Spyderco Forums

yablanowitz wrote:People react differently to any given medication. My girl's reaction to Allopurinol was the worst gout flare she ever had. It lowered her acid from 10.5 to 10.3 in six weeks and effectively crippled her. Her doctor switched her to Uloric, which took her acid level from 10.3 to 5 in six weeks without setting off a flare.

Interesting. I wonder if that was some kind of initial purging and would have levelled off after a bit?

I don't really understand uric acid levels as mine have been in the mid 6s both times, but I guess, like lots of things, it's individual.

Ken

Ken,

When I get the cherry juice, I drink half the bottle that day and the other half the next! Maybe that is why my system "revolts". Alcohol is a problem because your body excretes uric acid and alcohol the same way and they compete with each other for excretion. Your body works hard to excrete alcohol and as such leaves more uric acid behind and that raises your uric levels. Add to that beer is high in purines and it is a double edged sword. Alcohol is not good for gout, but beer is the worst option when you do indulge. Keep in mind what you are mixing with if you do a cocktail as well

Ken,

When I get the cherry juice, I drink half the bottle that day and the other half the next! Maybe that is why my system "revolts". Alcohol is a problem because your body excretes uric acid and alcohol the same way and they compete with each other for excretion. Your body works hard to excrete alcohol and as such leaves more uric acid behind and that raises your uric levels. Add to that beer is high in purines and it is a double edged sword. Alcohol is not good for gout, but beer is the worst option when you do indulge. Keep in mind what you are mixing with if you do a cocktail as well

Donut wrote:Someone I work with has it.

I told him about a news article that I read a week or two ago that said Tomatoes are not good for gout. He says "anything that is red" will make it flare up. I think Red Meat is the big one. He says fish doesn't, I consider raw tuna to be colored red.

Don't have or know much about gout, other than that it's considered a form of arthritis, which I do have. Don't know much the "anything red" angle either, but I do know that tomatoes (as well as peppers, eggplant, white potatoes, and a few less well known vegetables that are members of the nightshade family) can trigger arthritic flareups. Eggplant is the worst for me, I love it but only rarely eat it for that reason.

Interesting. It seems like I would need to do a LOT of reading to understand just a little bit about this all.

kbuzbee wrote:

yablanowitz wrote:People react differently to any given medication. My girl's reaction to Allopurinol was the worst gout flare she ever had. It lowered her acid from 10.5 to 10.3 in six weeks and effectively crippled her. Her doctor switched her to Uloric, which took her acid level from 10.3 to 5 in six weeks without setting off a flare.

Interesting. I wonder if that was some kind of initial purging and would have levelled off after a bit?

I don't really understand uric acid levels as mine have been in the mid 6s both times, but I guess, like lots of things, it's individual.

Ken

It might have eased off if she lived, but why suffer needlessly? Different medication did the job better for her. Mid 6s is high, the first time they ran the test on her blood, they did the test twice because they couldn't believe the result. They had never seen an 11 before. Her acid levels are down in the 2.5 to 3.5 range now, which is considered normal range. She does miss her margaritas, though.

Yes an 11 is stupid high. My toe looked like Fred Flinstone's at a 6 and it took 200mg to get me below 5, which is the control number for those who do not know. Yes this is a strange condition and half the problem is all the bad info out there. Nightshade vegetables give me no issues but black eyed peas made my knuckles hurt and further research shows they have the highest purine content of any of the legumes. Eggs seem to be the one thing protein wise you can go crazy on but then there is the cholesterol issue for some. Eggs are very low purine for a protein.

twinboysdad wrote:Yes an 11 is stupid high. My toe looked like Fred Flinstone's at a 6 and it took 200mg to get me below 5, which is the control number for those who do not know.

Really? My results said the "Normal" range was 3-8. I guess compared to 5, 6-7 is pretty high.

Ken

Got a random call from a 334 area code (south Alabama where I am originally from, I now live in Birmingham a 205 area code) and it turned out to be my mother's best friend. She had been diagnosed with gout yesterday. You cannot make this s#!+ up! We had a long talk and she said "I was afraid to drink my coffee, because when the pain flashes I knew I would fall to the floor and spill it". Said the pain had required her to take Lortab. Glad she sees me as a resource. She is heading up to Dallas for the Alabama ( boo! War Eagle!) football game and I said "if you take all that Colchine the doc gave you, I hope you are seated near a bathroom".

The Night Shade Veggies and Fruits are more likely to attack the CNS and the Cardio Vascular Systems, due to it's natural occurring crystalline poison called Solanine which is the toxin (Glycoalkaloid Poison) and ...I never really hear of people with the Gout having a problem with the night shades...Doc:)

First flare up in many months today. Ankle instead of toe. I had almost forgotten how bad this hurt. Progressively worse through the day. Can't really put my finger on a trigger either. Did push it a bit with football starting but just some red wine a little red meat. Back to the drawing board. Doc is bumping me to 300mg allopurinol after the prednisone I start in the am

Dude! Sorry to hear.

Is ankle worse than toe? Toe is horrible enough.

Ken

I would say toe is worse because the pain has nowhere to go. Ankle sort of radiates to top of foot as well. Dr started me on a Prednisone pack and I called in sick today and reversed it and went to work at 9am. I do have a high pain threshold and a white collar job so that helped. I would not want to be running around doing landscaping today. Definitely walking slow making my sales calls today, but fast enough to not be asked about it! Everyone always says "you are too thin and healthy to have gout"...whatever. Sucks for sure

So prednisone helps?

Hope it gets reigned in quickly, brother.

Ken

You have my prayers and sympathy! My attacks started in college and I had never heard of Gout at that point. It is the worst pain I have ever experienced. Mine always came/comes in the knuckles of my toes. I've had allopurinol prescribed before. Also if on a trip or not accessible to a doctor I've taken larger doses of aleve (like 4-6 at a time). BUT this is NOT a long term solution as it rips up the stomach. Tried the cherry juice with minimal effect. My wife is seriously into natural remedies and she found a mixture of good quality - Bragg brand - apple cider vinegar, honey, baking soda and water that I take when I feel an attack coming on and it has worked better than any meds.

Yeah I am out on cherry juice. Just has not worked for me. A co-worker takes apple cider vinegar but states it has to be the kind with "the mother" in it. I think this is some culture as ACV with mother I have seen is very cloudy and unfiltered looking. My Rheumotologist bumped me to 300 mg of allopurinol from 200 and so far so good. I did end up taking the colcrys for a few days too and it seemed to help a bit. My Rheum MD said re: the bump from 200 to 300 mg of allopurinol "based on your numbers, this should buy you some wiggle room to have more fun". I still won't drink a beer, but did have a good cab last night!

I've been lucky because my Dad had episodes all the time and so did a co worker. I always heard it was from eating too much meat. You might want to try a mostly vegetarian diet for a while. My Dad also had a horrible case of Shingles and that s why I got a shingles vaccine a couple of years ago. It started on his stomach and covered his entire rib cage and part of his back with almost one huge scalbscalb. Lucky for him though it was in the Summer time because he couldn't stand for anything to touch it and went without a shirt most of the timetime

Food for thought, states that legalize the hippie lettuce also have some medical exemptions for gout. I have heard it helps but my employer drug tests randomly and often and AL no es bueno on the med marijuana