I’ve just been diagnosed with hereditary gout and have been prescribed colchicine and allopurinol. Just wondering if anyone else on here has this problem and how they get on with the medication.

My wife does, without her medication she’s in agony has to hobble around like she has a broken ankle as it’s in her foot.

I got diagnosed with gout at the age of 31, mostly brought on by excessive drinking in my younger days (ironically, I’d pretty much stopped by the time I got gout). Fortunately I’ve only really had the inital severe attack, on the main joint of my big toe on my right foot. It was absolute agony. I’ve broken bones, torn ligaments and had stitches in my mouth after nearly losing my bottom lip in a bike crash, but nothing has come close to the pain of gout. I genuinely sympathise with anyone that suffers from it.
I looked through all the information on line about does and don’ts and things that might cause it but there wasn’t really anything obivous that I was doing to set it off. I made a bit more of an effort to keep hydrated and that seemed to help, but I always had some lingering pain. As of the beginning of this year, I completely stopped drinking alcohol and, within a few weeks, all of the pain has gone. I doubt it’s a coincidence.
I think different people have different ways of dealing with it. A friend was diagnosed at a similar time to me and he swears by drinking cherry juice! I would definitely keep an eye on things like alcohol consumption, keeping hydrated and generally having a healthy diet with a decent amount of fruit and veg.

I had problems with my right knee some years back (at the time I was drinking fairly heavily). I had it drained and my Dr explained that the fluid was basically uric acid, which causes gout.

I was given a list of foods to avoid/cut down on. Tea and coffee is also bad apparently.
http://www.patient.co.uk/health/gout-diet-sheet

A mate of mine was diagnosed with hereditary gout at 25. It provided a rich source of hilarity for the rest of us, with constant references to drinking too many brandy’s at his gentleman’s club etc, while he hobbled about in agony. It does all sound a bit victorian. At the time, we were young and stupid, and were basically out after work every night. He had to reign that in! Which didn’t do him any harm.

He ended up on what I presume is the same medication as you. He’s never had an issue with it since. And he plays football a few times a week, badminton, and commutes to work every day on the bike. So it hash’t effected his lifestyle or mobility one bit

I ve been on medication for it. It didn’t always work for me. Only thing that has worked is to stop drinking fizzy drinks and less sweets etc. been fine for a year now

Same here but only the allopurinol. IIRC it’s related to ibuprofen so you can’t use that for other aches n pains, but check that with your pharmacist

Apparently Cherry Juice and Pineapple juice are good for gout.

I think I’ve got gout, had a couple of episodes (severe pain) in my big toe right foot. Can feel it lingering at the moment but not severe like before. drinking cherry and/or pineapple juice to try and stave off the inevitable.

Might have to go to the doctors, but I think i might need to book a day there with all the ailments i have recently!!

I’ll eke tabs on this thread. The doctors are trying to diagnose me with gout (it’s a dislocated toe honest) and I have the blood test next week.
Pain-wise it’s up there with sciatica, and my foot swelled up like a balloon for a few days which meant I couldn’t wear shoes.

Apparently Cherry Juice and Pineapple juice are good for gout.

Yep, a mate gets it and according to him eating cherries makes it go away.

Thanks for the replies, it is apparently much more common than we think, probably not talked about much because of the comical element 🙂 I reigned in the drinking along time ago but have to agree that the sweet and sugar intake are too high. I’ve heard good things about cherry juice too. Will try the medication and see how it goes.

I have suffered gout for 25 years.
You have been prescribed allopurinol to lower your uric acid levels, this however can initially trigger gout attacks hence the colchicine.
But colchicine has very nasty side effects when taken over a longish period (serious stomach upset). This is why it is very rarely prescribed these days. Naproxen is what I use, and don’t get any problems. Saying that I very rarely get attacks as I now know the triggers.
Dehydration
Stress at work
Not eating

Beer has never affected me and you quickly get to recognise the onset of an attack and a couple of tablets halts it.

To be honest it has never affected my life at all.

One tip which works for me is as much as it is absolute agony don’t sit around, go for a walk as it does tend to walk off quite well (supposing it’s in your toe) as mine always is.

Thanks maccauk, I have all of those triggers !! I tend to suffer with it in my knee worst and then my feet. I carry on working generally as you’re right keeping moving seems to be best for it.

A friend was diagnosed at a similar time to me and he swears by drinking cherry juice!

+1

Ex’s father had it. Suffered terribly until he drastically changed his diet and had a load of cherry juice. He swears by the cherry juice.

Had it increasingly badly for years, am absolutely fed up to the back teeth with it. It’s now every 3-4 weeks in numerous joints. GP won’t take it seriously (he’s obviously never had it) so I have gone to a nutritionist who has put me on a no meat, no caffeine, no sugar no refined things diet. Incredibly hard and it’s still coming back every few weeks. She has put it down to stress (interested in above), not sure how I deal with that! No idea where we go from here.

Correct, it is not talked about as no-one who hasn’t suffered it takes it seriously.

I’ve had it since I was 21 (38 years!!). They didn’t diagnose gout at first because of my age. I’ve been taking Allupurinol daily for 30 years or so – I used to use Naproxen when an attack started, but it wasn’t effective if I didn’t take it in time and then, Aaaaagh!!!!
I still get the odd twinge, but in never develops into a full blown attack.
When I first got it I didn’t drink red wine or port (do now, though!)or eat lots of red meat. Never really found out what the triggers were, if any. The attacks were awful. Really painful, but just in my big toes.

Colchicine is horrible stuff, I think they basically increase the dose until you can’t take it any more, and that’s the correct dose. It does get rid of the gout tho’.
Allopurinol isn’t too bad, and is taken as a prophylactic measure.

I’m not on either now, and control my gout through diet, moderating my beer and brown spirits intake and making sure I drink plenty of water – staying hydrated makes a big difference. I’m fortunate that this works for me, with occasional attacks (every few years at most).

Experiment with what works. Some people say coffee is great, some say it’s terrible, similarly for chocolate. All the American websites say that all alcohol is the devil’s vomit, the Brit ones that wine in moderation is fine. I choose to believe the Brit ones.

Good luck.

Edit to add: Wow. Whoodathunk that there are so many of us on STW who suffer from “the arthritis that dare not speak its name”.