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Please excuse the bullet points but it is the easiest way to get the facts down quickly and succinctly.
- 30 year old female diagnosed 2 weeks ago after 3 weeks of symptoms
- left ankle at worst looked like I was smuggling a tennis ball in it
- likely trigger was a switch from being pescetarian (fish/seafood and vegetarian) diet to meat eating diet
- Indomethecin 3 times a day gives moderate relief in pain and occasional reduction in swelling
- was taking colchicine but stopped because it made me so sick I lost 8 lbs in 3 days.
- Cherry juice 2 times a day, apple cider vinegar 2 times a day, purine conscience diet
- Swelling is lowest in the morning and worst prior to bed.
- Swelling and pain improved for a short while but has returned at half/three-quarters what it was at it’s worse
- Swelling and pain in my right foot and lower right ankle started 5 days ago.
- Right foot swelling is about the same as swelling in left ankle.
- Right foot pain is centered in the middle of the foot with the tenderest points being around the middle toe joints where they meet the foot.
My questions/concerns:
- Is it even possible for a healthy 30-year old (obviously pre-menopausal) woman to get gout?
- Is it possible to have gout in multiple joints?
- Could the swelling be caused by the uric acid crystals dissolving in my joints and the related immune system reaction to that process?
- If so how long does that process take? Weeks? Months? Years?
- Is there anything else I should/could be doing to speed my recovery? I cannot stay off my feet as I live in NYC and a great deal of walking is a daily necessity.
Thank you for your time. I’m getting very worried and frustrated. I’m terrified this will never go away.
Don’t be scared of gout Stacy S said:
Please excuse the bullet points but it is the easiest way to get the facts down quickly and succinctly.That's good – I love bullet points.
is it even possible for a healthy 30 year old (obviously pre-menopausal) woman to get gout?
Yes
is it possible to have gout in multiple joints?
Certainly, this is typical.
could the swelling be caused by the uric acid crystals dissolving in my joints and the related immune system reaction to that process?
The immune reaction to uric acid crystals happens first when they form (uric acid level too high) and second when they dissolve (uric acid level low enough to improve your gout). First tends to be one or two joints, second tends to be many joints, but this is not conclusive. Uric acid monitoring can help here (see Uric Acid Test Kit), but please note this is quite complicated. Occasionally obvious, often clouded in doubt. Focus must be lowering uric acid.
if so how long does that process take? weeks? months? years?
Hours (1 – 5), possibly minutes.
is there anything else I should/could be doing to speed my recovery? I cannot stay off my feet as I live in NYC and a great deal of walking is a daily necessity.
Walking, in my experience is good. But be a friend to yourself. Try not to overdo it. Rest when you can. Keep circulation going as best you can with knee bends (stairs not elevator). Wear most comfortable shoes you can. When resting, raise feet as high as you can (dare?), and keep anklles rotating, toes twitching. Take water.
Pre-menopausal female gout is usually due to kidney's under excreting uric acid, but you really need a rheumatologist to confirm this.
The advice to see a rheumatologist is excellent. There are a number of ailments that mimic gout and aren't. To really be sure, the doctor needs to take a sample of fluid from the joint(s). They can then analyze the fluid sample to see if there are crystals and what kind. Too many family practicioners diagnose on the basis of the symptoms.
Please HELP my fiancé’s gout – we’re beyond scared!
Hello, I am writing on behalf of my 28-year-old fiancé.
He has had gout attacks on and off throughout his 20s. Usually, once every few months. There is NO history of gout in his family, and his blood work all came back normal (kidney/liver basic tests), except his uric acid is 8.6 (its even been higher than that).
I have spent DAYS researching and I do not understand why he has this SO young. He has been to a rheumy. But doesn’t want to start medication since he will have to be on it much longer than most (there is also stuff written online saying it causes infertility- which is a problem since we haven’t had kids yet). He is overweight (not extremely) and has fluctuated his whole life, being an athlete.
I am extremely worried as to what is causing him to have gout/hyperuricemia and what long term damage will occur. I am also reading countless articles linking gout to heart disease, strokes, etc…. he is not even 30! Someone, please help!
Though gout can be scary, the biggest gout danger comes from doing nothing.
At it’s heart, gout is a very simple disease, and very easy to manage. In practice, it is made complicated by doctors who don’t understand how to treat it properly, by gout sufferers who avoid seeking the right treatment, or a combination of both.
I’m here to overcome those complications, but that can only work with commitment on both sides. I think I can prove my commitment by the thousands of pages that I have written. Many of these are general gout guidelines, but the most effective are my personal gout advice pages here.
Gout management has to be personal. That should be your doctors job, but if you are not getting proper gout advice or treatment, you need my advice. The first thing I’d suggest is to log in every day. That shows a commitment from you. If you are on Facebook, Google or any of the other social networks shown above right, all you have to do is click the appropriate icon. If you don’t want to use the easy social icons, use the username and password boxes.
That will take you to a page where you can enter some gout facts in your Personal Gout Profile. If you are not sure what to put in your profile, just ask.
As far as your fiance is concerned, I can see that he really needs this level of personal guidance. I don’t mean this badly, Elsa, but you are in danger of making his health worse. Scare stories from the Internet are absolutely the worst way to manage gout.
The first problem is trying to understand why he has gout. If reasons are obvious, then they might be changed, but you are probably looking in the wrong place. If it is important to your fiance to avoid medication now, then we have to explore what might be the cause. But he has to understand that prolonged delay is dangerous. There is no point in me pondering the causes – I have to help your fiance build up his Personal Gout Profile so I can focus on the specifics that matter.
If the only reason for avoiding allopurinol is a fear of infertility, then this is exactly the dangerous misguided information that puts his health at risk. These situations are easily manged with a logical controlled approach. Hysteria about uncertain risks will not help!
You are worried about “what longterm damage will occur” and so am I.
You are worried because you’ve read some Internet scare stories and you don’t understand what is happening.
I am worried because I understand what is happening, and I know that the scariest thing your fiance can do is to waste time and not address the problem now. It’s real easy to sort it out now, and you can lead a normal happy life together. Just start asking about your personal gout facts. Or, you can devote your life to caring for a cripple in later life.
I’m happy to work with gout sufferers, or there carers, or both. I can’t give you the help you deserve if you don’t tell me all about your symptoms and concerns. Facts, not hysteria, are what we need now.
Sorry to hear about your fianc?! The goods news about Gout it is treatable in many cases with natural remedies and lifestyle changes! I try not to take pills for anything, unless I’m in extreme pain, like that of a Gout attack. Our society is too geared towards prescribing pills for everything. I pill for this and pill for that. And another pill for the pill that caused that! You need to find out what habits your fianc? has that contributes to his gout! Research the habits that are usually associated with gout, such as heavy alcohol consumption (especially beer). Research the foods that trigger gout and see if any are common to your fianc?’s diet.
Second, your fianc? needs to look at the things he is not doing that may contribute to Gout. For instance, lack of exercise, which may cause one to be obese or overweight. Not eating enough fruits and vegetables, not drinking enough water (proper hydration is very important). The lack of these may contribute to the episodes and duration of his Gout attacks!
I experienced my first Gout Attack at age 44. Not in my roaring twenties, but not an old man either. Gout has no respect for age, sadly. The pain is excruciating and can be very debilitating. For me, it was so bad I took to the internet and researched natural and lifestyle treatments. I have not had a gout attack in 6 years! Here’s what works for me:
1. I was on a daily aspirin regiment to protect my heart. Found out that is a Big NO NO for gout. Stopped taking aspirin and anything close to it.
2. I drink pure black cherry juice: about a quart every 2 weeks, watered down to make it last longer.
3. I take 2 tablespoons of Apple Cider vinegar daily. No, the acid in apple cider is not the same as Uric Acid. Very different.
4. I drink at least 8 (8ounces) of water a day. That’s 64 ounces. If I sweat more, I drink more!
5. I eat more fruits and vegetables than I used too.
6. I exercise more than I used to: bike, walk, tread, elliptical, just keep moving- avoid high impact exercises.
7. I eat and drink the BAD stuff in moderation.Now here is the good news: I don’t take any medications and I feel and look better than I ever had, even before developing gout. My blood pressure has dropped to normal levels without medication. I went from a 36 to 32 waist. So you see, Gout is not a death sentence- it could be a blessing in disquise. His body is telling him he needs to make some changes, or else. Good Luck
It’s great to get personal examples of what works for gout sufferers, so thanks for that Eric.
To Elsa’s fiance, and anyone else who wants to control gout properly, I say take that advice. But personalize it to suit your own circumstances. Because it is very important to be able to control gout pain. However, you need to be aware of long-term risks of excess uric acid. So, by all means, do everything you can to reduce the risk of gout flares. But always make sure that your uric acid levels are safe.
When levels are much over 6mg/dL, crystals will form. Then that can cause serious joint damage and fatal organ damage. As Eric says, early gout symptoms can be interpreted as a blessing in disguise. Because you can learn the importance of uric acid control in your twenties. Then you are well placed to avoid crippling damage in later years.
Note: this sort of damage occurs very slowly. But happens even when you are not experiencing a gout flare. So, keeping uric acid at 5mg/dL gives you a safety margin that ensures you never get serious damage.
Avoid being scared of gout
On Eric’s specific points, I’d like to comment:
1. If you do stop low dose aspirin on the grounds of gout risk, be sure to discuss this immediately with your doctor. It seems pointless to me to avoid a gout attack, only to die of a heart attack. Your doctor should be able to come up with a plan that minimizes the risk of gout attacks and minimizes the risk of heart attacks.
2-7 are all valid points to consider in a good gout diet. However, I do not think you should look first at individual points. To get a good gout diet that will minimize or replace medical treatment it is important to create an effective personal plan. Such a plan looks at your current food and drink intake over a typical week. We also need to consider your mobility and exercise levels. Most importantly, we have to consider your personal likes and dislikes.
If you don’t like black cherry juice, consider other dark berry juices such as blackcurrant, or the Black Bean Broth celebrated elsewhere in this forum.
Instead of Apple Cider Vinegar, consider other herbal medicines for reducing inflammation, such as turmeric.
If you don’t like plain water, choose other drinks. Type and quantity are not as important as ensuring your urine is always light straw color.
Choose the vegetables and fruit you like and make sure these makeup at least half of what you eat. You should eat at least twice as much veg than fruit, and as much variety as possible.
Exercise as much as possible, choosing the activities you like. Aim to walk 10,000 steps per day.
Be aware of the bad foods that you must moderate. Purines are only one of the five bad parts of gout diet.If anyone needs help, start a new discussion about your gout diet and what you hope to achieve.
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