Aw Jerry! You have my sympathies mate. Cos I remember what it was like in my early years with gout…
– No clue about my uric acid levels.
– No understanding of how it’s impossible to manage gout without knowing my uric acid number.
– Confused about how food affects gout.
– Confused about how water affects gout.

Eventually, I got a plan with my doctor to control my uric acid. Then with a few ups and downs, I got myself completely free from gout pain. But I’ve still got the scars. So I wish I’d started uric acid treatment sooner (that’s real measured treatment.)

But my best advice right now is to get together with your doctor/pharmacist for proper pain control.

Depending on the severity of your attack, you need up to 3 treatments in combination:
1. Colchicine to stop inflammation getting worse. But it has no immediate pain relief. So…
2. NSAIDs such as ibuprofen. But talk to your doc about a prescription for gout strength doses of anti-inflammatories. Because gout laughs in the face of anything less than maximum strength. And in the worst cases, the inflammation is too bad to resolve in a short time. So…
3. Compatible pain-killer such as acetaminophen (paracetamol).

Jerry, please take some time to talk about the right pain relief package with your doctor and/or pharmacist. Because you need to be confident that what you are taking is safe and effective. “Chugging ACV and lots of ibuprofen” is not safe in my opinion. So you must get professional advice. As well as regular posting here to learn what to ask and what the doctors advice means in real life.

Then, once you are confident about gout pain control you can start to tackle the dangerous beast that is excess uric acid. Hopefully, before it cripples you permanently. Or worse!

Hi Jerry, have you had blood work done to check your uric acid (UA) levels? Once the flare-up and pain have gone completely and you are back to normal, my first advice would be to find out your UA levels. Based on your comment, it seems this is your second gout episode; if so, you should discuss Uric Acid lowering medications with your doctor (Allopurinol or Febuxostat). Plan with your doctor and start with a low dose and titrate the dose up slowly until your uric acid levels are in a safe zone (350 umol/l or 6.0 mg/dL). Gout is a metabolic disorder and its best managed with a Uric acid-lowering medicine coupled with a watchful diet and moderate exercise. A lot of patients try to control it without the medication, and unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to work. Monitor what you eat very carefully and stay away from purine-rich foods, carbonated sweetened drinks, and Alcohol (especially Beer).

I too am on a regimen of guercetin and bromelein (no dandelein)for 3 months now and no attacks. I can not take ua lowering meds due to extreme allergies to them. Both my internal med dr and my rheumatologist told me “I am on my own. They can not help me due to my allergies” so surfing the net and this forum is my only way out. Good luck. Does acupuncture help? Candace

Thanks Jerry,

I’m sad that your relationship with your doctor isn’t great. But hopefully that will change when you get better advice from your rheumatologist. Most importantly, your rheumatologist will test your blood for uric acid. So you can finally start to manage your gout properly.

This is the first flare that lasted over a week, and first that moved from one leg to the other.

This is typical of the progressive nature of gout. Because crystals build up in your joints over the years. So what starts out as an occasional attack in one or two joints eventually spreads throughout your body. But I’m sure your rheumatologist can put an end to that.

Always remember that you can ask here about anything you are unsure of. Also, it will be nice to get an update after your appointment so we can share in your recovery 🙂