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I've had 4 attacks in the past 7 years, the last 3 occurring when visiting my girlfriend in another state. When I am at home, I'm very active and workout at the gym 4 times/week and also walking >10 miles per week while playing golf. However, when I visit her, I just sit around all day and night watching TV, eating, and take only an occasional walk. I told this to my doctor and that I believed 3/4 attacks happening while visiting her and this sedentary lifestyle was statistically significant as a “cause” or precursor for the gout attacks, but he didn't have an opinion about my “therory.” Any thoughts from the forum?
On another topic, any thoughts on the best uric acid test kit to order (link would be appreciated)? I'm a do-it-yourself guy and would like to take my own data vs depending on my doctor and his bills for this important information.
thanks!
As I was reading your first paragraph, a voice in the back of my mind was crying “what about uric acid levels?”. Then I read your second paragraph.
There have been extensive discussions about home uric acid tests here – best look in the Uric Acid forum, or search for “uric acid monitor”, or UASure in the search box above. There is a link to the worldwide distributor on my uric acid numbers page.
There may be something to the sedentary gout hypothesis. All of my gout attacks have hit after 8 hours asleep. Perhaps urate can pool more easily if not disturbed by movement.
I've haven't ever seen any thing in the literature on the subject though.
Gout monitor sounds like a good idea, but a fairly pricey bit of kit. How long do the strips last? It says you get 5 with the monitor and an extra box of 25 are recommended. A fuller explanation of the procedure and operating costs would be appreciated.
If UA levels fluctuate so much, how valuable is a one off test from your GP?
(Great site btw GP
)Thanks for the three replies and link to Artic Medical. I ordered the UASure home test kit with extra test strips and other items this evening. I could not get Pay Pal or American Express CC to work with the on-line order, but on the 3rd attempt using MasterCard all went smoothly. I will post more information when I get the unit.
Agreed, its a bit pricy but worth it if I can get a handle on my UA levels, etc. I have spent a lot more money on other things that have a lot less utility to me so hopefully I will look back one day and say this was a good purchase decision.
I think it is a good decision. I am using the SUA meter for last 2 months now and am happy to make this investment. The readings have been accurate as I have compared them with lab results multiple times.
It gives me a lot of confidence when I see my numbers….much more peace of mind. I was earlier measuing it every day / other day but now I am measuring it once a week. Results are very consistent based on what I eat and the time of the day I test.
odo said:
Gout monitor sounds like a good idea, but a fairly pricey bit of kit. How long do the strips last? It says you get 5 with the monitor and an extra box of 25 are recommended. A fuller explanation of the procedure and operating costs would be appreciated.
It's a bit like BUPA in the UK – you shouldn't need it, but some people like the little extras. The procedure could not be simpler – prick your finger with the lancet; drop of blood on the test strip: insert into test device and read the number; discard the strip and lancet. Cost (strip & lancet) is up to you – test every day if you want to (some even do more than one a day). Testing only makes sense as part of a clearly specified gout management plan. Quite boring, but you'd be amazed how excited you can get if you are trying to self-manage and you get a low reading.
If UA levels fluctuate so much, how valuable is a one off test from your GP?
Not a lot – uric acid testing should be quite frequent – e.g. every 2 weeks when you are establishing urate lowering treatment. Once a pattern is established, tests should be less frequent until you get to one a year.
(Great site btw GP
)Great Toe!
Just got my bill from Artic Medical and was shocked at the UPS shipping charge of 55 British pounds = $91.50 USD
. I order the UAShure test test kit with two extra sets of 25 strips, lancets, and some test fluid, all for 100.54 pounds, so I'm pissed that shipping was more than 50% of the cost of the items I bought. Did I err in picking UPS as the shipping method? thanksI think so…I never picked UPS…I think they also have option of Airmail or something similar name….I picked that and if I remember correctly, I paid 12 Dollars.
I got my shipment in 5 days.
The checkout options for the uric acid meter look straightforward to me, and the shipping charge is highlighted very clearly.
We've been using the UASure for a year now. We check the UA level once a month and then fax it to the Dr. Saves time and money as insurance doesn't cover the costs of monitoring the level nor the meds. By monitoring the level we realized my husband didint' need 300mg of Allopurinol a day. We took the dose down by a pill a week and he is now down to 1/4th of a 300 mg tab once a week and for months his level has been below 5.
The only problem is that we are running out of strips and as the site says they are only good for a year I wouldn't need 25 strips at once a month, esp. as the shipping is high.
Anyone want to split a shipment? Anyone know of a a US source for strips or osmeone who has strips that last longer than a year? I have paypal.
EJackson
email their customer service (see their website). I have always found them very helpful.
I’d love to know how much you save (being in the UK myself, I’m still trying to get a handle on US medical procedures)
ejackson said:
The only problem is that we are running out of strips and as the site says they are only good for a year I wouldn't need 25 strips at once a month, esp. as the shipping is high.
Anyone want to split a shipment? Anyone know of a a US source for strips or osmeone who has strips that last longer than a year? I have paypal.
EJackson
I do not think you can split 25 strips as the code has to match and there is only one plug per box of 25 strips. Without code match, the testing is not appropriate as per the test instructions.
Thanks for the input regarding shipping methods – I see the shipping method that I will use in the future. I think what happened is this: after two failed attempts at ordering (Paypal and American Express CC did not work when trying to order on-line), by the time I finally got MasterCard to work I was thrilled and just hit buttons to make it go through before it aborted on me as it did in the previous two attempts.
Anyway, I got the unit yesterday and read the manual twice. Then I performed the monitor checker test by inserting th eMonitor Checker (R1), got a beep and then the smiling face, but did not get the confirmation Code (4 digit number) until after I pulled the Checker strip out from the unit. I assumed I would gt the 4-digit code while the checker strip was still inserted, so this leads me to ask this question: when I do the “real” blood test, does the result display on the LCD screen while the UASure Blood Uric Acid Test Strip is inserted, or do I have to pull it out first before the result is displayed?
Sorry for asking “little” things I could learn by trial and error but the strips are rather limited (and expensive) so I don't want to waste them unnecessarily. Thanks!
When you insert the strip, the code would show up on screen, which should be same as on the strip.
You do not have to take the strip out. The results are displayed while the strip is inserted. The monitor uses the blood on strip to calculate the SUA levels. I have never taken the strip out while it is working on the SUA number but I guess, if you take the strip out, the test would be aborted.
When I put the blood drop on strip, it beeps and starts working on SUA numbers. While calculating SUA numbers, it shows me four flashing bars, with each bar disappearing one by one. When the last bar disappears, the results show up. It generally takes less than 30 seconds.
Small answer – Keep the strip inserted.
First data from UASure. For over a week now I've been planning to improve my diet before checking my UA. However, I have made no progress (largely because of the holiday parties, etc.) and so I used the unit for the first time tonight (although I did a trial run on the test solution I ordered last week which worked). First I played golf today, then drank a lot of dark beer, ate pizza and hot wings, and finally measured the UA about 3 or 4 hrs after all this consumption, and got a reading of 6.8 mg/dL. I next looked at 10 years of medical records – blood tests taken once per yr – and all UA levels were between 6 and 7, so todays reading, after the over indulging, was still within my 10 yr historic range (I've had 4 gout attacks during this time period, three of which occurred when I was on travel and in a sedentary lifestyle as discussed above).
Anyway, should I take the UA measurement in the morning – would that be “better”? Do you think if I could stick to a low purine diet then it would come down? What is a target threshold to get below for zero attacks?
If you are looking to control through diet, then weight control is more important statistically than purine control. Also iron control is probably very important, but difficult to change short term.
In your uric acid range you probably stand a good chance of diet control. It is not as simple as setting a target to guarantee zero attacks.
If you stay at or below 6mg/dL, you will stop new crystals forming, and prevent attacks from new urate deposits.
Diet control of uric acid is no different in theory from allopurinol control. There is a phase during which old crystals dissolve and they MIGHT cause a gout flare. The lower you get your numbers, the sooner this phase is over.
There is no quick fix here – the plan depends on setting targets according to a proper assessment of your current situation (height, weight, typical diet, uric acid history) and continuing review of changes to these along with any gout flares. A spreadsheet might help – let me know if you need help with this (I shouldn't assume that everyone can use spreadsheets)
Weight control. What specifically is the goal here – something measurable such as percent body fat, e.g., <20% body fat?
Iron – I found an article called Effects of Acute Exercise on the Levels of Iron, Magnesium, and Uric Acid in Liver and Spleen Tissues, Biological Trace Element Research, Vol. 91, 2003 that says “serum ferritin… levels were lower than those of sendentary subjects. Also, iron stores of professional sportsmen at the end of their seasons were found to be decreased compared to the levels at the beginning of the season.” I mention this because in my original post, I stated the correlation between my gout attacks and a shift from an active life style to a sendentary one. Any thoughts?
Spreadsheets. Yes, I use Excel all the time and did start putting my UA data in a worksheet. Can you think of anything else that would be worth tracking? I suppose weight and % body fat (I've got Tanita scales that measure % body fat) would be useful. Anything else? Do you have a special spreadsheet that would be useful?
BMI is a good indicator for weight control. It is not a perfect measure, but it is a good ball park indicator. If low-normal BMI does not bring sufficient reduction in uric acid, then other factors need looking at. I need to look into this further, as I am not certain if there is a difference between the uric acid effect of different tissue types, so not sure of the relevance of fat%. The main point is that your body is a richer source of purines than what you eat, so the less there is of you, the better it is. On the downside, rapid weight loss makes these purines much more available, so weight loss needs to be gradual, unless guarded by allopurinol or similar.
The exercise and iron angle is an interesting one, on two counts. Firstly, you've pointed me in the direction of what seems to be a rich seam of relevant research (though early indications imply that food intake has a much stronger effect on increasing iron, than exercise does on reducing it). Secondly, your quote is from the full $34 report, whereas poor old me only has access to the free abstract – do you have something you care to share?
(private message is fine, if this is restricted)I do not have a specific spreadsheet available, but I was wondering if there is any interest in me making one.
I've got the full paper plus another good one too that looks interesting, but somewhat over my head in technicalities (I'm a mathematician, not a biologist or chemist). My girlfriend works at a university and students, faculty, and staff can download most all papers for free, which is how I got them. Either post your email here or send it to me at luv_2_make_eagles at yahoo dot com and I'll send both of them to you.
Yes, by all means, if you have some ideas about a spreadsheet then share it with us. Like I said, I started one and put in the date, UA reading, the lot number of the test strip, time of day, etc., and will probably add weight and % body fat when I do my next reading in about a week.
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