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Hi, all. I've been taking allopurinol for about 18 months now. It took a year or so for everything to settle down completely, but thankfully these days I get very few reminders I have gout at all. Occasional soreness and that's it really. I have settled on 200mg per day which seems to be enough for me at this time.
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I recently needed to renew my prescription and dropped by the GP to get a new one. No need to see the Doctor. While there I asked the reception staff how often I should have a blood test – after consulting with colleagues, I was told every 6 months. Its at least that since my last test so I was given the form to drop in at the local testing place. She wrote on it 'Urate', which is fine. I explained I usually have other tests to go with that, such as Liver function, so she ticked the LFT box.
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Are there any other things which should be tested when having the bloods ? I have the form and can easily tick some more myself
nokka said:
? so she ticked the LFT box.
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Are there any other things which should be tested when having the bloods ? I have the form and can easily tick some more myself
LFT???
Get the complete metabolic panel test. That covers just about all important functions of your body, including liver and kidneys (the items to watch when on gout meds.)nokka said:
I recently needed to renew my prescription and dropped by the GP to get a new one. No need to see the Doctor. While there I asked the reception staff how often I should have a blood test – after consulting with colleagues, I was told every 6 months.
Nice to hear from you again, nokka. That is Gout Freedom Gold. You might get to a state where you can have an allopurinol (or other urate lowering treatment) “holiday”, after a few years.
You will never be able to stop uric acid blood tests every 6 months (12 months max). Kidney function and liver function should be included.
LFT is Liver Function Test, Hans. Looking at the list of boxes I could tick, do you reckon U&E is the one for kidneys ? It stands for Urate & Electrolytes apparently and tests the kidney in some way. I think in the past I was tested for inflammation also, but that seems a bit pointless currently.
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Hi, Keith – hope you are well. I was in Idle a few days ago & thought of you. How is your recovery going ?
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For those who don't know, Idle is a suburb of Bradford in the UK. Its local Working Mens Club is known as The Idle Working Mens Club and has the highest membership in the world. Or so I was told once.
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I've been very happy with allopurinol and currently can't see me coming off it, to be honest. I pondered for a long time before taking the plunge with the drug. I'm glad I did – I've had no allopurinol side effects at all really. Unless something changes, my GP doesn't want to see me either – just keep having the bloods done and check all OK. I rarely do home testing now, but when I do the score is somewhere between 4.6 and 6. While symptoms are at bay, that'll do.
nokka said:
LFT is Liver Function Test, Hans. Looking at the list of boxes I could tick, do you reckon U&E is the one for kidneys ? It stands for Urate & Electrolytes apparently and tests the kidney in some way. I think in the past I was tested for inflammation also, but that seems a bit pointless currently….
Thanks, Nokka.
I am not sure about your U&E, since I am not familiar with UK lab tests forms. On our (USA- SED Lab) the following tests are for liver:Albumin (ref: 3.5-5.7 g/dl), Alkaline Phosphatase (ref: 40-130 iu/l), ALT=Alanine transaminase, a liver enzyme (ref:14-53 iu/l) and AST=Aspartate transaminase, an enzyme associated with liver parenchymal cells (ref: 9-43 iu/l).
For kidneys: Creatine (ref: 0.70-1.40mg/dl), BUN=Blood Urea Nitrogen (ref: 6-29mg/dl) and eGFR=estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate for male (>=60 mL/min/1.73m2) No ref. The lower the # the worse the kidney condition. <15= kidney failure or receiving dialysis.
Hope this helps.
I'm due for urate, liver function test, and kidney function test next week, so I'll ask some UK specific questions about standard formats, etc.
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Thanks for the health concerns (and Idle comments), nokka. I'm currently discharged from outpatients, as they are only really bothered about broken bones, and they have healed. There seems to be some long-term damage to my knee, which was the least of my concerns during the crisis, but now looks like becoming a permanent reminder, though replacement has been mentioned. My other main concern is difficulty in sleeping which is giving me attention span difficulties during the
Well I'm pleased to hear your problems haven't affected your sense of humour. I hope your knee improves. Tricky things knees. Apparently the best place in the world for having a knee operation, or replacement, is Northern Ireland. They have tons of experience due to all the kneecappings during the Troubles. Its a strange old world.
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I am due my blood test in the next few weeks. I have the form and just need to drop in at my local Asda where they have a little blood testing clinic. Very efficient they are too, plus you can pick up your beer, sardines, offal etc on the way out. I'd be interested to hear how you get on with what tests to get before I go – then I can doctor my form further.
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