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Anyone else here suffer from gout?

I just had my first gout attack this week. Monday night, I got home from work and noticed my right big toe was hurting like a banshee. I figured I must have broken it at work (I have broken both of my big toes in the past), but I couldn't recall how. Went back to work on Tuesday, and it got worse. By Wednesday, it was even still worse. Thursday morning, my whole foot was inflamed, and I left work after just an hour, barely able to hobble.

Our family doc got me in right away, and after a blood draw and a couple of x-rays, it was confirmed as gout.

So I am looking at diet in conjunction with meds and exercise. I was wondering if anyone else here has experience with gout, and if they have found any particular foods that tend to exacerbate it.

This is the list I am operating off of:
http://www.gout.com/causes-triggers...iQ#/treating-gout-pain/healthy-lifestyle

Some of the foods that are high in purine are beef and lamb, beer, spinach, oatmeal, and certain fish like trout. My question is (and my doc couldn't answer this), caribou is a red meat, and we have been eating a lot it after I just recently shot two out on Adak Island. Is it high in purine? or other wild game for that matter? And salmon, while a "red meat" fish, is a relative of trout, which is on the list. Does smoked salmon (I have it 2x a day, at least 5 days a week) have high purine levels also?

And are there other foods not on the list that people have found to cause flare ups?

I don't have a family history of gout, and so this is all very new to me. I appreciate any help that you guys would be able to offer.

Thanks,

Jake

I'm new to it too but have it so bad right now I can barely walk. It sure has [bleep] up my hunting season this year.

Damn guys, sorry to hear this, dont know what triggers it, but an old Bud has it, and he drinks the hell outta cranberry juice, says it kills flareups fast.

Gunner

Having broken both of my big toes, I can tell you that I would have preferred breaking my toe to gout. It is not fun.

I am on codeine right now for pain management (which I never used for either of my toes, dental implant, or other uncomfortable surgeries I have had), and the colchicine hasn't done much for reducing the inflamation yet.

thanks, I will try the cranberry juice.

I don't know about cranberry juice but I do know that cherry juice or dried cherries (eat the whole bag) works. When I first thought the pain/swelling/inflamation might be gout I went to the grocer and bought/consumed a bag of dried cherries. Within 25 minutes 80% of the pain/swelling/ inflamation were gone. Still works for me. Stay away from shellfish and beef, especially cured or with nitrates. Other meats seem to be okay.

Good luck UJ.

Gunner

Jake,

I've had it a couple times....brought on by beer and shellfish [shrimp].....I eat lots of moose meat and have no problem there. My Doc has it also and he advised his remedy and it seems to work:,,,,,when you feel it coming on, take 4 Ibuprofen and eat cherries.....

Damned painful stuff!

Curses this bastard called gout!!!! I have had it since my late 20's and would almost not wish it on Obumbles. Damn bright sunshine on my toe in an attack is enough to cause some serious pain it seems.

+1 on the Cranberry juice and also Black Cherry juice or black cherry pills. You can get them at Walmart or any place that carries vitamins etc.

See a Dr. and get on Allopurinal and it will keep the attacks from happening. I also got some type of anti-inflamatory meds from my doc to take in the case of a flare up. They are liver toxic so you are supposed to use them sparingly.

All in all I am making it through and I hope you find relief soon I feel for you.

Sorry to hear of your suffering. I jammed my big toe when I was just a kid by kicking a football barefooted. It's bothered me off and on my whole life. Several Dr's have told me it's better to break a toe than jam one.

DMc

Vern,
I am glad to hear that moose meat doesn't affect your gout. From the little "research" I have done on the i'net, supposedly wild game (moose/elk/caribou/etc) is high in purine. But that information is not from what I would consider legitimate sources. Hence, why I am seeking out first hand information from people who live a similar lifestyle to mine. Out of curiosity, what size of meat portions do you typically have? I really love that Adak caribou, and would hate to have to let my kids eat all of it....

Unfortunately, due to a kidney condition, Ibuprofen and similar anti-inflammatory drugs are off limits.

Mack,
I actually started taking Allopurinal about a month ago, as my kidney specialist noticed that my Uric Acid levels were running high (10.6). I just wasn't even thinking about gout on Monday when it hit. Once the flare up is gone, I will be doubling my dosage (per the doc's instructions).

One of the concerns I have now is what would happen if I had a flare up while doing a back packing hunt. I think I would have to just hunker down and wait it out, as walking is out of the question.

Dimebox,

while I know nitrates are bad, I don't know exactly what they are. Would they be in smoked meat, like salmon or caribou that I prepared myself?

I very rarely eat "store bought" red meat. My diet is mostly salmon that I catch myself in the summers and smoke, and then venison when I am lucky to get it. This is supplemented with whole chicken that is store bought.

36 years old and had my first bout of gout this year. The flare up lasted a solid 3 or 4 weeks and at one point I could barely walk. The pain is no fun. My two big ties still aren't quite right.

I ate and drank a steady diet of wild game, beef, pork, homebrew/beer, sushi, and just about everything else that is bad for gout. Needless to say the potential lifestyle changes are no fun to consider, but a healthier lifestyle is probably overdue for me anyway so its a blessing in disguise.

My attack calmed down and I ended up at the doc for blood tests. Yep, elevated uric acid. So, I ended up on Allopurinol.

It's done well managing my gout and I have not had a major flare up since but have had one or two instances where my toe(s) barked a bit because of something I ate or drank in excess. A lot of beer and an excess of wild game will set it off a bit, but in moderation I can eat just about anything.

Sipping a homebrew IPA right now and New York strip is tomorrow's dinner

Gout is a precipitation of uric acid crystals in a joint, many times the big toe...it was once called the rich man's disease....Allopurinol will work well but you must take it every day....for acute flare ups, colchicine or indomethacin are usually given....btw, under a microscope, uric acid crystals look like sand spurs....

Cochicine -- or colchrys -- knocks my flareups out almost immediately and they do not return soon either. Its been over a year... Wonderful stuff. Worht its weight in gold.

1B

Black cherry juice is what you need, not cranberry.

I've been dealing with gout for several years, to say it sucks is to put it mildly. Allipurinol has gotten mine under control, I rarely have a flareup now. While some foods do exacerbate it, at it's heart it's really a dehydration problem. Keeping well hydrated will do more than anything else to keep it at bay, you've got to really push the water to keep your kidneys flushing the uric acid out of your bloodstream. Winter cold with the dry air it brings is really bad for keeping hydrated, especially in a place like Alaska. Colchicine and Indomethacin do good to knock it out, but they take time to work. Colchicine is hard on your stomach in tablet form, a few hourly doses of that stuff will give you new appreciation for the atomic squirts.

If you're already on the allipurinol then once you get to the full 300 mg daily dose it should dramatically lower the chance of reoccurance. In the short term colchicine, indomethacin, black cherry juice and LOTS of water will rid you of it the quickest.

A tsp of baking soda and apple cider vinegar in 16 oz of H20 3 times a day.

Plus cherry juice or dried cherries and alleve ( naproxium sodium)

Try it

Thanks everyone for the replies. I was taking Colchicine last night (2 tablets to start, 1 every hour) and it didn't really help that much. After talking to my doc today, I had my prescription refilled and will continue taking it through the weekend.

Not a fun experience....

If it was me, I'd cut out everything on the list except the beer. Seriously, I hope you get a handle on it and are able to prevent further misery. Ken