Alcohol abstinence and Gout Flares

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I have been a heavier drinker than I should be for years which is how I originally discovered my gout. I recently took a break from drinking(I have abstained for 20 days). A few weeks prior to that I increased my Allopurinol from 50 mg to 100 mg per doctors suggestion. Since I quit drinking I have had 3 different Gout attacks after not having any for several months prior. I have been exercising, I have been eating healthier, I have abstained from drinking and suffering from more gout problems.

Does anyone have any insight on this as to why? I did read that a person can experience an increase in Gout flare-ups after they initially start allopurinol as your body is processing the uric acid differently. Could that also be the same for increasing your dosage?

I’m suffering and confused as I am trying to be healthier.

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Can Stopping Drinking Cause Gout?

[nobody]

Congratulations on your sobriety!
The benefits will show over the years.

What you read is unfortunately correct: especially if you’ve had gout for a long time, attacks are part of the cure. Gout is a slow disease which takes years to set in and which also takes a long time to go away after you have set the right course.
You can have long breaks between attacks regardless of how responsible you’ve been so not having attacks for a few months isn’t a reliable sign you’re getting better.
Your guess is also correct: if you did not take enough allopurinol to cure your gout and go on to increase the dose, this could have the same effect as starting allopurinol.

Unfortunately, merely having several attacks is not sufficient to tell whether your new allopurinol dose is strong enough or not.
The results of blood tests might give us clues about what’s going on.
If you have experience with the various stage of the disease and therapy, you can get a feel for what’s going on in your body but I don’t think it would be responsible to try to make guesses based only on the subjective reports of a complete stranger over the Internet.

[Michael F]

Do I Start Allopurinol or Go Teetotal?

Hi there.

I’ve had gout attacks infrequently for about 20 years. Some have been mild, so it took a long time to diagnose, and my uric acid always came back as “high end of normal”. But some bad attacks were classic gout. I’ve changed my diet to mainly plant-based, and I’ve had one attack per year for the last three years. Most recent one was pretty bad, and the doc has strongly recommended the allopurinol.
My most recent UA levels have been 490-510 micro mol/l, which is about 8.5 mg/dl.
The only other thing I could try is to go teetotal. I don’t drink most days, will have maybe three glasses of wine a day over the weekend. Plus the occasional night out with work. I don’t drink spirits, and beer only very rarely.

Any thoughts, folks?

Thanks

Michael

[nobody]

Hi! Everyone’s body works differently. And “mainly plant-based” could potentially be a terrible diet for gout. But realistically, with such test results and such a long history of gout, drugs are the way to go (assuming the gout diagnosis is correct). Going teetotal during the initial phase of treatment would still be prudent.

[wikkydoo .]

In a similar place here, although really only 10 years of infrequent attacks and even more infrequent intense attacks. My UA is almost identical to yours. With age the attacks seem to become more frequent.

Most likely I will get on allopurinol the next time I see my doctor. I have high blood pressure and have been on Losartan Potassium for at least a decade. That actually REDUCES UA studies have shown, but it is now on the list of BP medications that the FDA is recalling. So once I make a BP switch, my UA will likely go up, hence the decision to get on allopurinol seems like an easier one for me to make.

[Author]

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