Can Gout be systemic?

[Keith Taylor (GoutPal Admin)]

It has been suggested to me that I have Gout but I am confused.  My pain is in all of my bones and joints maxing out in my right hand. (A lot of joints there!)  RA and ANA are negative and during attacks my sed rate is borderline (elevated but less than my age) so they say gout.  I have had three of these attacks (I think) and each time where the pain maxed was different but my hands are always bad.  The skin becomesdry, blotchy and red and it tears easily.  The wrist eventually looks as if it is broken or dislocated.  (It isn't)  Can this be Gout?  Oh – it gets better after I start to pee like crazy.  – goes from disabling to bothersome.  It may keep flaring and receding then one day it is gone.

Thanks for all input.

Samm

[Keith Taylor (GoutPal Admin)]

I want to highlight what I think the most important part of this post in my mind….it gets better when you start peeing like crazy.

Think about the possiblity of a water retention problem. Some foods can cause a water retention problem like you describe, anemia, protein and mineral deficiencies can also cause those same symptoms. My brother has the same problem when he is exposed to palm oil in certain foods.  Its a type of allergic reaction (i.e. a build up of histamines) but happens more slowly instead of an immediate reaction such as a peanut allergy might cause. (if you are female it can happen with certain hormone changes)

The first thing you should do when you have an “attack” is write a list of everything you have eaten for the last several days. Look for common ingredients or foods around those episodes.

Continue to investigate gout since that was the default diagnosis….the others on this forum can provide better armchair analysis on that front.

It might be gout…it might be something else…it might be gout AND something else.

Keep us posted because everything shared here helps further the knowledge of the whole gout community.

[KeithTaylor]

Nice reply, Tavery

All I would add, Samm, is that you really have not told us what you have experienced so far in terms of medical diagnosis. Family doctor or rheumatologist?

Gout can certainly affect every joint, but this is normally preceded by a many months, usually years, of increasingly painful and widespread painful, swollen joints.

Gout is extremely easy to diagnose, if severe enough to cause the symptoms you are suffering. A rheumatologist can examine fluid drawn from the joint (joint aspiration or athrocentesis). Analysis of that fluid will reveal, or deny, gout, pseudo gout, septic arthritis and other conditions. If this is available to you, then go for it, but I think the traditional test from a rheumatologist will serve you well.

This topic is now closed. Gout is definitely systemic. It can affect your entire immune system. Uric acid can spread throughout the body, where it will cause damage to all joints and organs if left untreated. My probenecid page specifically mentions “lowering of systemic uric acid,” but this also applies to all uric acid lowering treatments.

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