My doctor says gout but im not sure. Any opinion?

[Heine]

Hi all,

I was out drinking saturday and walked quite a bit that day. The next Day i had very dull pain in my big toe bone. The Day after that it was a little worse and had a small limp.

Then night after i woke up 3am with throbbing pain and could not sleep that night.

Went to the doctor and he said gout and gave me naproxen. The next Day i got my bloodworks back and it was normal urit acid (377). But he still concluded with gout.

In 34 and not overweight. I consume my fair share of red wine and love a steak dinner.

Thank you for reading.

Heine

[nobody]

Hi,
This sounds like it could be an early stage of gout which would in many cases not be recognized as such. Gout can get much worse than this but if it’s gout and you treat it early, you could not only avoid the worst of the pain but also the attendant irreversible damage.
The thing is, most doctors are unable to diagnose gout based on a single episode. So it could easily be something else, no matter how adamant the doctor is.
What I recommend is that you make it a point of getting another uric acid test done in a few weeks even if the pain has gone away and you would rather forget all about it. Results are sometimes off for no apparent reason but it seems they are commonly off during an episode. 377 is a borderline result (high enough for gout but low enough that it could easily be something else) so you badly need more data.
There are specific tests you can have done to diagnose gout properly but it would probably be best at this point to do no more than monitor your uric acid (that’s cheap) and laying the groundwork for such tests while waiting for another episode. You could for instance look for a rheumatologist or an imagery person (ultrasound or MRI) willing to receive you on short notice whenever you experience severe pain again. You should also plan how you’re going to get there if you can’t walk normally (I used to keep canes at home for instance, and I needed a driver).

[Heine]

Thanks for the reply. I was thinking it could be something like bunion or hallux limitus since the pain did not happen in a short period of time. It was like 48 hours. But i dont know, really dont want it to be gout.

Again i appriciate the reply very much. Thanks!

Heine

[nobody]

If you don’t take something to stop a gout episode (like a large enough dose of naproxen), it can last longer than 48 hours. Even with the maximum safe dose, it can sometimes last much longer!
The first time I had pain there, I thought I’d hurt myself jumping wrong with the wrong shoes. The pain came fairly slowly and lasted a few days. The second time was much worse… which is not to say that there’ll be a second time for you. I obviously can’t tell the cause of your trouble. And for all I know, my “first time” wasn’t actually gout but simply an accident! All I’m saying is that gout can show up in different ways and that what you describe is consistent with gout.

[Author]

Posts