any hikers have gout?

[pahillbillybear]

I was diagnosed with gout last week. Right now, it is only in my feey. Does any other hikers have gout? I have cut out and cut down on pop, junk food and fried foods. I'm making an app with my family doc on monday. Any ideas
???? Really hurts.

[superman]

Colchicine for the attack
Allpurinol as daily prevention

[Don H]

Me too! And what superman says for meds. Since I began Allopurinol I haven't had an attack. When the first one happened I thought I had broken my big toe!

[generoll]

Naproxin usually takes care of any acute episodes and it's over the counter.

[Wise Old Owl]

Sorry to hear about the new diagnosis,

I have often wondered what it was ... found this, guess I need to make changes.

A study on soft drinks and fructose consumption shows that men who consume two or more sugary soft drinks a day have an 85% higher risk of gout compared with those who drink less than one a month.[49] This is because in countries like United States and Japan, processed foods and beverages may contain large quantities of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a common sweetener and sugar substitute, which results in hyperuricemia in blood.[50][51] Hyperuricemia, in turn predisposes the body for gout.[52]
Consumption of beer is associated with a 49% increase in relative risk per daily 12 oz (354 ml) serving. By contrast, consumption of spirits was associated with only a 15% increase in relative risk, and no association at all was found with consumption of wine.

[vamelungeon]

Take your allipurinol every day and you won't have any attacks, once you and your doctor get the dosage right. I don't have any attacks any more unless I try to skip a day with my allipurinol.

[Dances with Mice]

Have your doctor check your thyroid levels too.

I tried the diet stuff and home remedies. I went on an ultra low purine diet, damn near vegan, for a couple of weeks. Chugging black cherry juice and choking down celery seeds. Didn't do any good, still had a major gout attack.

Doc checked thyroid, I was low. Adjusted that medication and I haven't had an attack in many months (knock on wood).

[eric j]

Organic apple cider vinegar (Braggs) check out what people have experienced at earthclinic.com

[ed bell]

God, I hate gout. It's ridiculous how much it hurts. I haven't gone the route of Allipurinol route yet, but if the attacks get more frequent I will. I've had it in the toe, ankle, knee and wrist. (not at the same time) Prednisone (steroid) will stop an acute attack almost overnight, but that's not something anyone would want to take very often. I've had Colchicine before for an attack and it worked. I currently have a perscription for an anti-inflamitory that seems to work OK if I have an attack. Doc told me that dropping some weight would probably go a long way for avoiding the dreaded acute attack.

[Doctari]

OK, this works for ME; I am not easy to convince re: Home remidies, But after I was diagnosed someone told me of Cherries relieving the pain. So with a great amount of disbelief, & sceptasisim I gave it a try, Again, for ME, It WORKED. MY body dosn't care if they are red or black cherries, whole, cooked, dried, juice and even (surprised me) McD's cherry pies have relieved the beginnings of pain. I usually eat about 1 to 2 cans of tart red cherries a week, & havn't had a serious bout in over 2 years. Well, except for just after I at about 3/4 of a 19 OZ can of Cashews in ONE sitting: 14 Oz in less than 2 hrs. Aparently, for me at least, cashews are a trigger. It took 3 cans of cherries to undo the damage & about 3 doses of aspirin for the pain.
I also heard that folic acid helps, I did not notice any difference. YMMV!

BTW, Mine is mostly in my right great toe, the one I broke about 10 years ago. I was diagnosed with Gout about 2.5 years ago.

[Jester2000]

I thought that gout was something that only 18th century British aristocrats got until I found out that Pat at The Doyle has it.

You may want to get in touch with him -- I talked with him a few weeks ago and he seems to be happy with his doctor's line of treatment.

[yaduck9]

I have heard the best way is to change/ improve your diet by following this simple step;

When you enter the Supermarket, you immediately turn to the right and shop for items found along the outside perimeter of the store. Those would be fresh produce, fresh fruit, fresh meats / fish, some dairy.

The items down the center ails are mostly processed foods which mostly contain corn syrup. As mentioned by "wise old owl". Moderation is the key ( something I struggle with everyday ).

To me, growing up with poor food habits and then trying to control food intake is worse then quitting smoking. You have to eat to stay alive. With cigarettes your goal is to just stop.

[garlic08]

Organic apple cider vinegar (Braggs) check out what people have experienced at earthclinic.com

Ditto that.

[Wise Old Owl]

Sad turn of events.

[Doctari]

I agree, moderation is key, and very hard. I can eat cashews, my issue was due to over doing it. All reports I have read indicate that gout is (for the most part) inflamed / made better by diet. And, being a form of arthritus, tends to be mostly noticed in the joints. So, take your meds, & eat right.
My research says that fish & nuts can make it worse, but again, I only noticed a problem with nuts after eating 14 Oz in a sitting. I had a slight problem with fish, but that was after eating 4 large pieces at Long John Silvers.

The pain can get so bad as to render you totally inable to walk. I have had it so bad i could not even get my camp shoes on! So find what works for you at home, & whatever you do, or do not do, keep doing it on the trail! As it works for me, I carry several ziplocks of dried cherries on my longer hikes.

[John Paolo]

Well I've been on colchicin, allopurinol and pain killers all the same time (my poor liver!). I haven't quite found the answer yet. Maybe I'll try the cherry solution. Has anyone tried a banana diet? We have a lot more of those in the area.

[Darwin again]

It's bothersome when the medical establishment cooks up medical/pharmacological solutions to dietary/lifestyle health issue.
As usual, follow the money. Everybody gets PAID, like in the mob...

Reminds me of when my old cat got "FLUTD," nobody and I mean Nobody would answer my question about how I could change his diet to solve his problem -- they (the vets, and I mean ALL OF THEM) wanted me to buy him PRESCRIPTION CAT FOOD from that day forward and forever after. The food was the problem to begin with and we solved the problem by adjusting his diet, in the end.

So much of what people now call "food" isn't really fit for humans or animals and it seems to me that at least a couple of generations of people have been trained to believe anything a doctor tells them; medical establishment as authority figures, etc.

But hey, as long as everybody gets PAID for drugs and medicines and prescribing them, right?
Sad.

[sweetpeastu]

I dunno what gout is....hmmm Ill go google it.

[twlhome]

I have gout as well. I found the best cure is Natural Pure Cherry juice. This works the best to bring down and keep the gout at bay. I have tried eat cherries too and that works. V8 also does help. But yeah no sugary drinks, watch the meats and breads.

Tedd

[vamelungeon]

Cherries do help. Lemonade helps too. Red meat, fish and some fruits and vegetables make it worse, so it's not just "fresh foods" that help. It's what's in the food that counts. If you have it it's not difficult to educate yourself about it, but here on WB is obviously not the place to do it. Pretty soon someone will post that you should have a Indian medicine man chant over your gouty toe!

Allipurinol isn't a drug company conspiracy- it's a miracle drug for me. Gout is insanely painful, indescribably so to someone who hasn't had it. Allipurinol plus diet changes have kept gout at bay for me, and prevented me from having that torturous pain. Not ALL prescription drugs are bad.