20 years of gout diet experience… lessons learned

[goutken]

Keith thanks for running the worlds’ top gout site, longtime fan.

no big surprises, but here’s what I learned (still w/9 uric acid level, severely allergic to both allopurinol and the febexostat so I’m stuck trying to reduce uric acid lvl w/just diet/water, and colchicine (btw is it ever going to get priced back down where it was years ago? total ripoff now at $200/30 pills we’ve gotta pay in USA…)

+ purines are evil, particularly bad is chicken/turkey, with beef a close second
+ cherry juice concentrate helps relieve inflammation a bit, but not a lot
+ during onset of attacks best thing to do is drink 100+oz/water asap during the day, heavy water intake
+ propping foot up on couch pillow helps during attacks and sleep
+ I went a year+ without any attacks, wasn’t eating much beef, I got hungry for steaks and started eating steak once/week and after 5-6 months of that, now I’m in a prolonged ‘won’t go away w/o colchicine’ multi-month attack… so no more steak except special occasions
+ tried the black bean soup, is a bit soothing but i didn’t want to keep making it

anyone else allergic to allopurinol and finding good uric-acid lowering diet ideas? I Really don’t want to have to eat like a rabbit with vegetables. nibble nibble welcome to gout, sigh

[Keith Taylor]

Keith thanks for running the worlds? top gout site, longtime fan.

Ha ha! That’s put a big 🙂 on my face.

I think the Colcrys license has run out now, so generic colchicine should be available again. At least, that is the theory. Can any of my wonderful friends in America confirm this has reached the pharmacy shelves yet?

Just because I feel like trying to start an interesting discussion, I’m going to match you point for point, goutken. I’m not trying to start a fight – just trying to liven things up a bit:

• Purines are tasty, especially from dead animals. Too many are evil, but whose fault is that?
• Many foods and drinks can reduce inflammation. Turmeric in hot curry sauce is my fave.
• Sufficient fluid is vital, and I love water. I love 5 pints of cider more, and pain always seems less after that.
• Elevate your gouty parts, but also wrap to keep warm
• Gout can also get worse on 5-6 months of lettuce if you’re not controlling uric acid and the 5 bad gout foods
• Agreed! Life’s too short to spend hours at the stove. Wife’s left, so can’t delegate.

Anyone with allopurinol issues should get a 24 hour urine test at least 2 weeks after last allopurinol dose. My only allopurinol issue is spell checker wanted to change it to walloping.

The best uric acid lowering diet?
Eat food
Sufficient
Especially plants

Really good if you include the occasional rabbit stew.

If that doesn’t spark some responses, I’m taking a month off 😀

[goutken]

hi Keith, thanks much, great list, agree… I ordered a la carte some of the ingredients I see in the overpriced gout combo pills, like turmeric. i drink a lot of cherry juice from concentrate, helps a bit.

thx, good article http://www.goutpal.com/7616/what-are-your-5-bad-gout-foods/

one relatively worrisome development is now I have a small half-pea size lump near the knuckle of one of my index fingers, has been there nearly a year…and a protrusion from my elbow, a half-cm bigger area. i guess i should ask my doctor, maybe it’s tophi buildup, could remove w/surgery. I’m 51…i hope i dont continue to get knots and bumps near joints as i age…any insights?

good points all these years you make re lowering uric acid level, too bad i’m severely allergic to allopurinol & febuxstat? so colcrys/colchicine for relief vs prevention + water is all i can do…many thx for your running the site here, top resource for gout.

[Marty Doane]

Hi Keith and Goutken,

First time contributor to the Blog, but have been very pleased to find a solid source of information for my Gout.

I started to develop a slight rash with 200 Mg of Allorpurinol, so I cut it out and focused on diet & increasing the volume of water. I could feel another episode of gout coming on after stopping Allopurinol, and took 1Mg of Colchicine (there is a Meds place in Mexico that is far cheaper with orders via Internet – using it for over 2 years now), but have now gone back to 50Mg daily of Allopurinol without any rash issues. I’m beginning to think there might be a minimum threshold on the Allo.

I’ve also been taking 1000 Mg daily doses of Vitamin C, twice daily Flax Seed Oil, and twice daily does of Gouch (Cherry extract, Ginger, Boerhavia, & Couch Grass) that can be purchased at Natural Food stores. The Gouch has more Cherry extract than you can drink, and the other ingredients help with Kidney function and moving Uric acid out through urination.

My last Uric acid test came back with a 7.8, down from a 9.0, but all of my serum levels were slightly elevated. Not in the “High” levels, but elevated. This leads me to believe that I might have a slightly reduced Kidney function, so I am also trying to Walk 2 miles three or four times to week to become “overall healthier”.

I am beginning to wonder about some of the issues with certain chemicals coming through our food supply that could have an effect on key organs in the body. No solid proof, as there are too many scientists that will support the chemical companies, but a certain herbicide that is the opposite of SquareUp is at the top of my list.

My two cents.

Marty

[Keith Taylor]

This is a great discussion, but it got a bit lost. I’ve decided to stop anonymous posts, as they seem to cause more trouble than they are worth. Now, everyone has to log in to GoutPal before posting. If that causes any problems, you can still post via the orange Support button, or GoutPal’s Gout Helpdesk.

For @goutken I’m worried about your uric acid levels. The lumps you describe sound like tophi to me. If they are, surgery is definitely a common option, but never the best. There are new intravenous treatments for edge cases like yours. I’d definitely ask your doctor/rheumatologist about Krystexxa. That’s the drug that inspired my Best Tophi Picture. It’s my best tophi picture because it shows how severe gout cases can be tamed with the right treatment.

For @martydoane – good point about the chemicals. There are some studies that link environmental pollutants with gout. Very difficult to identify and avoid though.

I hope you can both log in OK now. Please let me know if not, as above.

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