Gout: "The Rich Man's Disease"?

It's settled. You win the Random Award™ for today

I have avoided this disease my entire life by not having any money.

Who saw that king of the hill episode where bobby got gout then he had to get the rascasl. That was so funny

A colleague's husband suffers terribly from it; it ruined his professional sports career. He's only in his early 30s. Incidentally, they're both Aussies. However, I don't know what kind of treatment he takes for it.

The most common treatments for an acute attack of gout are high doses of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) taken orally (by mouth) or corticosteroids, which are taken orally or injected into the affected joint. NSAIDs reduce the inflammation caused by deposits of uric acid crystals but have no effect on the amount of uric acid in the body. The NSAIDs most commonly prescribed for gout are indomethacin (Indocin*) and naproxen (Anaprox, Naprosyn), which are taken orally every day. Corticosteroids are strong anti-inflammatory hormones. The most commonly prescribed corticosteroid is prednisone. Patients often begin to improve within a few hours of treatment with a corticosteroid, and the attack usually goes away completely within a week or so.

When NSAIDs or corticosteroids do not control symptoms, the doctor may consider using colchicine. This drug is most effective when taken within the first 12 hours of an acute attack. Doctors may ask patients to take oral colchicine as often as every hour until joint symptoms begin to improve or side effects such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, or diarrhea make it uncomfortable to continue the drug.

For some patients, the doctor may prescribe either NSAIDs or oral colchicine in small daily doses to prevent future attacks.


Sometimes I just hate myself

spork183 said:

For some patients, the doctor may prescribe either NSAIDs or oral colchicine in small daily doses to prevent future attacks.


Sometimes I just hate myself

Click to expand...

In the UK allopurinol is the preferred choice for gout prophylaxis as it actually acts on the uric acid producing pathway (or it was when i used to do adult medicine). Colchicine isn't popular as a long term therapy in view of the side effect profile and long term NSAIDs are never fun unless you like bleeding out of every orifice.

Far from being a rich person's disease gout is often precipitated by the use of diuretics, a common medication utilised in the treatment of high blood pressure. This means that every one can feel like a rich person in agony - delightful.

I get gout. I actually have a small bout of gout right now. I take allopurinol daily unless I have an attack then I take indocid.

Everyone has a different "trigger". Mine is cherries, which, of course, are my favorite. I find when I am eating properly and exercising I do not experience gout as often. This time of year can be hell on earth for me, although I have been very good this year.

I refuse to let gout incapacitate me. It is self inflicted and my own damn fault. I helped my brother move when I had a very severe case in each foot and could barely walk. I was in an immense amount of pain but I had to carry on. Sometimes I can't put my socks and shoes on, but I haven't missed a single day of work because of it.

My boss gets gout and so does another guy in my office so it is understood when somebody calls in sick with gout. I just refuse to do it.

My doctor stays as far as possible from colchicine. A clinic prescribed it for me once and then my doc told me to not use it ever again.

Hope this has answered some of your curiosity.

I always had hives growing up, and then on day my joints swelled up for no reason, I mean, really swelled. Randomly, all over my body.

My lip swelled once, just the top one. That was fun.

My feet, especially the bottoms, swelled so I couldnt walk, felt like rocks in my skin.

My knee one day got bright red, hot and the size of a grapefruit. I couldnt bend it, not from pain but from lack of mobility.

Time to go to the hospital.

They thought it could be gout.

Turned out it wasnt.

Nor did any of the other dozens of tests prove anything other than what I didnt have. NO Lyme Disease, no Lupis, no Arthritis, no blah blah blah.

Somewhere along the line, I try Zyrtec (Claritin ol school) and BAM symptoms disappear.

No allergist or doctor can explain why, but if I dont take a dose at least every other day I get symptoms back. I havent been off it long enough to have my nasty hard to live with symptoms come back, but I hope that never happens.

I dont like having to take a drug all the time, and possibly forever, but its alot better than not functioning because Im either itching, swelling or incapable of movement.

Gout, I wish I had an explanation that simple!

Ive had it once in my toe and boy-o-boy does it hurt. Its one of those pains that paralyzes you. I borrowed some medicine from my dad and was able to tough it out for the few days i had it and i sure hope i never get it again.

My dad gets gout. But he's pretty stupid about it all.

He smokes. He doesn't ever exercise. He has super high blood pressure. And he's borderline diabetic.

On top of all that, he knows some of dietary triggers for gout are seafood, red meat, soy bean (and it's other products such as tofu), and he still refuses to cut back on those foods. Then the symptoms hit-- he and whines and bitches making the rest of us around him downright miserable, too.

MultiM said:

Everyone has a different "trigger". Mine is cherries, which, of course, are my favorite.

Click to expand...

That's interesting, since cherry juice has long been considered a somewhat effective home remedy for gout prevention. (There isn't any proof of this, but I've seen it mentioned often.)

Eating right and exercising definitely help. I've only had one major attack, and I've really adjusted my eating habits since then. I still get minor attacks every now and then.

Another trigger food is beer.

Age of first gout attack?

xsedrinam said:

A friend, colleague, of mine has one of the most severe cases I've seen. He had his third surgery over the holidays. They had to remove the bone out of his little toe on his left foot because it was eaten away. ...

Click to expand...

Hi all, was searching through the forums and came across this thread.

I'm getting all paranoid about the above quote since I'm currently going through an attack on my left knee and the last thing I want is to have bits of it removed. This is the second attack in two weeks on the same knee!

And I'm only 27!!

Does damage occur all at once? Or is it cumulative? I've had several attacks already so I'm curious.

I had my first attack at 25 on the same left knee. Does that seem odd? From what I read most men don't get an attack until they're at least 40ish. And that the first attack is usually on the big toe. Even my dad, who has gout for the past 25 years (he's 60 now), didn't have an attack on his knee until now. Before that, he's had it mainly constrained to his foot.

Talk about drawing the short straw on this condition!!

i watched an episode of diagnosis unknown, and there was a 20 something college student who was dx'ed with gout by the first doctor, but pretty much every other doctor said it wasn't. he assumed it wasn't gout, and for 2-3 years, the gout got worse, and he was basically getting close to wheelchair status when they finally confirmed it was gout. he got treated and he could pretty much do everything from before he got the gout. one of the better cases i suspect.

ac6789 said:

Hi all, was searching through the forums and came across this thread.

I'm getting all paranoid about the above quote since I'm currently going through an attack on my left knee and the last thing I want is to have bits of it removed. This is the second attack in two weeks on the same knee!

And I'm only 27!!

Does damage occur all at once? Or is it cumulative? I've had several attacks already so I'm curious.

I had my first attack at 25 on the same left knee. Does that seem odd? From what I read most men don't get an attack until they're at least 40ish. And that the first attack is usually on the big toe. Even my dad, who has gout for the past 25 years (he's 60 now), didn't have an attack on his knee until now. Before that, he's had it mainly constrained to his foot.

Talk about drawing the short straw on this condition!!

Click to expand...

Woah there, who's talking about removing parts of your knee? Gout is just a collection of crystalised uric acid in your blood. Sure it can cause damage, but it's pretty easy to treat through diet and medication.

It tends to show up in the foot first, because it pools at the lowest point where gravity has brought it. But it could go to your knee if you kneel or lay down a lot. I wouldn't assume you have it worse, unless you've got it solid, up your foot and calf to your knee.

Found out I probably have it a couple of years ago.
Doctor gave me Indo when my left knee got swollen and hurt a great deal. But did not actually give me a diagnosis.

Then my father was diagnosed and based on descriptions I have read and the prescription, it seems to fit the bill.

It hurts like the devil when it happens. Like, you can't stand to have a sheet on your toe, the weight is so painful.

I have found trying to drink lots of water and not lots of alcohol seem to do the trick.

It seems to flare up when I am dehydrated, if my lips start getting chapped, I know I need to drink a lot more fluid and that should prevent it from getting bad.

That's interesting,There are several easy and convenient methods of curing gout. A routine exercise is a must for a healthy body. Exercises which help in light stretching of affected joints may be effective gout remedies. Exercise also reduces excessive body weight which may be one of the causes for gout.

Use of natural fruits and vegetables helps reduce the uric acid content of the body and is a useful gout remedy. Red cherries whether sweet or sour are helpful in curing gout. If the gout attack is acute about 15-20 cherries are required to cure gout. Later the number per day can be reduced to 10 cherries a day. Mixture of carrot, beet and cucumber juice is one of the most effective gout remedies. A 500ml consumption of this juice daily helps cure gout effectively. Fluids are excellent solvents for the body wastes including uric acid. Intake of six to eight glasses of water a day helps in the elimination of crystals of uric acid. Thus it is a cheap and convenient gout remedy. Dairy products such as cheese and butter help to reduce uric acid from the body and help in curing gout. Diets rich in potassium, malic acid, and vitamin C neutralize the negative effects of uric acid and help in its removal from the body.

Some foods need to be avoided by gout patients so that their disease is cured completely and in less time. The avoidance of such things is a gout remedy in itself. Alcoholic drinks such as beer and wine should be strictly kept away from gout patients. Intake of these hard drinks may multiply the disease many times. Improper processing of purine a protein in the body increases the content of uric acid. This intensifies the disease and the pain and suffering associated with it. Substances which have high levels of purines present in them should be avoided by gout patients at least at the time of gout attack. These include organ meat, crabs, mushrooms, dried peas, sauces etc. Use these simple methods and prevent and cure gout.

In New Zealand gout is far from "a rich man's disease", with the rates several times higher in lower socioeconomic groups.

Largely due to diet, though NZ Maori which are over-represented in low socioeconomic class also have a genetically predisposition to gout through altered urate metabolism.

The few people/friends that I know that suffer from Gout are anything but rich, yet they suffer pretty badly from it

The biggest contributor to Gout is a diet rich in the internal organs of animals--those natural sausage casings made from the intestines of pigs sheep or cattle. And the consumption of internal organs directly such as dishes like tripe, menudo, chitterlings ("chit lins" to those who didn't know it's spelling), chicken gizzards, liver, Kidneys, mainly the digestive organs (which may contain higher amounts of uric acid) which many of the poor consume which can also be found in the ingredients of a lot of food as an additive because of its high nutritional value. Seafood too has a limited amount of it too if you eat squid oysters octopus, clams or mussels those creatures are nearly all internal organ meat but crab lobsters and other crustaceans have a limited risk depending on proper cleaning.

From what I know about some of these I hear from poor people who love them that they are delicious but the fact is that many of these digestive organs are filters for toxins that are already in the diet and filters for toxins produced by the animals body as well. Basically they are a system used to soak up, filter, extract and expel poisons from the body and some idiots have eaten them excessively their entire lives. In small amounts they don't cause problems when consumed but the effects are cumulative.

I avoid everything but the sausage casings and the crustaceans and with those in moderation I have tried liver once in my life and was not to happy with the taste, chitterlings smell like some god awful chunks of **** and roadkill burning on a a hot engine block when cooking so naturally I wont even go near a house they are being made in, when it comes to squid, octopus oysters clams or mussels I don't eat anything even remotely related to a garden slug in the animal kingdom.

Gout was once called "A Kings disease" by Hippocrates in ancient Greece.

It's sad that this disease hasn't been cured since 2007.

I got it and I'm 24.... First flare up was 6 months ago and it lasted 3 weeks. Since then, I've only gotten it in my left index finger about once a month.

Cherries are the cure..... Eat about 5 per day everyday; freeze a good amount of them for the offseason

ps: I am not overweight, no high blood pressure, no high cholesterol, I have a balanced diet... My dad has it bad so the doctors are pinning it on bad gout genes