Your experience with Gout??

[Mona]

I am wondering if anyone can tell me about the Gout medication "Allipurinol"? What exactly is it supposed to do? I thought it was supposed to reduce the uric acid to prevent Gout from coming?

My husband was diagnosed with gout. I guess most people, it is in the big toe, but his "travels"...he has had it in his toes, in various parts of his foot, ankle, and knee. (both legs/feet, and thankfully, so far, not both at the same time!) When he went to the doctor originally, and they took bloodwork and diagnosed him with Gout, they put him on Allipurinol 300mg. They said this was the strongest, and wanted to put him on it until they got it under control, and then come back after 3 months, restest and see where the levels are at, as they wanted to reduce the mg. When he went back, the doctor no longer worked there, and he had to see a locum. He left him on the strongest dose. It is just one pill a day, but I don't see how it is doing any good. He gets it every few months it seems regardless of whether he is on the pills or not. He does not drink alcohol at all, (not a drop since 1981) so that is not factoring into it. As for trigger foods, we have "plain" type eating habits. We don't try new things so am wondering what can be causing it other than the weather.

I guess what I want to know most, is what good are these pills if they do not prevent the gout from coming back? Maybe he would do just as well to stop taking them? Please share your experience and/or knowledge of this. Thanks!

 

[CyndiM]

Mona, my husband had a couple of bouts of gout a few years back. He was put on three different medications then reduced to two. Now he only takes Allipurinol 300 mg. He hasn't had gout for 4 or 5 years now. The bottle says on it, in bold letters, 'Not to be taken during accute gout attack'. One of the medicines he took during the attacks was Indomethacin 50 mg.

We did figure out that it was the Condroitan(sp) he was taking along with Glucosamine for arthritis. He quit the Condroitan and only takes the Glucosamine. He has not had a flare up since.

 

[CyndiM]

Yes, Allipurinol is to reduce the uric acid in his system.

Sorry this was supposed to be in the first post.

 

[CHARLOTTE & JOHN]

My 2nd husband (ex) had gout and he also took Indomethacin. It worked great. He had his mostly in his knees. I know that some of the foods that are bad for causing uric acid in your system are beans and "organ" meats, like Liver.

Charlotte

 

[mininik]

Do a google search for Gout and Vitamin C.

 

[Russ]

Mona, my uncle battled gout for awhile.....meds didn't seem to help. He started eating raw apples daily, like 1 or 2 a day. Gout cleared up immediately. Not sure if it was coincidence or what but it helped him.

 

[laughingllama75]

I am sorry that I don't have answers for you, but I am interested in this thread because I have been battling kidney stones for a while now, and they have been uric acid ones for the past 4 months. Yesterday, I went to my nephrologist, and he said that I needed to go on allopurinol. I guess if the Purine levels are 1000 or more, you need to be on it. Mine was 1700, and I was given a whole list of things not to eat. no meat, legumes, spinich, asparagas,cauliflower, lentils, mushrooms, oatmeal or peas or green beans. gee, kid of hard to be a vegatarian without being able to eat beans or a bunch of different veg.

I would imagine your husband can control some with more of a resticted diet, has he seen a nutritionist? I have an appointment set up, I guess this is going to major life changing and I need all the help I can get. I hope your husband can get some relief, it seems like there has to be something that can be done for him.

 

[Celtic Hill Farm]

We read about this in School. It says that it's caused by, malnutrition, and lack of exersise.

that why, what Russ said

Mona, my uncle battled gout for awhile.....meds didn't seem to help. He started eating raw apples daily, like 1 or 2 a day. Gout cleared up immediately. Not sure if it was coincidence or what but it helped him.

I could see working. I'm not expert, But if i were in your husband's situation, i would make sure to feat pelanty veggies, raw, cooked...ect...

 

[Boinky]

my grandfather has gout pretty badly. Cherry's have some uric acid reducing properties and he said they really seem to help. He usually has cherry juice and plain old raw cherries. he also said processed meats (like bolongna ect) didn't seem to cause the problems as much as regular unprocessed meats.

 

[Mona]

Thanks all. After I posted here last night, I tried finding some info online. I found some interesting facts!

They said that 90% of all cases are misdiagnosed! The ONLY way to get a proper diagnosos is to do a 24 hour urine test, and most doctors never do! They rely soley on the blood test which is not at all accurate in itself! I know for a fact Chris never had that 24 hour urine test!! I am going to tell him to INSIST on getting it done! Maybe it is Rheumatoid or some other form of arthritis and not even Gout, and then of course the pills would not work.

He is taking Aleve (Naproxin) as it is an anti-inflamatory. It is also a pain reducer and a slow release type so only 2 a day are needed. The docs gave him Tylenol 3, but that only manages the pain, and does nothing for the inflamation.

I was also reading about trigger foods...the worst is alcohol, so we don't need to worry about that, but there were other things too that he loves. White flours...he LOVES his bread (white) so that is going to have to change. Others are high sugars...well he drinks his coffee like syrup! Today I "only" put in 2 teaspoons of sugar rather than the half cup he normally uses! LOL! Of course he whined and mumbled that he might as well just quit drinking coffee if he can't drink it how he wants it, but he sure drank the cups I brought to him! LOL! Potatoes is another bad thing, and again, he waaaaay overdoes it on potatoes!! Others are tomatoes, cayenne pepper and dairy products...again, he loves his milk and cheese! Organ meats (which he HATES!) and hi protein food are also bad. So those peanut butter sandwiches he eats in the middle of the night all the time are really good for him too! OY!

Cherries(fresh, not in syrup or sweetened) are supposed to be REALLY GOOD! But, they are not available year round! He also needs to drink LOTS of water! A good quality multi-vitamin daily is also good! He does take that!

I found it interesting about the chondroitin. I had never heard of that one before, but we are both on Glucosamine with Chondroitin daily. That may be something to avoid too. I might have to see if I can find anything more about that.

I do know it is hereditary too, and his Dad also had it very bad, so I guess he comes by it honestly. I still want him to go in and have the 24 hr urine test though, just to be sure! Thanks also for the information on the Indomethacin...I will see what I can find about that. And also, we were never told not to take the Allipurinol when the gout was flared up! YIKES!!!!! Thanks!

 

[CyndiM]

Mona the way we found out that it was the chondroitin was Steve started taking it on Dr's orders for arthritis. After just a few days he got a really sore, swollen, red big toe. Finally after a few days of me nagging him he went to the Dr. He stopped the chondroitin and glucosamine and started the other meds to clear it up. We also tried the diet modifications (however we eat that way pretty much already) except for the veggie part, we didn't give up the veggies we both love. He does consume alcohol also and wasn't giving that up for life either.

(He did for that period of time though.)

After he was all clear and back to normal he started the chondroitin and glucosamine again. In two days his toe was starting to hurt and after a couple of more days it was full blown gout again. Back to the meds etc. I started thinking about what had changed that could have brought this on and those pills were the only thing in our life different. So Steve asked the Dr and he said to try just glucosamine see what happens. We did and he has not had a case of gout since. He does still take the Allipurinol and glucosamine. So it is just food for thought I know all people are different.