Andy q said:Podiatrist: Ever have gout?
Andy: No.
Podiatrist: You do now!
Welcome to the club.
Quoted message said:Frantically throwing diet in reverse.
Start googling purines. That's the stuff in most foods, to different
degrees, that is converted to uric acid in your blood which is the
cause of gout.
Quoted message said:Am on a prednisolone 6-day pak. See family doc on Wed.
Good idea. Prednisone is a temporary relief drug commonly prescribed
to give quick ("quick" in gout time is days) relief from an actual
gout attack, which it sounds like you are suffering. Another even
more vicious drug is colchicine which probably works quicker (fewer
days). But, with the relative quickness of either of these drugs
comes the relative side effects. Everything from an itch that makes
you want to rip out your anus with a clawhammer (sorry for the
graphic) to a headache which earned me an ambulance ride and an eight
hour ER visit complete with spinal tap. Bottom line, you don't want
to be on either of these for very long.
I'm currently on daily dose of alluprinol and have been gout free for
over ten years, eating almost all foods with impunity. Is it a good
thing? I'm not sure. All the docs and pharmacists insist prolonged
use of allupurinol poses no long term threat and I seem to have no
noticeable side effects. But.... I recall the original doc only
wanted to keep me on it for as long as necessary and then quit.
Unfortunately, I lost him as a doc and he was the first doctor who
really got a handle on my affliction. The bozos at Kaiser liked to
kill me trying to figure out what to do.
Be aware of one thing. The build up and reduction of uric acid in
your blood takes place over a period of weeks and months, not hours
and days. But, be patient. There is life after gout. 😉
nb