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Arthritis is somewhat related to gout (uric acid crystals involved) - hydration helps. Drink plenty of water.
My Doc told me that after a gout attack - said "I know you raise beef, and like your beer - you're not gonna give up either - so at least drink a beer, drink water, repeat."
Haven't had an attack in 3 years.

Mark

Indomethacin also works well, but is a very strong prescription Motrin. Must be taken with food.

I just had my first attack a few weeks ago, as I was rolling into hunting camp. My left toe was so swollen and painful, I could hardly push the clutch in my truck. I didn't sleep a wink that night.

The next morning I knew that tree stands were out of the question and I just went to a patch of woods in the middle of a big alfalfa field. Fortunately the deer were cooperative and I got an 8-point whitetail right off the bat.

The next day I went to a clinic and I got some colchicine, but the doctor told me that it would give me diarrhea if I took too much of it. The following morning I was feeling good enough for the 2-day drive home.

Next week I'm going to my regular doctor to see about getting a standing prescription for either alpurinol or indomethacin.

As for over-the-counter medicines, Advil seemed to help kill the pain better than Tylenol or Alieve.

I went to a P.A. at my regular clinic because my doc wasn't in. He said to take Naproxin (alleve) and by golly it worked. The trick is catching it early on. I know it hurts like a son of a gun and I feel for you.
I watch what I eat and haven't had an attack for several years now.

Bacon and asparagus seem to be triggers for me. I cut them out, still drink homebrew and have oatmeal every day. So far so good (knock on wood).

I've had gout attacks over the last 30 years. Started in my big toe but know occur in my foot or knee. They are rare, haven't had one in 3 yrs now but are painful when they occur. I've kept track of when they occur and for me there is no correlation to anything I'm eating or anything stressful in my life. They appear to be random flareups. I can generally tell that it is going to happen and take indomethicin immediately, this controls it very successfully and within hours or a day the pain is gone or greatly diminished. I NEVER go on a trip without having the indomethicin available and make sure I have a current prescription on hand at home. I've tried all the popular home cures, cherry juice etc and that didn't do squat for me.

It hit me after a couple days eating a lot of seafood. Never had it before or since, had my blood checked after a couple months on appurinol any uric acid was normal, quit the meds and checked it again in about six months and it was still normal. Was one of the worst pains I have had. Went up into my knee before it went away, I didn't understand it could do that I thought I was gona have to have a knee surgery. No more seafood binges for me.

It can also be caused by diuretics. If you ake tooo stro ng a dose it can dry out your kidneys and then they won't process trhough the acids that form the crystals in your joints. The efct of medications wil also increase becaue your body will ot eliminate the excess at the expected rate. Watch the kidney function through blood tests if you are on diuretics.

1B

I had gout for 20 years or more. Eventually I found that Black Cherry juice helped keep my uric accid under control and that helped. A year ago I went on a low carbohydrate diet to loose weight. Within weeks it was obvious the gout was better. After a month on the diet I never had a gout attack again. I can eat seafood and all the things that seemed to turn on me. I lost 40 pounds on the diet but the real payoff was lower blood preasure and getting rid of my gout problem........

Sorry to hear you have gout. I have a friend who has it and I've witnessed his flare ups...Damned awful stuff.

he tells me one of the worst triggers for him is shrimp, He suffers for weeks after eating the stuff.

I've been fighting it for years. You just have to figure out what triggers it in you, different for everyone. Pinto beans set it off in me like a bomb. Once you're on the allopurinol, don't miss a dose or the attacks can come back with a vengeance. Restarting allopurinol can cause an attack also. Colcrys will knock it out quickly if you get on it as soon as you feel the first twinges of an attack. As said, it is toxic, so stop taking it when you get the squirts, and you will. Doesn't work as well once you're in the middle of a full blown flare. I feel for you, it is an unbelievable pain.

Drink 10 glasses of water a day,it works to flush out your system,my Mother told mt that years back,and don't eat liver.Good Luck.,

for those that get these symptoms keep in mind that there is such a thing as pseudogout.....feels the same, acts the same but its a different crystal causing the pain so you need different meds as regular gout meds dont work....my dad went through hell till they figured out he had pseudogout and not the normal gout...

In my humble opinion (I am not a doctor but have been a gout sufferer), there is something missing in your treatment: you need also a real anti-inflammatory, like Ibuprofen or indometacin, because Colchicine is not anti-inflammatory.

Don't eat anything high in purines. Don't let yourself get dehydrated. Cherry juice and Indocin when you feel it coming on.

Deersmeller~

I have IgA Nephropathy, so anti-inflammatories that are processed through the kidneys are out of the question. I really wish I could.....

A diet change, as usual, will likely change your outcome. My brother had issues and with his diet adjusted and made them go away. Medication, as always, is the last resort IMO.

I understand.

Best wishes in dealing with your gout, I know by experience how painful and incapacitating it can be.

A doctor friend of mine sent me some links this morning, suggesting that black coffee can help prevent gout attacks:

http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts...sHopkinsArthritisHealthAlert_2895-1.html

http://arthritis.webmd.com/news/20070525/coffee-lowers-gout-risk

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/gout/DS00090/DSECTION=alternative-medicine

I find these studies confusing, as coffee is a natural diuretic, which is recommended that you avoid for gout flare-ups. But, as you can see, these come from fairly reputable web sites. So at least I don't have to give up everything I like!

I almost hesitate to mention it, but your recently going on allopurinol is likely what caused your gout attack. Allopurinol works by breaking down the coating on uric acid crystals. By the time you have a gout attack you've likely had elevated uric acid levels for years. It's in your muscle tissue all over your body, but the only place it really affects is your joints. When you start on allopurinol it breaks down the protein coating on the uric acid and your tissue starts releasing it into your bloodstream where it gets filtered out by your kidneys. For the first month or so on allopurinol you actually have elevated uric acid levels in your blood as your body purges it and because of that some ends up in your joints and causes a gout flare up. That's the reason they start you out on a low dosage, if they started you out on the full dose you'd get a bunch more uric acid in your bloodstream and REALLY have a bad case of it.

Don't stop taking the allopurinol, just realize what's happening and that it will get better when your body finally gets rid of the stored uric acid. It took about a month on allopurinol for me before it evened out. Hang in there and drink as much water as you can. Every time you piss you're getting rid of more uric acid and you're that much closer to getting it under control.