Gout

[Zephik]

Does anyone know anything about Gout? My father has it pretty bad in his foot and lately he's been having a very hard time just walking around. He just seems utterly miserable and in a lot of constant pain these past couple days. It isn't anything new, it tends to happen off and on from time to time, he's had gout for years. Sometimes he's just fine while other times he's like this and I just feel bad that there isn't anything that I know of that I can do to help him. So I was just wondering if anyone here knows anything thing about it? Any tips, tricks, advice, etc?

It sucks seeing someone, especially your own father, in so much pain and there isn't anything that you can do. ><

[jdbnsn]

Gout is absolutely treatable! What Gout is: The chemicals in the fluid in certain joints has the ability to crystallize (in the case of Gout it's almost always the big toe) and the fluid forms uric acid crystals (if I remember correctly). This happens if several conditions are met, the two main ones are temperature (like when his feet are elevated to the level or above of the heart while sleeping and sometimes slip out of the covers) and the other main condition is lower pH of the blood. Alcohol lowers blood pH so if he drinks before bed the likelihood of an attack is higher. There are several great medications that can resolve his gout almost completely, alopurinol and colchicine are the two that some to mind. I forget which is which but one is taken long term for maintenance and the other for acute attacks. But tell him to see his doctor and report the problem and he should be able to get on these medications which will help immensely. Gout is miserable and there is no reason anyone should have to suffer from it since adequate, effective, and safe drugs are available.

Jon

[Zephik]

Thanks for the info JD. I believe he has been to the doctor before, not sure what they prescribed him though. But I know there are these pills he takes when he gets super bad gout like right now, but they're retardedly expensive! I think he gets them from walgreens or something like that. They're like $40-$70 for just a few pills or something like that.

Money is a huge issue right now, which is why he just tries to endure it for as long as he can. He only gets the medicine when it gets really bad. I think he's at about that point now so hopefully we can figure out how to scrap together some money.

I'm not sure why I never did this before, but I just spent the last hour or two doing online research, from wikipedia and health forums. This is what I dug up so far...


Stay away from meat and seafood, high frutose, fat, alcohol, fried foods, high fat dairy, mushrooms, oatmeal, spinach, Asparagus, Cauliflower, gravy, white bread, pea's and beans, fruit preserves (jam and jellies), syrup, candy, ice cream, cookies and cake.

Increase consumption of plants and especially fruits. Dairy products such as milk and cheese have been known to significantly reduce the chances of gout.

Drink plenty of fluids and reduce salt intake. Drink cherry juice. Stay away from acidic juices, such as cranberry juice.

Avoid the use of Niacin and Vitamin C during gout attacks.

"The anti-hemorrhoidal ointment Preparation H can reduce gout-induced skin swelling temporarily. Ice may be applied for 20 to 30 minutes several times a day, and a randomized controlled trial found that patients who used ice packs had better relief of pain without side effects. Since gout is caused by crystals, it has been suggested[citation needed] that keeping very well hydrated and heating the affected joint in hot water (rather than cooling with ice) will promote the dissolution and clearance of the urate crystals. Adequate hydration is a standard recommendation. However, a small study found that only icing, not heating, was beneficial. Keeping the affected area elevated above the level of the heart also may help.[citation needed] Professional medical care is needed for long-term management of gout."

"Men who consume two or more sugary soft drinks a day have an 85% higher risk of gout compared with those who drink less than one a month. This is because soft drinks contain large quantities of high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a common sweetener in soft drinks, which results in hyperuricemia in blood. Hyperuricemia, in turn predispose the body for gout."

"Consumption of beer is associated with a 49% increase in relative risk per daily 12-oz serving. By contrast, consumption of spirits was associated with only a 15% increase in relative risk, and no association at all was found with consumption of wine."

"Possible Over the Counter Remedies: Baking soda, thought to work by raising blood pH (lowering blood acidity)."

"The normally lower temperature of extremities, compared to the body core, is believed to explain the characteristic prevalence of first gout attacks involving the big toe, later the knee, rarely more proximal joints (hip, shoulder, spine). This observation, and that fact that crystals in general dissolve more readily at higher temperatures, supports the idea that heat therapy may help to resolve both acute and chronic gout. Thus the use of hot pads and hot baths."

[jdbnsn]

Nice info. Some of the info presented above may seem contradictory to the etiology, treatment, and prevention of gout but it isn't. Here's why. The driving factor of the pain is inflammation caused by microscopic, jagged crystals formed inside the joint fluid (synovial fluid). These crystal form when the conditions are right (such as low pH or cold temperature). The classic case for gout description is the heavy set guy who already has poor circulation. He drinks a beer or two before bed and in the middle of the night his foot or big toe pokes out of the bottom of the blanket. Now the toe has even poorer circulation because it's elevated above the heart and is the furthest distance from the heart (the heart must work against the distant range and it no longer has gravity on it's side). While sleeping, his breathing is different than while he's up and about which also alters blood pH. The toe sticks out of the blanket and gets the cold night air chilling it down to the uric acid's crystallization point in the given pH setting. The crystals then form, but he usually doesn't notice until he gets up and finds that his toe is swollen and inflamed. NOW the crystals are still there, but the real problem is the inflammation that the crystals have triggered. That is why it hurts. So before the crystals form, heating the feet can help reduce the formation of the crystals as can keeping the blood pH on the higher side of normal by diet (as mentioned above). But heating the feet after the pain is there may help reduce the crystals, but does nothing for the inflammation. But cold does. So once an attack is present, it's hard to say which is more helpful. You do want to get rid of the crystals, but you also want to reduce the inflammation. The best bet is to prevent the attacks by diet, keeping the feet warm at night and even sleeping with the bed at a slight incline so the feet are lowered just a bit, hydration, etc... Tell him to ask his doctor about prophylactic anti-inflammatories before bed (not sure if this is used as a treatment or not so it's best to ask). It was also mentioned that keeping the feet elevated may be useful, note that they are referring to AFTER an attack has already occurred.

[Zephik]

Well I've read that cherry is supposed to be good for gout, so I picked up my dad a bottle of this stuff (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GYB53Q). We'll see how it goes, but even one of the comments mentions gout, so hopefully it works alright at the very least.

I also bought him a bunch of healthy groceries. Veggies, fruits, salads and some healthy soups. Stuff like that. I read that low fat dairy is supposed to be either good or acceptable, so I picked him up some cherry low fat yogurt.

This household is very meat orientated, so I basically had to restock everything. It was funny, I went through all the stuff they have in their fridge and cabinets and pantry... EVERYTHING they have is bad for gout. It was almost comical if not a little sad. Its no wonder he gets these bouts of really bad gout from time to time and why most of the rest of the time he's still in pain, if not somewhat more bearable of a pain than he is in now.

Diets are everything to me. I believe in modern medicine, but I even more strongly believe that if you "listen to your body", it will tell you everything you need to know. In other words... yep, I'm a hippie. lol

If I could be completely natural without having to spend a small fortune (at least compared to super ones food lol) I would in a heart beat. I'd buy my meat from local trusted farms, same with my veggies and I would get my bread from the local health food store. Actually, I could probably just buy everything from there. But damn they are expensive. If organic was cheaper, this country would be in SO much better shape.

[NightrainSrt4]

It might not be on their list of prescriptions, but if you've got a walmart check to see if those meds are available there for there under $4 thing.

My cousin had to get some really expensive meds a while back, went to walmart and saved big time as they were all under $4 there compared to other places around like CVS and such.

I know, walmart is the bane of the world, but sometimes you just got to deal with that to make it by.

[msmrx57]

I've had gout in the past and it can DEFINITELY make life miserable. The dietary recomendations really do help, but more from a prevention than cure. Once it flares up the only quick way to help is meds. My doctor prescribed an anti-inflamitory med (similar to ibuprofen) the last time that was one of the $4 wal-mart ones that worked really good for me.