Had it for 2 and a half weeks now and its getting annoying as the weathers great up here in the lakes at the moment.

I had my first gout attack about a month ago – bloody painful !!! Doc gave me Naproxen and advised a vit C supplement and drink more water- I sweat badly and had been dehydrated a couple of times .
The Naproxen worked a treat .

A scythe?

Cherries, lots of them! Or cherry juice. Drink lots of water to flush out the uric acid. Stay off the red wine and beer. White wine is apparently OK though.
Broccoli and other leafy greens seemed to help me.

If this is your first attack it would be worth keeping a food diary to help eliminate what’s causing it. It’s not all down to drinking Port and a medieval diet. With me it’s lentils, nuts and gelatine, though since I stopped taking Beta Blockers I haven’t suffered at all despite eating these things.

Big toe? You have my sympathy!

Though re-reading your post, if it’s merely “annoying” it probably isn’t gout. More likely to be cat aids.

Thanks for the replys,just off to pick up a prescription after a chat with the Doc, she’s putting me on “stronger stuff” and taking a blood test tomorrow fingers crossed, Ive been in agony all day 😐

How long did it take for the Naproxen to work Cheesybeanz ? Thats what the Doc has given me

Indometacin on prescription for me. To be taken with or after food, three times a day until the attack has been gone a week.

Then when it kept recurring, Allopurinol. Daily. For life, or until my foot falls off

two ans a half weeks?

then it wont be gout

if it were then your foot would be swollen and you would be on crutches.

if it were gout then you you would be prescribed Colchicine

Sancho I’ve been offered crutches, and the foot is swollen and red around the joint of the Big toe, its hot and very painful to touch or is this something else ?

GP will likely have followed this:

By 2nd day the swelling and redness had pretty much gone , I took it for 5 days just to make shure .
I think the prescription was for 28 tablets .

You have my sympathies. I’ve had countless attacks of gout over the last 15 years or so, some of which almost had me in tears. Water and anti-inflammatories help but ideally you want to find out what your trigger is. I thought my trigger was beer until I abstained for 6 months and still suffered from gout. A food diary could be useful. I gradually cut out fish, red meat, wine, spicey food to no avail. I eventually went to the doc who tested my blood and put me on Allopurinol to help prevent gout reoccurring. I had an attack recently that lasted for almost a fortnight (attacks seem to be lasting longer) and for the first time I was prescribed Colchicine.

Carbohydrate drinks can also trigger it due to the sugars they contain. Apparently fructose is one type of sugar that is known to increase uric acid levels. It is this acid that crytalises in the joint.

if your doctor has recognised it as gout then you should be on colchisine this will have an immediate effect, you are allowed 12 tablets only and this will have it cleared in three days.

GP’s and A&E mis diagnosed me three times when I first got it, but your description sounds right.
is it worse at night?

Sounds like Gout to me, mine was just like that. Red, swollen, hot to the touch. Kept waking me up at night. I was given indometacin, make sure you eat it with a decent amount of food. I once had one at work with just a cereal bar and it made me feel so sick that Mrs NBT had to get the train to my work to drive me home, I was in no state to get behind the wheel. Think my attack was triggered by a big day out where I became really dehydrated

For mmediate relief look up contrast baths. You can use a bowl of hot and a bowl of cold.

Long term review your diet.

i’m a gout sufferer and it’s a horrible thing. Next time you get an attack list all the things you’ve eaten/drank over the last 24 hrs and try to avoid or minimise. However the list of foods and drinks that can trigger gout is endless and will be different for everyone.

The things that I try to avoid or only take small portions are black pudding, oily fish, spinach, lamb, steak and continental beers. Dehydration seems to trigger it in me too. After long rides I need to be strict in what I eat and drink.

Load up on the ibuprofen when you get an attack. Doc said to me that if it is then it will reduce the pain. He was right and it was gout as blood tests proved it.

The ibuprofen gel is worth applying too.

I’ve been on allopurinol daily now for 30-odd years. I tried to stop once, but had an attack within a week. I’m not happy about taking any drug regularly, but the Doc reckons that it’s ‘safe’. Best to avoid Ibuprofen, though.
I never found the trigger.

I have suffered on an off for years too.

Cherries have some good evidence.
Hydration is very important

There is some stuff on the web that suggests taking sodium bicarbonate helps – neutralises the acidic state – not one to follow if you have high blood pressure, but it does seem to work

Allopurinol during an acute attack makes things worse – take it after the flare to reduce further issues

Finally I found dropping some weight helps – I am not taking tablets at the moment but 1/2 stone lighter seems to help!

Suffered from gout for 10+ years now with 2-3 bad attacks a year plus other annoying joint pain for about 6 months of the year so you have my sympathy. I have it in the ankle, big toe and once over Xmas I had it in both knees at the same time which was interesting!

There is lots written about it and what you should/shouldn’t do but it can be a trial and error situation.

Personally I find that Goji berries, black cherries, cherry juice, water (lots) and celery all help regulate the uric acid levels. Low fat dairy food is fine but I tend to avoid beer, wine (all colours), shell fish, offal, red meat, spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, pulses such as lentils, chick peas etc and beans.

Look for foods that are low in Purines as this can cause the imbalance in Uric Acid levels.

Rest your foot and keep it elevated, nothing like a bit of rest to help with the swelling.

Good luck.

Long term sufferer here, it’s a horrible condition. Never found the trigger, it goes for big toe and elbow in me, on allopurinol now but cut out red meat, beer, mushrooms, prawns, marmite etc.

Two things: it goes for injury sites and I heard that it can mess with your kidneys, although a Doc might want to confirm that – but why I gave in to the drugs. It seemed to gradually become more regular, to the point I was only getting a couple of weeks’ break between attacks.

In a funny way though i owe it as blood tests for my Uric Acid levels showed up a far more sinister disease from which I am now slowly recovering. Quite possibly saved my life.

My succession of doctors over the years have never once mentioned diet as being in any way linked, except in a jokey “Leave off the port” way.

Always get it on holiday myself, thankfully not every holiday but I did this summer & 2 months later my foot is still a bit bigger than it should be 🙁

I’ve tried looking at everything I can on the web and nobody really seems to have a sensible answer, some say ice as you would for any swollen injury, others say gout is the only time not to do that as the crystals break down better when warm. Then diet, I have a diet sheet I can email, but once again some say it makes a difference, some a tiny difference but why not give it a shot.

This time I was tea total & off red meat for 2 months before hols & then on hols & I still got it 🙁 Being hydrated seems to be the only reasonable answer & keeping your foot raised gets a thumbs up from all.

You have my sympathy its not fun, even though non-sufferers seem to think it is (& to be fair I can see their point)

Failed engineer – it’s fundamentally a genetic thing that lets your Uric acid build up too much, but an intake of prurines don’t help matters at all. Likewise, dehydration but when it comes for you there’s little you can do.

Mine always came on at night – apparently, when extremities are coldest. On yes, and long flights are a trigger (low pressure).

From the sheet I found from Guy’s hosptial

IMPORTANT!
As so many things can affect any treatment or diet suggested – such as the patient’s age, physical condition and medication, if any – new diet you should always contact your doctor or consultant before embarking on any
The instructions below apply to the collection of samples for purine investigations, but it may be helpful to parents to know which foods are rich in purines and thus should be avoided when preparing meals. Because the diet is recommended by the Purine Research Unit specifically to aid them in their investigations, adult gout sufferers should use this dietary information as a rough guide only. For a more varied diet, they should seek the advice of their regular dietician.
For purine studies it is advisable to try to eat a diet identical with your normal diet in terms of butter, fats, bread, potatoes and other vegetables, etc., but avoid the meat, fish and other food and drink outlined below with a high purine content in Section 1 and substitute a low purine equivalent from Sections 2 and 3.

(1) FOOD AND BEVERAGES NOT ALLOWED
• 1.1 OFFAL – sweetbreads, heart, liver, kidney and pate.
• 1.2 SEAFOOD – sardines, sprats, herring, bloaters, fish roe, trout, salmon, lobster, crab, prawns, oysters, cockles, mussels, etc.
• 1.3 VEGETABLES – asparagus, avocado pears, peas, spinach, mushrooms, broad beans, cauliflower.
• 1.4 Soya products, pulses and legumes
• 1.5 Alcoholic beverages and yeast extracts. Meat or vegetable extracts, (Marmite, Vegemite, Bovril, etc.)
• 1.6 Tea, coffee (other than decaffeinated), cocoa products such as Ovaltine, chocolate, or chocolate biscuits, chocolate puddings and Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, or Lucozade.
(NB 1.6 only refers to diet when samples are being collected for the laboratory. These foods and beverages all contain methylated xanthines, which make analysis difficult in the Laboratory.
(2) FOODS AND BEVERAGES ALLOWED
• 2.1 Milk, cheese, eggs, butter, margarine, cream, ice cream.
• 2.2 Bread, flour, cakes, scones, biscuits, cereals.
• 2.3 Sugar, jam, marmalade, honey and sweets.
• 2.4 Lettuce and tomato (e.g. salads).
• 2.5 Fresh, cooked, or tinned fruits, nuts.
• 2.6 Puddings, (milk, etc.), except those containing chocolate/cocoa.
• 2.7 Decaffeinated coffee or tea.
• 2.8 Fruit juices, soft drinks, EXCEPT Coca Cola, etc.
(3) FOODS ALLOWED IN MODERATION (ONE MEAL PER DAY)
• 3.1 Beef, lamb or mutton, pork, bacon, ham, poultry, sausages, tongue and meat soups.
• 3.2 Small helpings of vegetables, (EXCEPT those in (1)), e.g. carrots,potatoes, leeks, cabbage, brussel sprouts, runner and French beans, marrow, courgettes.
• 3.3 Fish (EXCEPT those in (1)).

Huge sympathy here, it’s horrible. Had it a number of times approx 10 years ago, eventually went on to allopurinol after blood tests, Dr won’t usualy do blood tests and prescribe it until you have had 3-4 episodes. It’s basically down to a faulty gene so if you have it, unfortunately it can keep happening. Haven’t had a bout since started the tablets though had to adjust dosage initially and periodic checks show my levels are ok now, though Dr say I’ll be on the tablets for life.

If it keeps happening make sure they get you on allopurinol as the risks from untreated / uncontrolled gout are far worse than from taking the tablets.

Thanks again for the responses,

I was on Holiday in the West coast of Scotland when it first started, I had convinced myself i had broken a bone in my foot as i did stumble onto my toe (wearing fell running shoes ) also i was dehydrated on the same day, and ate a seafood meal that evening, I guess i was eating well all week really but at the time only had a dull pain and no swelling,the day after.

Its gradually got worse over the last few weeks, hopefully the meds will kick in soon.

If you’ve got hold of some indometacin it should start to improve after a day or two. In The UK this is only available on prescription; in Italy you can buy it over the counter in pharmacies. Well, you can in Sorrento 😉 not much use if you’re not in Sorrento, mind!

Thanks John 😉

I had an attack at the weekend and a friend from Central Asia told me to wrap area in cabbage. As all gout sufferers will know you will try anything once the dreaded gout kicks in. My big toe was wrapped in cabbage leaves held in place with cling film. Surprisingly it did seem to make it less severe. Stank a wee bit though.

Certainly true, you will try ANYTHING!! I would have hopped seven times round a maypole and proclaimed the cantaloupe melon the father of the universe if it would have made it go away!