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I am fortunate not to be stuck with any particular doctor or medical group. It is why I have seen two GPs and two podiatrists. The rheumatologist was scheduled so far out I was desperate to make some headway. It was disappointing to have a rheumatologist tell me he couldn’t determine if they were uric acid or Pseudo gout related crystals/deposits on the lab report. We are desperately short of medical professionals in the US and I don’t see change coming anytime soon.
With this help I feel significantly more optimistic than I have in quite a while.
Thank You! I obviously need a medical professional who knows more. I have not taken common anti inflammatories because I didn’t ever need them before and had the blood test that said I had little inflammation… I really, really appreciate you taking the time to respond. It helps a lot.
Owen
Thanks, I’ll do better: Uric acid was 4.5 (blood test has 4.0-8.0 mg/dl after it)after starting Alupurinol late October. I have not been free of symptoms since then. My left big toe was severely affected for November 15-17. Other than that it has been varying degrees of discomfort back and forth on both feet but not the traditional big toe.
Alupurinol prescription is 300 mg once daily. Colchicine is .6mg twice then .6 once one hour later and repeat if needed three days later. I verified twice with my dr (who thought it would bring near immediate relief.)
My diet has been alcohol free with the exception of 2 days when I had, nervously, 3 glasses of red wine (60th bday and New Years) my wife is helping me only eat gout friendly food off of this site and the Mayo Clinic. 2 weeks ago, depreseed and frustrated I met with a dr who has left conventional medicine primarily to treat cancer patients but agreed to see me. Her plan involves lots of shade veggies, sweet potato, avocado, and oddly red meat. I had 8 ounces a day of beef Sunday through Thursday. Yesterday my right foot started hurting. Today is the worst ever.
Of 4 people who have seen me only one thought it was traditional gout. One said to see a specialist who I saw and he looked at the scrapping from the joint and wasn’t sure.
I think it ought to be gout but since my uric acid is low drs are inclined to think it is something else. My once a month lab test has matched with my daily home meter test in the 4.6-4.8 range until this past Thursday when it jumped on my home test to 5.7. I have very little swelling. When I did it was soft and not red. My sed rate is 9 by “modified westergreen” and I a, told that is a measurement of inflammation and should be below 20.
I am pretty pain tolerant. Needed no opioids with a knee replacement and now on occasion at night I need a half of a 10-325 hydrocodone. I have good days then bad days at random. I haven’t ever been normal since September. The alternative medicine specialist thinks it is a fungus but got that off questioning me and taking a toothbrush so I am not very comfortable with the diagnosis. I hope that is more clear. Thanks for reaching out.
