Gout

My Dad and brother both have gout. My Dad has had it as long as I can remember. I believe it is caused by uric acid crystals that collect in certain joints. There is medicine for it and your diet can affect it as well. Drinking plenty of water helps flush the uric acid from your body, so stay hydrated. Gout is a peculiar thing in that you can go for a long time with no symptoms and then have a flare up in something as small as a toe that hurts so much you can't even have the sheet on the bed touch it. (That was my first experience and I read later that it is a common one!) It can affect different parts of the body and to different degrees.
Good luck and try not to worry. It is treatable!
God bless!
Christi

There's a new product on the market for Gout from Takeda Pharmaceuticals. I don't recall the name, but it's been on the market about a year.

I'd search WebMD, Mayo Clinic to see what they say. There's a lot of bad medical information on the web, so it's really important to get it from trusted and verified sources.

Good luck.

Cherry juice, cherries, dried cherries are all very good for gout. I don't remember but it helps flush the ureic acid or something. I was mis-diagnosed with it last year and I remember reading about eating/drinking more cherries. "A glass a day kept the gout away"

Eat lean meats and lower your red meat intake as well as alcohol. Sorry, that is all I remember.

my boyfriend had gout, and he trys not to eat alot of red meat. it's mostly joint and bone discomfort for him but a co-worker of his has spells so bad that her children have to help her to the restroom and get cleaned up sometimes. He has medication for it( not sure what it is) but he doesn't take it. also lifting heavy things aggravates his. you can;t really get rid of gout it comes and goes when it gets ready. good luck. I hope you dont have it.

Gout is very painful and related to Arthritis, my husband gets it. He takes allpurinal for it, but also Cherry juice is supposed to help. Stay away from red meat, and organ meats.

Sorry to hear you are in pain. I am quite familiar with it. I had it years ago, before the medication was available and conquered it with diet and rest. Glad you had the blood test right away instead of just a doctor's quess. Gout can be a top-of-the-head diagnosis now because there is medication that is supposed to help. If it is not gout, the medicine is a waste of money and diet restrictions needed to keep on it. I had what one doctor said was gout, (no testing done, because I had it before) but I kept questioning and found that it was a neuroma in my foot which is treated very differently. Healthy diet changes, however, are always the best response. A WebMD search will help with definitions and information. Our rich Western world diet (high in fats, sweets, meat, and alcohol) is the worst for triggering gout. Number one change, no matter what else is suggested is LOTS of water. Even the medicine doesn't help flush away the crystaline deposits that are already there. Only time and drinking lots of water will do that. Whatever it is don't give up or think this is permenant.

CHERRIES. Pure cherries juice is best but the canned cherries work as well. My family has a history of gout. Most of them live in Michigan where they can visit cherry farms and get it pure. Best natural remedy.

Avoid legumes--peanuts (peanut butter, too) peas, pinto beans, lima beans, etc., and also pork and shellfish. My brother has it and swears by fresh pineapple as his remedy. Cherries are good, drink lots of water. My brother is a beer drinker and had to cut way back when he came down with it. It's really painful, but controllable. You may find one particular food triggers your attacks. For my brother, it was shellfish. For my girlfriend, it was peanut butter.

My Dad had Gout. For him it was part of metabolic syndrome, which includes circulatory issues, high blood lipids and cholesterol and cardiac disease. He was also morbidly obese and died of a heart attack in his fifties.

Gout is usually associated with lifestyle choices (it used to be called rich man's or king's disease) and can be controlled with lifestyle changes (diet and exercise) and medication. You could ask for a referral to a nutritionist to help you with the adjustments.
If the diagnosis is confirmed I personally would ask for a referral to an internal medicine doctor and get checked for risk factors for circulatory and cardiac issues.
My dad never made any adjustments to his lifestyle, the gout got so bad, he had blistering sores (tophi) on his legs and was bedridden at times. Very sad, because that could have been prevented and he could still be alive.
Good luck!

My husband has this. He takes some kind of medication when he has a flare. Must drink plenty of water every day and watch what he eats - small amount of processed meats - hotdogs, luncheon meats , even pizza. At first they thought he had arthritis, but after several test, gout was diagnosed. He usually has trouble when he is traveling out of town and not able to get enough liquids. Good luck with this illness - to keep from having the flares, one has to be aware of how your food is prepared and the amount of water you consume. J