Which Antacid with your Gout?

[Keith Taylor]

Gout and Antacids

We got a rare new message on GoutPal’s Facebook page today. I’ve reduced my Facebook presence to occasional big news updates. I find Facebook too restricting to have decent conversations about gout. But, it’s nice to see that interesting gout messages still appear.

Today’s message from Rich Soper is about the relief he has found using Rennies for gout. Rennies are a UK brand of antacid. It’s a combination of calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate. Rich says:

as someone who knows first hand the pain we go through just wanted to share it and if it works for you too then great!!

A couple of years ago I started suffering from indigestion and heartburn mainly from eating a rich diet so I’d found myself regularly using Rennies indigestion tablets and I realised a year or so on that I hadn’t had a gout attack. So now I take a couple maybe twice a week and I haven’t had an attack since. For an experiment I tried not taking it and sure enough within a week or so I could feel the familiar tingling stiff pain starting. Couple of indigestion tablets and it was gone by the morning.

I think it’s marvelous when people control their gout pain. I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade. But, I have to point out some long-term concerns:
1. If you only treat gout symptoms, you risk serious damage as uric acid crystals spread and grow.
2. This antacid preparation is known to have reactions with some other medicines.
3. I think it’s always wise to check with your doctor when taking anything on a long-term basis. I’m not aware of any specific long-term risks. But, doctors have access to much better information than I do.

If you are considering magnesium carbonate/calcium carbonate for gout, I recommend:
– See your doctor to assess any long-term risks.
– Take extra care with all other meds, and check with your doctor/pharmacist before taking anything.
– Consider uric acid control before gout develops bad enough to damage joints permanently.

I can’t find a USA antacid that blends calcium carbonate with magnesium carbonate. Has anyone else found that antacid tablets are also good for gout?

[Carolyn Poulter]

Gosh I remember Rennies but no, haven’t found that formula here in Canada but have only searched a little bit. We do have Gaviscon in the house, Pepto Bismol, even Milk of Magnesia, but all only used rarely. We are both great fans of spicy food but as we get older we find we pay the price a bit. Heck what am I talking about, as we get older EVERYTHING! has a price. If anyone young is reading this: eat, drink and be merry and add a dash of spice because all too soon…… that will be long gone. After that…. prrrp (pardon!), burp (pardon!), Scuse me! Where’s the loo? (pardon!)

It is an interesting observation though. I do hope and encourage others to comment on this. Who knows, might be on to an entire new treatment. In which case, we should probably all buy shares………. just sayin’.

[Keith Taylor]

Thanks Carolyn. I guess that confirms my thoughts about Rennies. Every other antacid I looked at had some aluminum salts, or more exotic chemicals. Rennies seems to be a Ca-Mg carbonate combo that’s uniquely British. On the other hand, Carolyn’s description of the ravages of age seem very global, probably universal! 😉 😀

I’m wondering if it’s more quackery along the lines of baking soda. My take on that is something like:
If you screw up your bodies chemistry, it just might interfere with the complicated gout pain pathway. That means you feel less gout pain – Hooray! 😆
But, the uric acid crystals you are ignoring continue to destroy tendons, cartilage, and bone. Then, they collect in lumps that damage your skin, kidneys, heart and all other organs except the brain – Boo! 😥

I assume the brain is spared so that dying gout victims can reflect on the stupid ignorance of their younger self.

The moral of that story is:
Control gout pain WHILE you control uric acid. Not INSTEAD OF!

[Keith Taylor]

Carolyn’s mention of Pepto Bismol has attracted some interest from gout sufferers who use that particular antacid. However, Pepto Bismol should be avoided by gout sufferers.

I still cannot find any specific advice on the best antacid for gout sufferers. However, in the pre-market trials of febuxostat, some tests were done on the effects of antacids. In that case, a mixture of aluminium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide was used. Brands of antacids that use this mixture include:
– Alamag®
– Alumina and Magnesia®
– Antacid (aluminum-magnesium)®
– Antacid M®
– Antacid Suspension®
– Gen-Alox®
– Kudrox®
– M.A.H.®
– Maalox HRF®
– Maalox T.C.®
– Magagel®
– Magnalox®
– Maldroxal®
– Mylanta® Ultimate
– Ri-Mox®
– Rulox®

Which antacid do you use with gout?

[Keith Taylor]

Although posts about antacids and gout are infrequent, this topic certainly attracts a lot of attention. In particular, there is lots of interest in Pepto Bismol, Tums, and other antacids associated with gout.

Of course, my primary concern is to ensure that I have covered all the facts about antacids and gout on GoutPal.com. But I don’t think I’ve achieved that, except perhaps for Pepto Bismol and Gout.

I think the main reason for this is that antacids are produced in many different forms. Which makes sense as I learn about the wide range of gastrointestinal diseases they are designed to serve. So, I was particularly interested today to read a new investigation into antacids and gout.

Yuan, Shu, Zhong-Wei Zhang, and Zi-Lin Li. “Antacids’ side effect hyperuricemia could be alleviated by long-term aerobic exercise via accelerating ATP turnover rate.” Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 99 (2018): 18-24.

This study first makes the point that Proton Pump Inhibitors are one group of antacids that are infamous for raising uric acid. Because they slow down ATP turnover, which is a new topic for me to investigate in relation to gout. Even more interesting given that we regularly discuss exercise, is the news that this effect is alleviated by long-term aerobic exercise which promotes ATP turnover.

There’s always something new to learn about gout 🙂

[nobody]

I’ve taken pretty large proton pump inhibitor doses, and I haven’t noticed an effect on my SUA. The data I have is very limited (expensive blood tests and so forth) but it looks like the effect is either specific to a subset of the population or somewhat subtle.

[Colin Purves]

In terms of Antacids,Baking Soda was something that I had taken regularly a few years back when I was thrashing around looking for remedies/cures for Gout.I dont recall the Baking Soda having any effect and perhaps some Antacids may have a sticking plaster effect but as Keith points out, the cumulative process of UA deposits in the body will remain. Perhaps part of the answer is to be aware of what acidic foods are going in to the body in the first place and adjust accordingly.

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