Cherry Juice does work well for her, so she keeps some on hand and tries to drink some daily.

I have never had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Gout, but about 2 years ago the Doc put me on a daily dose of Alipurinol because of high Uric Acid. Guess I have been LUCKY .....

wallenba, you have my prayers, sympathy & just plain good thoughts. I hope it gets better for you.

[jcwit]

Sincerely hope you get over it ASAP.

[RugerFanOH]

Ask your Doctor for a MedrolPak (methylprednisolone) with refills for a flare up.

Colchicine has been around forever, is effective and was inexpensive, but:

(from wikipedia)
Oral colchicine had been used for many years as an unapproved drug with no prescribing information, dosage recommendations, or drug interaction warnings approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).^[8] On July 30, 2009 the FDA approved colchicine as a monotherapy for the treatment of three different indications (familial Mediterranean fever, acute gout flares, and for the prophylaxis of gout flares^[8]), and gave URL Pharma a three-year marketing exclusivity agreement^[9] in exchange for URL Pharma doing 17 new studies and investing $100 million into the product, of which $45 million went to the FDA for the application fee. URL Pharma raised the price from $0.09 per tablet to $4.85, and the FDA removed the older unapproved colchicine from the market in October 2010 both in oral and IV form, but gave pharmacies the opportunity to buy up the older unapproved colchicine.^[10] Colchicine in combination with probenecid has been FDA approved prior to 1982.<sup>[9]

I can only encourage forum members to contact their legislators to have the medication restored to the generic, inexpensive class!

Indomethacin is a potent antiinflammatory that can be very effective but can increase the risk of ulcers, it is usually safe for a 7 day period, always follow the advice of your Physician.

Organ meats are the worse, chemotherapy for cancer can also affect uric acid levels.</sup>

[wallenba]

Spent most of the day on my back watching episodes of Dr. Pol on Netflix. Got bored after a marathon Heifer palpating hour. Got up to go to the reloading room just to fiddle around. God said "go back and watch tv!". I got the message when a dummy 45-70 405 grainer rolled of the desk and just missed my offending toe. Just came in here to check in with the guys, now, to bed. Goodnight.

[Taylor]

I get it in the big toe on right foot.I think it is starting to develop in my thumbs. I can tell when it is coming on,so I take 800mg ibuprofen,that settles it down.But I have catch it before it s full blown.I was told that fish will trigger it too.

[wallenba]

I get it in the big toe on right foot.I think it is starting to develop in my thumbs. I can tell when it is coming on,so I take 800mg ibuprofen,that settles it down.But I have catch it before it s full blown.I was told that fish will trigger it too.

Yep, some species more that others. I'm allergic to scombroid species (trout, salmon, mackerel, tuna, mahi-mahi, and a few others) I can eat most white fishes. Some veggies are triggers too, asparagus was involved in my first ever attack. I think most any kind of meat. There are charts which show the purine levels of foods.


The skin around my big toe and ball joint on the side of the foot are like a taut balloon, red and swollen. I used my infra-red thermometer I use to check my mold temps on it. There is an 11 degree difference between the left and right toes. Silly I guess, but my mind is idle. Nothing to do, because I can't do much.

Pain affects the brain. I sent a PayPal payment to GunLoads because the subscription notice came from them. Then I got another PayPal notice later telling me that the automated payment kicked in. Oh well, it's going to a good place. I'm in day five. Longest flare up so far.

[Lance Boyle]

I get it periodically too. I was on allipurol for a few years until I moved and haven't found a new doc yet.

Big toes, a knee and an elbow once. Lost a few weeks of work before I got on allipurol. Now I feel an attack coming on I'll pretty much stop eating and just drink water.

My first episode was during the holiday season; too much shrimp, lobster, prime rib, and red wines and desserts. I thought I somehow broke my big toe during the night and didn't remember it. (I did consume a fair amount of wine)

The cherry juice did nothing for me. I tried fresh bing cherries too. A real mild onset and I'll change up diet and guzzle water with some ibuprofen. If it gets bad I'll go to the indemethicin which I'm about out of.

FWIW as my doc described it, indemethicin does nothing to fix the problem with the imbalance in your blood stream/joints, all it is is an anti inflammatory agent. The allipurol does cause you dump the purines into your urine and out of your blood stream.

For me it's lots of red meats or pork bbq , and seafood that triggers it, throw alcohol in the mix and it's a likely thing instead of a possible thing. Bean soup or baked beans is as bad or worse than the meats for triggering an attack for me. I have had days where I walked around the house using a kitchen chair as a crutch. Thankfully in the last few years I've only had minor attacks that I was able to fight off quickly.

prednisone is another way to go instead of the indemethicin, I have some stomach issues too and I've gone from gout to gut pain. A PA friend of mine that works with my doc put me on the prednisone when I had both maladies at once likely from the indemethicin triggering the gut issue.

ETA you do really want to keep from having the attacks, you are getting some permanent damage in your joints from the crystals that will give you grief when you age into the arthritis zone.

[Lance Boyle]

Try water dropping your bad toe.

[wallenba]

I found this on the net. One of it's sources is the Mayo clinic. Interesting apple info http://www.symptomfind.com/health/ho...eve-gout-pain/

I peeled and cut up a few golden delicious and put them in my mini crock pot. Tasted good. Not helping... yet.