GOUT

Welcome, King, from another UC sufferer. I've blessedly never had gout, but my nephew does. I know it can be very painful, and you have my sympathy for sure. Hopefully another gout-sufferer will be along to talk with you.

Good to hear back, guys.....and thanks for the kind words, Judy2. I joined this site not too long ago (never joined one of this nature dealing with health issues) in hopes of sharing experiences and hear some other people's stories to ease my own thought of my state of dis-ease. I had read many posts and various topic and I must say that I really do not have it as bad as many others. It has also helped me therapeutically as well by talking about my ailments...I have found, in my experience that some people wish not to discuss these matters as it may makes them feel "embarrassed or ashamed"....but there is nothing to hide, we all get sick, we all have health problems (sooner or later) and we all will die (not to sound depressing). Anyway, bottom line- I am glad that I joined this site.

My mother suffers from gout. She's on a mainance dose of 300mg of allapurinal. She also takes cranberry extract daily.

A good read....


www.homeremediesforall.com/gout-diet-foods-to-avoid.html

mscrowbar said...
I have never experienced gout myself but my brother and father in law do. My father in law says that he buys a bag of dried dark cherries and pops 3 or 4 of them in his mouth a few times a day and within two or three days the symptoms subside. I passed that info on to my brother who is the biggest skeptic I know. He bought the cherries and two days later he was better.

I know it sounds silly but it helped two people I know, so maybe it could help others.

The dark dried cherries are found with the raisins and other dried fruits in a regular food store.

If you try it, please, let me know how it did/did not work for you.

take care,

Yes, I had tried the cherries and also the black cherry juice concentrate at the health food store. They are good to take for maintenance but for a full blown-flare, I need some strong drugs, ie. steroids and pain meds.

Coffee Lovers.......


www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/beverages/coffee/drinking_coffee_may_well_help_your_gout.html

pmedic said...
My father had severe gout and after trying a few medications, he was then prescribed colchicine and it worked wonders for him.

Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!

Thanks! Colchicine is effective, but for me it aggravates my UC....lol.

Gout is a form of arthritis -- an inflammation of the joints -- that causes sudden, severe attacks of pain, tenderness, redness, warmth, and swelling in some joints. It usually affects one joint at a time although it can be in several joints at once.  As we do not have a forum dedicated to gout discussing it in the arthritis forums is a good idea.

I am glad to read your medications work for you.  Thank you for sharing with us.  Your input is truly appreciated.

Kindly,

Kitt

 

I had my first gout flare-up in 2005. Since then, I had several more usually the big toe, but a finger or two sometimes flared. Over the years I found out that certain foods, drugs, or food supplements can cause a flare-up. In my case, I discovered three possible culprits.

The first was the niacin supplement I was taking for HDL increase. I was taking it instead of the drug Niaspan, which my cardiologist recommended. Since I was taking it for cholesterol issues, I was forced to take it at pharmaceutical dosages 1500mg. a day. When I found out (on my own) that niacin could be one possible cause, I temporarily stopped it. Didn't help.

The second was pistachio nuts. I read that they also raise HDL levels and, over a two year period, ate 1/4 cup a day of shelled, unsalted pistachio nuts, which raised my HDL levels from 43 to 57!! Unfortunately, when I temporarily stopped eating them, after finding out they also could exacerbate gout flare-ups, nothing happened.

The third, and most surprising, was aspirin. I was taking 81mg (baby aspirin) every day after my heart attack/bypass surgery on the advice of my cardiologist. Once I found out that it could cause a flare-up, I temporarily stopped it. The ongoing flare-up I had (last year) went into remission. I've since stopped the aspirin regimen altogether, while continuing pistachios and niacin (though at only 500mg. as I've found other supplements that raise HDL very well). I haven't had ANY gout flare-ups since stopping the aspirin regimen and despite continuing the niacin and pistachios.

The take-away? It may not be what you DO that helps, but what you STOP doing. Doctors may not be of much use as they simply don't usually know which drugs, food, or food supplements can cause a flare-up.