Gout attack – new Allopurinol brand

[J Q]

Hi all,
Has anyone experienced a gout attack after changing Allopurinol manufacturers?

I have been taking 200 mg Allopurinol daily for almost 3 years and have had no major flares, almost considering myself cured. My latest prescription refill, I noticed a difference in the pills, they were smaller and also shiny or possibly ‘coated’. After checking the bottles, I noticed the manufacturer is ‘Ingenius’, the previous manufacturer was ‘PAR’. I also noticed a distinct acidic, sour taste in my mouth all week which was worrying and I couldn’t help but put 1+1 together.

I had a minor flare up last Friday night treated with ibuprofen, but it subsided by Saturday night. I then drank 4-5 beers Sunday – I usually avoid beer whenever I feel the gout acting up, but it was the Super Bowl… Monday I had slight soreness treated with ibuprofen that continued until I had a major flare on Wednesday. I had to take colchicine yesterday. (Trying to avoid it due to cost.) The colchicine worked in about 12 hours, and I am back to only slight soreness.

Do you think there is something is wrong with the new pills? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

---

Is 100 mg allopurinol OK?

[Keith Taylor]

Please can you post your uric acid test results, J Q? It’s best to post date, number and scale. Though, I can probably assume your results are mg/dL, as you sound to be in The States.

Also, can you post your ibuprofen dose.

Finally, can you post the manufacturer information from the allopurinol label. I can’t find anything gout-related for the Ingenius name that you mention.

[J Q]

Thank you for the quick reply. I can tell you are very knowledgeable and appreciate your insight.

It is actually Ingenus – not Ingenius which was written on my Rx. I thought maybe they gave me the wrong dose, but that is not the case based on the pill markings.

When I have the twinges of an attack, I take 2-5 200mg tablets of Ibuprofen depending on my level of soreness. I took 5/day in the last attack. I don’t have a current reading on my uric acid, looks like I will need to see the Doctor and find it out. I was in the 7s when they caught it, before I went on Allopurinol.

[Keith Taylor]

Thanks J Q, especially for:

I can tell you are very knowledgeable and appreciate your insight.

I have gathered a lot of facts during the war on my gout. So, now I’m trying to organize that knowledge better. And, make it more accessible to other gout patients. As for insight, I’m not sure, though I accept your compliment. Most of all, I’m thorough, and logical. My accounts and IT background taught me that. So, I asked my questions to get some essential detail. If the detail is wrong, the bigger picture is meaningless. Fundamentally, I guess, that’s why there’s so much crap written about gout.

Allopurinol Brand
Your clarification of the manufacturer name confirms they are a valid, respectable manufacturer of generic allopurinol. I think the brand switch is just coincidence.

Uric Acid Control
Your recent attack might be because your uric acid is still too high, and new crystals are forming. Or, it might be because your uric acid is OK, and old crystals are dissolving. Both situations cause gout flares. But, without uric acid test results, we cannot know.

I strongly recommend you get your doc to give you all the uric acid test result history he has. Then post it here. With that information, I can give you better insight into your gout. And, how to manage it better.

Gout Pain Treatment
Speaking of management, you’re not managing your gout pain very effectively. The usual gout strength dose for intense gout pain, under medical supervision, is 800 mg, 4 times per day. And, in extreme cases, that would be interspersed with max dose paracetamol. I can testify that, at least for me, that dose is effective enough to get mobile, and mostly pain-free. It’s important to manage gout pain effectively during the first few months of uric acid lowering.

I hope you don’t think I’m too flippant when I say: 1000mg ibuprofen is more of a tickle, than a gout pain treatment.

[d q]

Hi JQ,

In the UK we have PL numbers on boxes which means medications must match precisely in formula in order to be considered or categorised as “the same”. Maybe they have a similar pattern or method in the USA you could check?

James

[Author]

Posts