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Yeah, you likely need to get on allopurinol. Gout attacks bring the idea of gout and prevention to the forefront since the attacks are painful and long lasting. When researching Gout, it quickly becomes apparent that avoiding gout attacks is not the only goal.
You need to see your doctor and have your blood tested to see what your uric acid level is. Im assuming its going to be over 7 or 8 if you are getting pretty frequent attacks. Stopping the pain with indomethacin or home remedies like black bean cure and baking soda is all well and good, but you need to address the underlying condition of hyperuricemia.
Allopurinol should help you get your urc acid level to around 5mg / dL or below. From there you can focus on avoiding triggers and staying healthy while not having to worry about getting attacks. Even if you do not get attacks, hyperuricemia can contribute to other factors such as heart disease, high blood pressure, renal failure, obesity, etc. Its basically an enabler that can be deadly if not treated. So do not ignore or avoid your uric acid level.
Good luck and let us know how you are doing π
Upping your Allopurinol to 300mg sounds like a good start. What you need to do immediately if not sooner is have a blood test done and see what your uric acid level is. You need to monitor your uric acid level so that it goes down to 5 mg / dL or less. Thats the only way your tophi will start to dissolve and you'll be headed in the right direction.
Did your doctor have you do a blood test or did they arbitrarily increase the Allopurinol dosage because you werent getting better?
GoutPal said:
Kvalhion said:
I want to make sure I get into the normal range of uric acid — last two tests before starting Allopurinol were 9.5 mg and 9.2 mg respectively –
Kvalhion, I know you've only just started on the allopurinol, but have you had another test yet, or do you have one planned?
I'd like to build up a profile of how a typical gout sufferer can use allopurinol effectively – many simply do not get the correct aftercare, so end up with inappropriate dose, or they quit because they do not see any benefits.
Sorry about the late reply, I didn't realize there had been a response. When I started taking the allopurinol, the doctor suggested I get a blood test done in four to six weeks. Thats one to two weeks away, so around the four week or five week mark I'll go have my blood tested and will report on my (hopefully lowered) uric acid level.
So far so good, though.. no gout pains, no noticeable side affects from the medication. =)
apcoach said:
But, could it be that the bbb caused a drop in iron, then a drop in ua leading to the proteins on the msu crystals to be stripped?
It really depends on if you are already taking allopurinol and if you've monitored your uric acid level to be 5mg or less. If you are at 9mg or something, taking the black bean broth isn't going to cure your gout or prevent further attacks. Until we learn more about the effect of an iron chelator, the black bean broth is more reactionary than preventitive; it helps alleviate pains from an existing attack. If you went a bit wild on triggers such as meat and alcohol without anything like allopurinol to control how much uric acid you produce, then a resulting attack would be likely.
The black bean broth sounds awesome (I am planning on trying it soon), but remember that you need to get your uric acid levels under control to prevent hyperuricemia, regardless if you have painful attacks or not. I am approaching week three of allopurinol use and so far things have been just fine. In fact I had a bottle of beer and a glass of wine last night (along with buffalo wings) and feel no ill effects today.
Good luck and I hope the pain stays away π
Ack, that sounds awful. Please let us know if you have been seeing a doctor regularly regarding your gout. Are you still taking allopurinol and/or indomethacin? Have you had your blood tested regularly for your uric acid levels to see if the Allopurinol was working? Also, what dosage (300 mg, 500 mg, etc) of Allopurinol did you try? Did you have any adverse side effects for Allopurinol?
Unfortunately the only way to really 'get rid' of gout would be to keep taking Allopurinol or Uloric if that works better for you. You need to measure your uric acid levels regularly and get it below 6mg. That should help to dissolve the crystals that have formed to reduce the tophi.
You can also try some of the other 'cures' on here, such as baking soda in water, black bean cure, cherry juice, etc. If your gout has progressed this far, though, you really need to be seeing a doctor regularly and monitor your progress.
Good luck and let us know how you are doing!
I'd be curious to know how often one should be donating blood if they want to decrease their iron content level. Also, reducing iron content sounds good, but we need to have more information through tests if it actually lowers the blood uric acid level and elminates or reduces hyperuricemia.
If it does lower the uric acid level, then we need to see what effect reducing the dosage of Allopurinol would have. It would be nice to get to the point where gout could be managed solely through diet, however we should be careful before we jump to that conclusion.
Keep up the good work on the articles and research!
I feel your pain (literally) and understand why you wouldn't want to take a medication “for the rest of your life.” Realistically, you never know what new cures or information will be released about Gout as it becomes more understood and medical technology progresses. For the short term, you need to be taking it daily.
Allopurinol does not get rid of uric acid in your blood; it is an inhibitor, meaning that it prevents too much uric acid from being produced in the first place. So when you start taking Allopurinol, your uric acid level in your blood should slowly normalize as the drug takes effect. Within three months you'd likely have a uric acid level considered normal — around 5mg or less.
If you stop taking Allopurinol, then you no longer have anything inhibiting the production of uric acid and your level goes back up. Once it is above 6mg, crystals start to formalize again and you open yourself up to more frequent attacks. With an elevated uric acid level in your blood, you suffer from hyperuricemia which can be deadly if not controlled. It's not only the pain and flare ups that you need to prevent. Not treating hyperuricemia opens you to a higher risk of many other ailments, such as high blood pressure, obesity, heart disease, etc.
It would be nice if the body'learned' not to produce as much uric acid when taking Allopurinol, however that is not the case. If you stop, you go right back to where you started.
Bottom line is whatever you decide to do, you need to have your blood tested for uric acid levels regularly. You can try reducing the dosage of Allopurinol or going off it, but you need to have the tests done to show what effect it has upon your uric acid levels.
It's a bit similar to diabetes.. just because someone isn't immediately seeing symptoms of being diabetic doesn't mean they can ignore their blood sugar levels and assume nothing is being damaged without them knowing.
Good luck and let us know how you are doing!
Good to know, however I assume you are referring to preventing gout flare-ups and pain rather than preventing hyperuricemia? In other words, are you also taking any medication for Gout and have you had your blood uric acid levels tested?
The important thing to keep in mind is that its not only preventing being in pain that is the goal. Just like insulin with diabetics, you can't just ignore the condition because the symptoms are not consant. Once your uric acid levels are around 5 mg, then you can focus on making sure you do not have any painful flareups. π
Good luck and keep us posted!
It also depends on how long you've been taking indomethacin. NSAID's are not something you want prolonged use of, but it may take a few days for it really to kick in and you feel relief. For me it was about two days or so. On the third day I felt a lot better, and after the third day I did not need to keep taking the indomethacin. I wasn't experiencing an acute attack, however, it was more lingering pains that wouldn't go away over several weeks.
Colchicine isn't a bad idea if the indomethacin doesn't appear to be working. Just be careful on the amount of Colchicine that you use and stop taking it when its no longer needed.
Good luck π
GoutPal said:
No, no. With profound apologies, I was simply referring to the slogan and absolutely nothing else.
I must try to remember that daft comments do nothing to add to the message and merely become confusing.
Sorry
No worries, I got the reference right away. It was funny too. π
This is good information, thank you for sharing what works for you. Obviously I am interested in finding out what works for me as well, but taking Allopurinol was definitely the most important. I'll continue to practice some of the home remedies — cherries, a little bit of baking soda in a 32 oz jar of water to alkalize my blood, etc – however the frequent blood testing and routine taking of allopurinol are at the top of my list for now.
I want to make sure I get into the normal range of uric acid — last two tests before starting Allopurinol were 9.5 mg and 9.2 mg respectively – before focusing on healthy eating habits to practice for life.
I will say that so far so good — no adverse reactions to report and my foot has been feeling fine finally. Hope it stays that way. π
Thanks for the info! I was mostly joking about eating a big steak if I have black bean broth. π I will try some regardless, however, and it would be great if it helps prevent or ease the pain of an attack.
I am planning on trying some of the black bean broth to see how I like it, practice preparing it in case I need it, that sort of thing.
I wonder.. if the black bean broth helps inhibit iron.. would it be a good beverage to have while eating a nice big steak? π
Excellent information! I'd have to ask my physician for a prescription for colchicine. For now I am hoping like you said — daily use of allopurinol and hopefully no acute attacks. Right now I am alkalizing my water with small amounts of baking soda — about 1/8th to 1/4th of a teaspoon into a 32 oz jar of water. I try to drink between three and four jars in a day.
I used a Ph strip and it seems the water is around 7.5 to 8.0 after adding the baking soda. I should test to see what the water is beforehand. I've had my blood pressure checked a few times and it doesn't seem to be elevating it, so maybe the small amount of baking soda spread throughout the day will help as well.
I tried many of the various home remedies and they reduced the pain but the pain lingered off and on for over a month. The next thing I'll try is the black bean drink. My feet arent too bad at the moment, which is good since I was able to work out for the first time in over a month on Monday. π
Thanks for the advice!
Good question about the long term effects. I just started taking allopurinol and was wondering the same thing. It is an excellent point, however, that not treating hyperuricemia is a lot worse than the potential for possible side effects of allopurinol. It's also an excellent point that most people are concerned more about avoiding attacks and pain relief than monitoring the underlying condition. This is especially true for people who believe they can 'cure' gout by stopping attacks before they get very painful.
I'll admit I am not thrilled with the idea of taking a drug every day for the rest of my life, however it certainly beats dealing with prolonged gout attacks that severely affect the quality of life. Not to mention that in this day of medical breakthroughs, it is quite possible that in 10 to 15 years gout may in fact be curable. It's impossible to say now, but I wouldn't gamble on future cures by not treating gout with the best treatment currently available – allopurinol.
Good luck and let us know how you are doing π
I just started 300mg of Allopurinol. Before I started, the last week or so I took indomethacin to help get rid of lingering pain from an attack that was several weeks ago. If I start to feel an attack coming on, should I take a dose of the indomethacin to help stop the attack in its tracks? The dose I have is 50mg. According to the gout book I have, it says to take 100mg of indomethacin as soon as the symptoms start to try to prevent the attack, then 50mg 3 times a day until the symptoms go away. Does this sound about right?
Here's hoping that I do not have any adverse reactions to the allopurinol. π
