For centuries, many have called gout "the disease of kings" because it affected men who ate rich diets and drank heavily. As early as the ancient Greeks, doctors wrote about gout, claiming that only wealthy men could become afflicted with it. And when royals like Henry VIII came down with gout, it transformed into a fashionable condition. Just like the French imitated the royals at Versailles, Europeans aimed to get gout as a status symbol. In the 16th century, men claimed that gout prevented other maladies and even called it an aphrodisiac.
VIDEO HERE (10:24 minutes)
That's too weird...
ReplyDeleteThis morning, out of the blue, I was thinking about gout because my foot's been hurting. It got me thinking about my old best friend Kenny and his uncle Carl who had it.
Carl was always in pain and you could see it it in his face, but he took us places and did cool shit with us. He sucked it up for us kids though.
I'm psycho, I mean psychic.
DeleteWirecutter, I knew you were going to say that !
DeleteI remember my first bout with gout. It was a flash of pain in by big toe at 3am and did not go away. I tried to remember how I broke it the previous day. The next day I went to the ER thinking I had a broken toe. Nurses said they think they know what is. Well after an x-ray, a prescription of prednisone, pain pills, and my wallet 2 grand lighter, it was determined I had gout. Used to get 2 flare ups a year with just pain in the toe joint. I would take alieve for a week and it would be gone. Recently it jumped to my other foot and a little more persistent. Got a prescription for Allopurinol and better. Being over weight with a diet of bread, meat and beer does not help. Dehydration was usually the cause of new episode.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize it was that painful, but then again I've never known anybody that had it. I don't think I have, anyway.
DeleteIf you get it, you will know. First step out of the bed in the morning and you stifle a moan while you wonder when that elephant crushed your foot. Some of the worst pain I have had.
DeleteDid the exact same thing. Woke up wondering how I broke my big toe. Turned out that a combination of dark beer and BBQ, along with dehydration, was the culprit. It sucked giving up two of my favorite things together, but as long as I choose just one, I'm good to go.
DeleteI have an occasional attack. The worst was in 2014 while I was being treated for cancer. I was tanked up on pain pills (the real stuff) and around one in the morning the pain in my left big toe was so severe I couldn't talk. I took a double helping of Oxy and chased it with plenty of water, and in 30 minutes or so the pain eased up, then finally faded. These days it's knock off the sauce, drink plenty of water, and use prednisone. That prednisone really works, and knocks the gout right out.
ReplyDeleteJust yesterday my friend at work told me he found out he has gout... crazy coincidence
ReplyDeletei've had bouts w/ it. it hurts a lot. believe it or not, pineapple juice really helps.
ReplyDeleteDill pickle juice also works. Sweet vinegar, vinegar with sugar or honey, also helps.
DeleteI got it the first time about 5 years ago. I couldn't believe how bad it hurt. Called my kidney doctor and she had me in. Gave me a couple "free" samples of a drug called Uloric. Got the prescription filled....$700 for 30 pills. Saw another doctor and she put me on Allopurinol, that was $30 for 90 pills. Had a bout about 3 weeks ago, my Dr put me on a steroid over 6 days. that cured it and also all my other pains. It's a bitch to get old. 78 here.
ReplyDeleteAllopurinol and hydrating maximally has worked for me *knocks wood*. No bouts in years. I remember when the weight of a sheet on the big toe was excruciating
ReplyDeleteFrank G
yep. literally could not flip my foot over under the weight of a loose sheet. agonizing.
DeleteUsed to get it bad and more often with time. Installed a water alkalizer (Tyent) that also adds hydrogen molecules - never got it again. But, spendy (but worth it).
ReplyDeleteAcidifying alkaline water? WTH?
DeleteGo take a look, it really works. It can adjust acidity and alkalinity.
DeleteChanging your PH is why that works, along with pineapple juice and pickles.
DeletePlus, it’s clean purified water. You need a lot of that. It really worked when nothing else did. Years of “try this” and not wanting to take pills.
DeleteThe pain, the loss of time, the agony….just try a tyent system or other, there are are others, but you really want the hydrogen addition, that’s the key. I’m done, I wish you well, truly.
DeleteGot out of bed and it felt like my left foot bones were scrambled, like I could flex my foot and it would get better, Got worse. For a couple weeks walking was very painful, then cleared up right as deer season started. Some occasional soreness over the next 2 years then the big one hit. The sore foot and the sore big toe that hurt if anyone just looked at it and the skin started peeling off it. Doc started me on Alopurinol, rest of my life. Used prednisone for immediate relief but that really fucked me up with confusion and a desire to keep eating. I've also had gout attacks in my wrist, sounded like a squeaky door when I flexed it, and attacks in my shoulder and elbow and hand in general. Upped the alopurinol and have pretty much been pain free last 8 years
ReplyDeleteAllopurinol has some side effects that I don’t like, & it’s a long term medication. I use colchine which I take during an attack to drastically shorten the length of the problem. Careful attention to diet is the key to avoiding gout. Weird that this came up today, as I am just now getting over my last incident of gout in years.
ReplyDeleteI've had gout and kidney stones many times over the years.
ReplyDeleteDiscovered that lemon juice and potassium citrate will dissolve the stones and the uric acid crystals in a matter of hours.
Have to try that…recipe? Legio XIX
DeleteThat should be “colchicine”- script med, but widely used. Discovered by Benjamin Franklin, in France- he was party animal.
ReplyDeleteGuzzle some apple cider vinegar. works every time. Horrible pain.
ReplyDeleteBlack cherry juice is a lifesaver!
ReplyDeleteKenny, that was me who replied to anon@630 pm
Tom762
Indomethacin, 50mg capsule two times a day for two or three days, and it is gone. Once a day for a week or so and normally good to go. It is a cheap anti-inflamatory, steroid free normally used for arthritis.
ReplyDeleteI eat a lot of shrimp and red meat, but I think my bouts mostly stem from getting furious with my liver from time to time and really making that sucker pay.
Always been in the joint of my big toe, and as someone notes above, even the sheet touching it is agony. Try putting on a sock and shoes can bring tears, and I have a high pain tolerance.
This last bout I woke up with a furious hangover and thought I broke the left side of my foot and could not remember what I did. By the end of the morning, I knew it was gout.
Again.
Gout is surprisingly painful. This comes from a guy who has been blown up, broke his back, and lost part of my left hand. Gout hurts.
ReplyDeleteGet tart cherry extract supplement, take it daily and I assure you gout will be a thing of the past. At least as good as the prescription drug, only way cheaper and no pharma side effects.
Yes, tart cherry extract. It did a wonderful job of eliminating my gout and keeping it away. No side effects either.
DeleteHaving suffered for years, it is hereditary. Take Allipuronol daily. 2 years ago, I couldn’t even walk to the bathroom to pee. Humbling, humiliating, debilitating. Legio XIX
ReplyDeleteAs others have noted the pain is exquisite, I tell people it's like walking barefoot in flaming gasoline. The first time it hit me the weight of a sheet was enough to put me into orbit.
ReplyDeleteBesides greatly reducing my intake of high purine foods, I started taking the tart cherry extract capsule that Doc B mentioned after finding I hated the taste of the juice. The take one in the morning and one in the evening did nothing for me so I upped my intake to my current level of two in the morning, two mid day and two in the evening. Usually only takes a day or two to knock the symptoms down to a manageable level. A side benefit of the dietary change was going from a 46" waist to a 42" waist.
I'm going to explore some of the other solutions mentioned in these comments.
Thanks Ken, et al,
wes
wtdb
Tart cherry juice. Full stop. No meds. Gone in one day.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't even let a shirt touch my skin it was that painful. Tart cherries and EXERCISE cured it. Had a neighbor who screamed in pain just walking to his car.
DeleteI have some funny stories about gout. For some reason I rarely get it any more. I did all kinds of changes to my diet to make it a very rare and infrequent pain in the joint.
ReplyDeleteI had it about 15 years ago. I went on a meat diet and was drinking port wine (for its health benefits). I was walking about 5 miles to work everyday to lose some weight. Anyway, it spread from my big toe up to my ankle and any small movement was torture. Doc gave me something and it cleared it up.
ReplyDeleteThe causes my Dr told me were: over 40, over indulgent, overweight and hereditary. It's a painful bitch.
ReplyDelete