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Hi,
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I registered for this forum specifically to post this one
message with the idea of perhaps helping someone else suffering from gout as I
know how miserable it used to make me. I'll confess up front that I have not
searched this forum to see if there is perhaps already a ton of information
here that also matches my story … but here is how I cured my own gout without
using drugs:?
I'm now 53 and it was about spring 2009 I got my first gout
attack. For a while I was getting a gout attack about two or three months and
the first few were pretty bad as initially I was pretty clueless as to dealing
with it. My doctor had told me that it was 100% gout and that if the attacks
continued that I should go (permanently) onto the medication allopurinol.?
Now, I really hate taking drugs and I always try hard to
find alternative approaches whenever possible. I t was around that time that I
discovered that baking soda could be used to significantly moderate and shorten
my attacks.. so I stopped visiting the doctor and worked on different
approaches and used baking soda when necessary.?
But the attacks continued anyway despite all the various
folk remedies that I tried. Everything from black fruit and various berries to
apple cider vinegar I have tried ? none of them seemed to have any real effect
at all (at least in my case).?
Then I read Vitamin C Reduces Uric Acid
?A bit later I started taking 1500mg of vitamin ?C? daily.
Initially it also did not seem to work much but over a period of months I
noticed that the gout attacks seemed to be becoming much much milder (I learned
later that this vitamin takes a few months to really lower uric your acid
levels – just like some drugs).?
I have now been completely gout free for over a year and
half. I don?t even see the ?redness? in my big toe any more that persisted for
a long time after (even between attacks). My joints don't ache like they used
to.?
I also just feel? much
better overall ? at the time I was having gout attacks I used to feel like I
also had some entrenched virus. I am posting this information here in case
someone else is trying to manage this without resorting to a drug solution.?
What I describe above was 100% effective in my case ? I am
also now considering lowering my vitamin C intake but have yet to do so (not
sure that I really want to chance it).?
Taking vitamin C in fairly large doses is far preferable in
my opinion to allopurinol side effects.
There are some who believe that vitamin C has other health benefits – all I am
sure of is that it really cured my gout.?
Hope this helps someone else..
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Bob
Vitamin C is often stated to be bad for gout [ presumably due to it's diuretic effect in high doses].
Two things on this, via the high BP issue, which you may not even have.
Vitamin C is said to decrease inflammation in arterial walls and change the type of protective plaque build up in those with a shortage of?Vit K2. [in pith of grapefruit for one source]
A report I read yesterday discussed Vitamin D shortage in one group of identical twins which had neck artery thickening, compared to their siblings, also leading to higher BP- known to be a gout risk increaser.
However, self medication with long term high dose Vits is not a good idea without monitoring [esp Vit D]?-but there's a lot of hype about Vits being bad etc- and very little real awareness of? many meds serious side effects, as they are under reported.
On Vit C, high doses are not so bad- but can? make the body lazy at extracting it from food sources eventually, so a slow tail off would seem best -with increased uptake from natural sources.
I strongly suspect that high SUA contributes to High BP also, via arterial inflammation.
One hell of a complex loop, anyway!
Welcome Bob, and thanks for sharing your experiences about vitamin C as a natural gout cure.
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I'm aware that there is a growing acceptance of vitamin C as a mainstream gout treatment, though dose will probably remain an issue for case-by-case investigation. What I'm not clear about is if the benefit is short term pain releif, or long term uric acid control.
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As I've tried to explain in my introduction to natural gout cures that lower uric acid, choosing an alternative to pharmaceuticals does not mean that you should forget the basic principles of gout management. By all means, manage pain, but even if you do not visit your doctor for prescription medicines, you should still visit regularly for uric acid tests. Once a year will be enough if your uric acid level remains below 6mg/dL, and as a wise gout sufferer has pointed out, it is best to play safe, and get liver and kidney function tests at the same time.
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Due to the way gout works, it is perfectly possible for urate deposits to grow unnoticed for several months, and even years. If your uric acid level is above 6mg/dL, these deposits are slowly destroying body tissues. Left unchecked, you have certain future gout attacks, and permanent joint damage.
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I'm not saying that vitamin C can't work for you – I just want you to be certain that your future health is safe.
Hi again,
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I hadn't really intended to post more than once but I wanted to answer a couple of your points.
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First, I am only 'cured' until my next attack of course – but so far so good as they say. And to use a very tired cliche your own results may vary.
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I never did like going to doctors but I could always tell without getting their lab results when my uric acid was too high (even outside of actual attacks). Laugh if you like but I am convinced of this – in my case it was feelings of general malaise, patchy redness in certain skin areas (esp. noticeable after taking a hot shower) and a kind of nervous “pending doom” feeling that is very hard for me to describe.
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All of those sensations are now completely gone and I feel, dare I say it, normal again. Things that used to trigger my attacks (like having a few drinks too many and/or a hangover, or eating certain foods etc…) they no longer do so at all. The aches that I used to get in certain joints are also now a thing of the past.?
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At the time that I originally researched vitamin C use for gout I had also read somewhere else online (perhaps it was here) of some other gout sufferer (a guy) who was using it and also getting his uric acid level tested every few months. His level in his results was consistently falling as he took vitamin C over a period of several months.
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So to answer the question it is my understanding that the regimen lowers your uric acid levels longer term (and that it may even have some more permanent lowering effects). Not sure if it might agravate an in progress attack though – it didn't seem to at least with me.
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I am also aware that taking high doses of vitamin C might have some negative effects. I prefer taking those particular chances to the list of known allopurinol side effects. High dose vitamin C has been taken by many people without ill effect and your body may even experience some other benefits – I'm not sure. But in my opinion allopurinal was never meant to be in anyone's diet.
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I also had higher bp too a while back which caused issues when I used to use baking soda. But since my “recovery” I have also recently been able to diet without triggering another gout attack (so far I have lost 10 pounds and my bp has come down to normal again).
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So, at least for now I hope that both you gentlemen will forgive me if I don't frequent the gout forums too much.? I want to put that episode behind me (hopefully forever) but I also really hope that these posts will help someone else get themselves sorted out.
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Gout really sucks! Ask me how I know
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Bob
Well said, Bob!
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I often go on far too much about “the best way to do this” or “the most likely result of doing that” forgetting that the first objective is to find gout freedom your own way.
To feel normal again is all most of us really want, and the way to find that will always vary between different people.
I understand the lack of time to spend in forums, but if you ever drop back here, and notice someone in similar circumstances to you, I hope you'll give them a few words of encouragement.
Thank you for bringing some positive rays of sunshine to brighten up the gout forum.
No problem Keith and thank you!
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I'm not sure what your own current status is but if you haven't already given high dose vitamin C a serious try then I would highly recommend that you do so as a drug-free alternative to using allopurinol.
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If I had perhaps learned about this later while actually taking allopurinol then I might have been very tempted to run the two in parallel for a period and then gradually phase out my drug taking while carefully watching my UA levels.
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Personally I am a little cynical about drugs and drug firms – I have a good friend who works for a drug company who once told me that these days they are primarily interested in finding drugs that people will need to use on a permanent and ongoing basis.
Elsewhere it has also been pointed out to me that “other factors” could also be responsible for my own recovery and that spontaneous remissions from gout do happen. I can't argue with that one but I am personally convinced that it was the vitamin C that eventually did the trick for me. For the record I waited quite a long time to post my story here online just to see if the darned thing was really gone. I am now convinced that is has and I just wanted to give something back.
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Finally if anyone reading this decides to try it themselves be aware that in my case it took about 4-6 months of regular vitamin C at 1500mg daily I reckon to finally do the trick. I also took it very religiously and I rarely missed a dose (I found some nice fruit flavored tablets that I liked to chew).
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Cheers and good luck, Bob
BobLurner said:
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Finally if anyone reading this decides to try it themselves be aware that in my case it took about 4-6 months of regular vitamin C at 1500mg daily I reckon to finally do the trick. I also took it very religiously and I rarely missed a dose (I found some nice fruit flavored tablets that I liked to chew)….
I have been taken (very religiously) every day since June 15, 2010 (that's almost 10 months) Vitamin C, 1500mg, and I have yet to see my gout being under full control and be “now completely gout free for over a year and half (>18 months)”. It hasn't happened yet, but then, of course, I haven't had yet the additional 12 months of more vitamin C to prove my/your point.?
Maybe we'll talk about the gout-free life with vitamin C in another 25 years from now and see where we stand.?
Now, there is a huge difference between you and me: You got your first gout attack when you were 53 and, lucky you, you found that vitamin C did the trick for you. ?Unlucky me, I went for more than 26 years with attacks on and off and trying all sorts of things except taking control of the guy and wringing his neck, with and without meds, with and without diets, with and without beer and wine, and certainly without vitamin C, because nobody knew THEN what it would/could do. In the meantime Mother Nature had Her fun “coating” my joints with beautiful MSU crystals which are still decorating my finger and toe joints today, even after some surgery.
Well, as I said, we'll talk about it again when you are 80 and I am going to sail around the world approaching 105.?
I remain skeptical about mega-vitamin cures in general and?Vitamin C cures in particular having been exposed to so many lies and half truths in the last 40 years.
Since it is almost impossible to find a disease that ISN'T claimed to be cured by Vitamin C (yes even cancer,) and that almost all diseases are actually scurvy in disguise, ?but yet there is NO evidence ever presented, only ffluff articles with lots of mights, maybes, and seems.
If one is to claim that Vitamin C lowers serum uric acid to any appreciable degree it is simple to prove?but yet the proof is not given.
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And no, Linus Pauling lied?Vitamin C does NOT cure the common cold. I ate tons of it to prove that to myself.
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But as my doctor was fond of saying when anyone mentioned vitamins:
“Well,?they can't hurt.”
?Usually that's true?but a pain in the wallet hurts a little bit too.
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?Over?the years I have probably downed more bottlefuls of Vitamin C than anyone here, and prbably more than 99.5% of the world's population. Over two decades, I took a gram a day and when I felt a cold coming I downed 6 grams per day. Guess what, during that time I developed Gout.
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So Bob, I hope you continue to have good results with Vitamin C, a potent acidifier, but when it stops working know there is always allopurinol there for you.
Hi again,
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I'm very sorry to hear that it did not work for either of you gents. Again I'm convinced that is really what worked for me but then I'm sure that there are far worse cases than me that could never respond to this because of other body chemistry factors. When I had it I was willing to give almost anything a shot and I almost did.
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I disagree on your vitamin C point as I think that there really is some very good and quite reputable evidence that vitamin C lowers UA levels (did you read the BBC article?) – but I even went so far as to download the quoted paper and then (try) to read it. But I'd never claim that ascorbic acid cures a cold (I've never had luck with that one either although zinc sounds promising if you can stand its taste).
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To the other gentlement, my guess is that if you developed gout younger then you may have more of a tendency to get it. But also if you have had it for longer then there might be far more built up reserves of UA crystals in your body meaning that this approach could take quite a bit longer to work. But I'm not a medical person so I'm just telling you what I might theorize if I were in your shoes.
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It did not work for me for a while either although I did think (or perhaps imagine) that my attacks were getting milder.
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Finally I wish you all good luck – I'm not claiming that this is a magic bullet but since I am completely convinced that it cured me I do feel compelled to at least share this information.
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Bob
“Finally I wish you all good luck ? I'm not claiming that this is a magic bullet but since I am completely convinced that it cured me I do feel compelled to at least share this information.”
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That was exactly how I felt when I first shared BBB.? In fact, I was delighted how effectively it had worked for me and was eager to share this what I thought was almost a “miracle cure” with others here.??Now, after about 2 years?and having learnt a lot about gout?(and people) I am more?down-to-earth. I have come to a realisation that what is good/effective to/for someone may not be so for others.? This is a reality, because we know that there are lots of variables and differing factors. As the saying goes, “One man's meat is another man's poison”.?Of course,?that's??an extreme. But, it's true that what works for someone may not be the same for many others.
Bob, its nice of you to come and share what had worked for you and with the intention of hoping that it would be good for others too. That by itself is a kind deed and a very good gesture. We will have to leave it to our friends to decide what is best for themselves.
On the advice of my liver specialist, I've been taking 1500mg of Vitamin C every day, along with my healthy diet, no alcohol, vegetarian, etc… and my 300mg of Allopurinol (SUA is 4.3) and I still have very frequent and severe gout flares.?
I also drink tart cherry juice concentrate regularly, all to no avail… I wish I could find something that works for me like the Bob Lurner did here!
This is very interesting. I’m currently taking Purixa (started last Friday), which has some vitamin C in it. Then I started a time-release vitamin C/lysine today. The lysine is supposed to stop you from getting kidney stones. I also ordered a book called “Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C” which has tons of references.? I think it’s said 575 references. It has great reviews over at Amazon.
Anyway, I’ve been sick with gout since mid-Deb.? I’ve been changing my diet up. Yesterday I felt better than I have felt in a long, long time.? Even before the gout. It’s been years since I have been able to walk any distance because of a messed-up hip.? But yesterday my husband and I walked about 15 minutes.? Today we walked again for about 15 minutes.? Whatever the reason is, must be too soon for the Purixa to work, I’m sure. Maybe it’s been my diet in general.
Some more interesting stuff about Vitamin C can be found at vitamin c foundation dot-org.? They have a whole lot of good information up, tons of reading.? I’m mentioning here about the Vitamin C and iron issue.? Needless to say, it looks like the benefits of Vitamin C outweigh the risks.
Here’s an interesting FAQ with physicians about Vit. C and Iron.
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I was curious about that since I’m taking Vitamin C.? I’ve also been looking up foods and whatever to block absorbing it so much.? Green tea is one thing, and curcumin is another.?? Of course, giving blood if you can helps.That physician FAQ section is interesting because Vitamin C and iron is not as we think. I hope that some day that someone on here will talk to me.? Well, anyway, maybe some of this will be helpful to someone.
I like the idea of vitamin C as a regulator, encouraging iron uptake when it is needed, and encouraging iron excretion where there is an excess. Unfortunately, the person claiming that does not give any references, so I’m not sure how much truth there is in that statement. The next person in the FAQ gives a link to a document that cannot be read.
I much prefer to see science from places like PubMed, where investigations and claims are reviewed publicly by other scientists.
I’ve tried to understand iron, but I’ve not yet managed to get my head round it. I agree with you that donating blood seems the simplest solution for gout caused by excess iron. I can’t find anything useful on reducing iron through diet, so if anyone can help with this, please point me in the right direction.
As for vitamin C and gout, we know that vitamin C reduces uric acid. The higher the starting level, the better the result, but it is still not clear what the daily dose should be.
Hi, Keith,I do want to tell you that this site is so informative.? Thanks for it.? Also, this is surely one complicated disease. I read places that say that a person can have high uric acid and yet have no gout.? Then some folks with moderate UA can have gout attacks.? It must have to do with something besides just the uric acid.? So maybe it is the iron.? As soon as I can, I may go and try to give blood and see if it helps me.
I am taking vitamin C, and it’s 4000 mg.? I take 2 pills in the morning, 2 late afternoon.? But it’s a sustained release on it, which is over a six-hour period, so it’s not dumped all at once, and it’s got L-lysine. I’ve read that vitamin C only lasts 30 minutes in our bodies because it has a short half-life.? I’m hoping this will help.
Well, have to get back to work. I’m running behind.
Keith,
When you get a chance, read this about vitamin C. It has some good information. After you scroll near the bottom of the page for the FAQs, read those articles about vitamin C.? It also has the book that I ordered from Amazon, which I don’t have yet.? It’s the one about Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C.
Now I have to get to work. Talk later.
Looks like I forgot the link.? I had it open, but I forgot to post it.? I must be too much in a hurry today.? Here’s the link:? http://www.jigsawhealth.com/supplements/vitamin-c
As far as the product is concerned, don’t worry about that. Well, that’s the kind that I use and been using their magnesium for about 6 or 7 years.? But I’m hoping that you’ll read the information. They also have a product with vitamin C and lysine at the Vitamin C Foundation place.
It’s just a sales page. Not much help in determining what dose is relevant for reducing uric acid in gout sufferers. 🙁
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