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I've had gout issues for 25 years…..I've had 3 foot surgeries the past 4 years to clean out tophi from my joints.
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I tried Allupurinol twice in 4 years and had such bad allopurinol side effects, I just put up with my Uric Acid level of 12.5 and hoped my diet would help but never did.
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So, I started 40 mcgs. of Uloric 5 weeks ago.? My level is down to 4.5 (yay!) but I have a few Uloric side effects which are quite annoying.???
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The main one is back pain.?? The pain is in the middle right side of my back and sometimes is in the very right side….it sometimes is sharp, sometimes just a decent ache….it isn’t too bad in the mornings but gets worse through the day and at night really bothers me.??? I've NEVER had a pain in that area before and it started right when I started this med.??? I also occasionally have shortness of breath but that's not too bad.?? I also am somewhat nauseated most of the time.
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The back pain really bothers me.? My blood tests came back fine for Kidney and Liver last week….I just am not sure if I'm having some kidney stone issues now (never have before) or what.? I dont want to keep bothering the doc if my numbers look good but no way can I deal with this long term.
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Any other people with back pain once you stated taking Uloric or Allupurinol???
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Thanks
therockfrog said:
?I tried Allupurinol twice in 4 years and had such bad allopurinol side effects, I just put up with my Uric Acid level of 12.5 and hoped my diet would help but never did.
So, I started 40 mcgs. of Uloric 5 weeks ago.? My level is down to 4.5 (yay!) but I have a few side effects which are quite annoying. ?
?? I dont want to keep bothering the doc if my numbers look good but no way can I deal with this long term.
Any other people with back pain once you stated taking Uloric or Allupurinol????
I was on Uloric 40mg for 5 months and now on 80mg, ~4 months. NO BACK PAIN! (I am also allergic to Allopurinol.) However, the fact that I don't have back pain or somebody else has, that does not mean that YOU have to have back pain. Since YOUR body is telling you that you have back pain, YOU should/must bother your doc to find out what is going on.
?Regarding your numbers, I'd be very weary about them. Levels of 12.5 going down to 4.5 in 5 ?weeks on 40mg sounds suspicious to me. My levels on 40mg did not drop below 6 after 5 months, and I checked them once a week. If your levels were around 12.5 for any extended time, I would never trust ONE test result, regardless who performed the test.
Since you are a gouty for over 25 years, how often did you have your SUA checked? (Not that it really matters NOW.) What matters now, is a sound confirmation what your SUA level REALLY is!
I had my levels checked off and on every 3-4 years…every time it would show up as around 12 – 13.???? I always knew i had to get it down but never was on the meds long enough to get it checked.
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I'm making an appointment with my rheumatologist and will get my numbers re checked by them…and ask them abou the back pain issues.
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Thanks
therockfrog said:
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I'm making an appointment with my rheumatologist and will get my numbers re checked by them…and ask them abou the back pain issues.
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Thanks
That's the way to go.
Have you read about the side effects of Uloric, as published by Takeda? Nausea, shortness of breath and some bodily pains are cited, but not back pains
thefrog,
I was perusing some of Keith's excellent pictures and recall two showing rather large tophi lodged in the spine right where spinal nerves exit. The effect whould be simialr to a bulging disc.
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So perhaps a rapid fall in serum urate is causing issues with something similar in your back.
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You won't find much in the literature but a renouwned doctor has shown good results in combatting back?pain with colchine inhjections in to the spine.
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I do not doubt that the two certainly can be related.
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A test might be to stop the Uloric for a couple weeks (risky) and see what happens with your back.
Yes…I might stop it for a month to see if these symptoms go away.
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The back hurts enough to where I haven't worked out in almost a month…?? My wife doenst like me lately cause usually I'm all bubbly and full of energy and just dont have a lot right now.? Could be other things but the back,?the fatigue, the nausea…..no way can I stay on this med if these side effects don't go away….I love having my uric acid level down but not at the expense of being tired and sore all the time.
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I will give it another few weeks, get my levels tested again, get my back looked at if it's still bothering me, and go from there!
Frog- when I tried AlloP it was Ok for 2 weeks or so then the non healing sore on finger made me worry but mostly I started to feel quite odd. Tired and spaced out and just not even half normal really. No pains, and UA was responding but I was glad to get off the med- switch to SulfinPyr instead. I was taking a BP med- alpha blocker Doxasozin, at the same time that didn't suit me either- but I kept that one going for some more months before stopping. [BP actually went down sfter ending it!]
My docs haven't been keen as they should have been on blood tests [?] but my latest show some higher, but not alarming, reads for Liver and Kidneys months after stopping both. I still get a left side nag [Kidney]from BP med Losartan which I'm changing now.
Prompts to always do testing here for many reasons are always worth bearing in mind -as we have done.
I have to wonder how much is hidden by people not being encouraged to push for these tests, though they aren't free for many -and always cost the system.
Kindest view is -they don't want needless worry and? that blood levels can shoot about a bit before stabilising at higher, but not? worrying levels, for 'most'. [Famous averaging , again]
A lot of publicity is being generated by a recent gout study: Switching from allopurinol to febuxostat for the treatment of hyperuricemia and renal function in patients with chronic kidney disease
Febuxostat is the generic name for the Uloric brand. It’s sold around the world under various brand names, and it is an excellent second choice alternative to allopurinol. Let me describe the results, then I’ll explain why it is second choice, and when it is better.
The key findings from this gout and kidney disease study are:
The serum Uric Acid levels significantly decreased from 6.1 ? 1.0 to 5.7 ? 1.2 mg/dl in the febuxostat group and significantly increased from 6.2 ? 1.1 to 6.6 ? 1.1 mg/dl in the allopurinol group. […] Febuxostat reduced the serum Uric Acid levels and slowed the progression of renal [kidney] disease in our Chronic Kidney Disease cohort in comparison with allopurinol.
So does this mean that Uloric is better than allopurinol?
<!–more Continue reading Is Uloric better than allopurinol?–>
Given the stark choice of two crates of pills and a room full of gout patients, the answer is yes. In that artificial situation, I would have to recommend Uloric. But this does not account for:
- Cost – Allopurinol Wins
- Length of safety record – Allopurinol wins where genetic screening is done properly
- Patient profile
Patient profile is key to deciding if Uloric or allopurinol is best. This gout study deals exclusively with kidney disease sufferers with gout. This is a notoriously difficult group of patients to treat. The advantages that Uloric bring to this group are not necessarily representative of all gout patients.
Nonetheless, the study does give some important pointers to us. Actually, the pointers are there for rheumatologists. I believe that any gout patient who has complications such as chronic kidney disease should consult a rheumatologist. That rheumatologist can try allopurinol and Uloric at different times. He can assess uric acid, glomerular filtration rate, and other kidney and liver function test results. Then doctor and patient can make the right personal choice based on all factors.
Results of gout studies like this are good for giving us pointers to the best treatment options. But, there is never a best treatment for gout. What matters is the best treatment for each individual gout patient based on personal history and test results.
I wonder how @therockfrog is getting on? I hope your gout is under control.
I’ve just popped in to recommend a new discussion: Improving Uloric Liver Warnings Guidelines for Gout Patients. It’s relevant, as liver function and Uloric are mentioned in this thread. So, if you have thoughts on that, please share them in the new discussion.
There’s a couple of other questions that this thread regularly attracts:
- What is Uloric?
- What is Uloric for?
Short answer: Uloric is a gout medicine to inhibit the production of uric acid. It’s for saving the lives of gout patients. Other life-saving gout medications are available. So, if you need longer, more personal answers, ask in the new gout forum.
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