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Will Allopurinal lower my UA levels enough that I can toss back a few cold beers on the weekend? I was drinking a couple almost every night and more on the weekend but with this gout BS I think that cutting back is required. I am losing weight by cutting back which is another benefit but I would still like to have a few beers with some crabs once in a while and not have my toe blow up. I haven't drank in two weeks at all but once I'm on Allipurinal will I be good to go?
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Will Allopurinal lower my UA levels enough that I can toss back a few cold beers on the weekend?
Yes. it will.
zip2play said:
Will Allopurinal lower my UA levels enough that I can toss back a few cold beers on the weekend?
Yes. it will.
What do you mean?
Let’s not kid ourselves, gout effing sucks! Without alcohol at times I’d go crazy! As I’m sure zip will tell you the same thing, AP (at the correct dose) should allow you to live a fairly normal lifestyle (ie: eat and drink most things). I think the more urate you dissolved with it prior, the better off you are. I’ve been on it for a little less than a year now and I have beer every weekend lol. Many times 8-12 light beers a night! There have been some ocassions where my joints were a little sore but they either healed quickly or a few colchicines cleared it right up.
What I would recommend doing (at least what I did) would be to get a home tester. Then drink a beer or two and test your levels a few times throughout the day/night as well as once during the middle of the night. If they are still at reasonable levels, up the drinking a bit and repeat.
Cheers!
Mark,
You asked:
Will Allopurinal lower my UA levels enough that I can toss back a few cold beers on the weekend?
I answered:
Yes it will!
zip2play said:
Mark,
You asked:
Will Allopurinal lower my UA levels enough that I can toss back a few cold beers on the weekend?
I answered:
Yes it will!
Sorry, I meant to quote the guy who told me to wake up,it's later than you think. I am used to forums with the quote tab at the bottom.
I know it is a bit late in many places…but I found this forum recently and today finally got the nerve to start asking questions.
I have searched everywhere on this forum for a explanation as to why beer is so bad…if it is balanced against a good diet and you stay hydrated (lots of water).
Can someone point me to an explanation…sorry I've always wanted to know why since I was a kid.
beer has more fluid per unit of alcohol- so it would seem kinder to the body in principle. I have found beer a trigger myself and not wine to any extent. I don't do enough hard spirits to judge but they are said to be half way between beer and wine [ wine being generally ok]
I put some of the issue of beer down to the fact that it is made from town water which may have fluoride, chloride, water treatment residue , pesticides , nitates etc. Low level, addmittedly- but all a load on a body already stressed.
On top you have higher purines and yeast residue, which are bad for gout too.
Wine is likely to have much less 'extras' !
So though I too love real ale, I treat it with caution. Certainly within recommended daily limits, say ~ 1litre [2pints] once/twice a week max- that's with being clear of attacks of late, only!
toofast said:
I know it is a bit late in many places…but I found this forum recently and today finally got the nerve to start asking questions.
I have searched everywhere on this forum for a explanation as to why beer is so bad…if it is balanced against a good diet and you stay hydrated (lots of water).
Can someone point me to an explanation…sorry I've always wanted to know why since I was a kid.
From what I understand the issue is two fold:
1. Brewers Yeast – This is high in purines, which will increase your Uric Acid levels.
2. Alcohol – This makes your kidneys process it vs. processing Uric Acid, which cause that increased Uric Acid to hang around in your system longer.
First one to create Good Gout friendly beer wins the a pile of money.
Ok, so I get that alcohol is bad…but if so you would think a light beer would be and is way less alcohol than wine..so it really can't be the alcohol.
Then I am confused on brewers yeast…this site seems to say over and over that based on the PRAL concept, it is NOT really purines you need to worry about, but having a balanced diet, with acids and alkalines….and Bud Light has a slightly alkaline effect….so if I balance 3-4 light beers with something slightly acidic wouldn't I be ok.
Maybe I am still confused thought, and Purines rich foods indeed are deadly to us no matter what ? However before I came to this site i was convinced i needed to stop eating asparagus, and I have….but based on the charts….I should eat all the asparagus I can handle as long as it is balanced based on the PRAL concept?
toofast,
If I used a chemical analytical approach I would say that beer CANNOT be very bad for gout.
But long hard empirical evidence has shown me that it IS a strong gout trigger. Whether is is due to the hops, the yeast, the alcohol, the wheat, the barley, the roasting, the dehydration effect, I cannot conjecture. But nothing is a stronger gout trigger than a 6 pack of beer. The darker richer beers, ales, and porters are the worst offenders.
But with allopurinol you CAN drink beer, but avoid a 12 pack or daily 6 packs. Wait a while though and give the allopurinol a month or two to take hold.
(You won't do yourself a lot of harm by ignoring the PRAL charts completely…but that's just my opinion. Leave the charts for those trying the non-drug route.
)toofast said:
I know it is a bit late in many places…but I found this forum recently and today finally got the nerve to start asking questions.
I have searched everywhere on this forum for a explanation as to why beer is so bad…if it is balanced against a good diet and you stay hydrated (lots of water).
Can someone point me to an explanation…sorry I've always wanted to know why since I was a kid.
Explanation of Father Christmas – easy. I'll even have a crack at explaining god. But beer and gout? Please give me something easier
Beer and gout is big league stuff. Every commentator, including myself, has opinions. Some are based on fact, most on dodgy science, and the rest don't care because they are in the middle of their own experiments.
As recent as 2009, we still have boffins reporting the purine content of beer (Determination of purine contents of alcoholic beverages using high performance liquid chromatography: PubMed ID:19353717). Yet we have known for years that relating purines to gout is too complex for simple analysis, as different purine bases have different effects. Also purines react differently according to other dietary factors. Dodgy science best ignored.
There is good statistical evidence to show that:
the effect of individual alcoholic beverages on serum uric acid levels varies substantially: beer confers a larger increase than liquor, whereas moderate wine drinking does not increase serum uric acid levels.
But statistics simply report the data according to the parameters of the study, and are almost the opposite of an explanation.
Then we have the anecdotal 'evidence' about twinges after beer. But twinges are no measure of uric acid control as you can see from the hundreds of debates on gout attacks during the early stages of allopurinol and other urate lowering treatments.
Until I finish my summary of the research (which is difficult as the scientists do not seem to want to investigate alcohol in any terms that relate to normal human consumption), I'll have to fall back on faith.
You must believe that beer is doing you good, and those twinges are old uric acid crystals being dissolved. You are certain to be consigned to gouty hell unless you worship beer on a daily basis.
But the big issue is why were you worrying about gout and beer as a kid?
Until I finish my summary of the research (which is difficult as the scientists do not seem to want to investigate alcohol in any terms that relate to normal human consumption), I'll have to fall back on faith.
Boy ain't that the truth. Even with heart disease, the number one killer in the United States, the issue is mitigated to non-existant. Study after study shows that drinking is SUPERB for avoiding and slowing heart disease but still you get the promulgated bullshit about one or two drinks a day MIGHT help and then a diatribe follows about how it can lead to liver disease and a life of wastrel perdition.
The one doctor who said flatly that research shown “the more the better” for heart disease with most benefits accruing after 4 drinks a day was PILLIORIED becasue he might lead America astray. Wasn't Queen Victoria Bristish, after all…how in Hell did the U.S. become the most Victorian nation.
Doctor: “Yes, alcohol is very beneficial but never have more than a glass of champagne every New Years Day.”
@GP: You are certain to be consigned to gouty hell unless you worship beer on a daily basis.
Some mishtake here, surely?
Anyway on the subject of good/ bad there's plenty of evidence that moderate alcohol consumption is beneficial.
It's also said that the human race would have died out by now- but for its existence !
[Men and women don't seem to like each other that much looking at family law].The reason it's stalked around is partly a backlog of religious habit and naany state not wanting encourage the minority who are addictive personalities- and get alcoholic.
They would find something else anyway, if alcohol got too respectable -['ol cynic] also the Gov't can tax it to the sky if it's kept as 'baaad'.
Drink wine [red pref] for less gout impact, is my copy.
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