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Hello there I am new to the forum and have a few questions, hopefully you good people maybe able to help.
First off I will introduce myself, I am a 53 year old female,
overweight and on medication for blood presure also aspirin taken daily
for same. Been on the medication for around 3 years, about a year ago I
developed a severe itch on and around the the toes on my right foot,
small crusty blister like pimples would develop, and also a large red
itchy bump on the toe next to the big toe. This itch would come and go
and would last for days or weeks. Then I developed what I believe to be
gout, a swollen red joint on the big toe SO PAINFUL I could hardly walk.
It happened suddenly overnite on a Friday and had drastically improved
by Monday, hence I did not go to the Doctors, and I have to admit I am
not Doctor friendly to say the least! This was around 8 months ago,
around 2 weeks ago the itch returned but not as bad, then 3 days ago I
woke to the most painful hip and leg, It was excruciating I could hardly
walk, it was the same pain as in the first episode but in the hip and
leg. Today Sunday, here in OZ, it has almost gone, just a twinge now,
thank god,child birth was no where near as painful! I will visit Doc as
soon as possible next week.I am convinced this is gout, ok, must admit lifestyle leaves alot to
be disired, I can drink beer better than any warfie and have done so for
years, I love my beer but as of now, am a NON drinker, as this pain is
just not worth it!I know I will have such a hard time convincing the Doc of my self
diagnosis and am at a loss at how to try and explain.I only ever go for
my meds and the last blood test was OK. Good Doctors here are very few
and far between and I will be lucky to even get an appointment.Does anyone here suffer gout in other joints such as the hip or get an itch associated with gout?
Hi there SJ- welcome to the fold- sounds like you did the beer now you talk the talk like us lot 😉
Firstly , thanks for the heads up on the pain of gout versus childbirth. As it's mostly men who get gout,at least till later years, we get it bundled up with 'Man Flu' jokes. No one dares make this claim against childbirth- which doesn't usually bring on suicidal thoughts- not unknown with long term untreated gout!
Well, you need a proper diagnosis to get the treatment needed. It could be something else and lifetime meds are not started without a clear indication. That said, you're early in to the problem and already looking for your own solutions. Medics can be quite clueless over gout even when the meds they prescribe state it as a side effect it [as been denied to me ! [See?above]
I've had not [very]?itchy white spots crop up all over a gout attack area and they subside later after dryibg out a bit. I've not seen much [if anything] on the rate of surface symptoms versus deep joint laydown of urates -but hopefully your joint depositions?are still not too well established with '3 day' attacks. Mine have been over a week normally when I had it untreated.
Stopping beer won't have an immediate?cure effect now, but some here will say do what you like with diet once you find your level- when on the proper meds for you. Wine is best from my exp. but I did meet one guy last year in a pub who switched back the other way to beer [strange..] to improve matters.research supports wine 2:1 less likely to trigger gout. [US study]
While you search for medical remedy, watching the diet now will pay immensely, esp if you invest in a SUA meter- as you don't like relying on Docs.?Like me on BP meds, have enough to do already with pill taking- and the side effects, probably.
I don't think you will have a problem convincing the Doc after a few posts on here- but of course?Drs. vary -and you do need a proper diagnosis. [Possibly a fluid draw from joint by specialist]
The pain can get worse than the early attacks- so stay vigilant!
stormjet,
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Do NOT mention gout when you see your doctor. If he is like most he will immediately assume that your “self diagnosis” is faulty and switch into denial mode.
I have never read that itchiness is at all connected with gout and you are a woman. Both those facts argue against gout. But whatever you do, make sure he does a serum uric acid measurement via bloodtest. Over 6.0 mg/dL points to gout, under that points away. (I'm not sure what units OZ measures uric acid in but get the number and post it here…we'll help.)
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Hip pain may be connected with gout but it is not typical and would be very hard to confirm.
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The best evicence of gout is the swollen big painful big toe joint (the second one in.)
Thanks so much for the reply guys. I was lucky enough to get an appointment with a very nice lady Doctor this morning. Had blood tests and also xrays, will get the results on Friday as I needed to make a double appointment to have a biopsy on another spot that may be cancerous ( non life threatening) AGAIN! So may as well get the results then.
If this is gout Trev, I stand by the childbirth pain, only that is over and doesn't linger like this. I truly feel guilty as my poor husband suffers chronic rheumatoid arthritis and had necrosis of the hip, had hip replacement but still suffers in every other joint and I must admit I could be more sympathetic at times. I now have a much better understanding of what you guys are going through, not only so much pain but also so bloody frustrating that most of the population just don?t understand, including MD?s.Zip, I did mention to the GP that I thought it may be gout, but funny you should say that as I said exact same thing to my husband, they will probably try and prove me wrong. I was very lucky as this woman actually listened to me, she was only marginally younger than me, usually get to see some young thing just out of college that will google!!!! She said she would not rule out gout in the foot, but says she can?t associate it with the hip. So I am crossing my fingers, bloody tight, that I haven?t got gout and a bad hip to boot. The pain is a little worse today, aching but nothing like Friday nite, that was excruciating!
MUM does NOT get sick she looks after everyone else! Even the poor old cat who suffers arthritis too, gawd bunch of geriatrics in this house even the budgie is wonky and falls of her perch!
Anyway I will let you nice blokes know the score after Friday, thanks so much for listening, all the best . Cheers Storm
Yes Storm, that persitence is something that gets many. When one thinks of torture- it's the slow dripping on the forehead that's apparently the worst to bear!? [This is no drip, either]
On the urates being detected- I don't think they show up well, if at all , on X Rays. Damage to joints is more likely to show-?and?have been identified as due to gout. Hopefully you don't have this.
The Dect Scans on here are worth a look, but rarely ,if ever available to most here. [?Gout Neglect again!]
On the hip pain, we had a poster here who got gout much higher than feet due to perching on her boat navigators chair permanently. Quite a catch 😉 , but it shows exceptions are always lurking.
Do you sit with your feet up a hell of a lot? Maybe if you walk a lot and have good circulation this will start intial gout elsewhere. If you get treatnment for the gout [hopefully] then this will improve the hip too -and that will resolve any doubts.
Our old faithful Colchicine will do the same job till then , if you can get some to try [at start ideally] of any?next attack.
On the? pain understanding bit- Gout is reported as being the most painful of all arthritic diseases- so you can claim 'prior dispensatiion' from Hubby on that!? 😉 For him , also see first comment this post re: long term pain.
Hello SJ, and Hello Trev, Zip…..and all my other friends on here. YES, I consider you all my friends because you helped me through my initial shock (at 70 yrs. old) February 2010 when I had my first attack. I've been trying to log in for some time now, but unfortunately, my computer is a Windows 2000 and all the innards are also old. It's been a problem. I give up easily. But, we won't get personal here regarding the old innards.?
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SJ……….good luck to you, lady! I'm sure you heard some remarks like I did? 'What? Only drunken old men get gout. You can't have it! '………..(no offense guys). But, SJ, stay off the beer, watch your diet and listen to all the experts on this forum. Let the doctor advise, but check here for the real stuff. Your post caught my eye because you mentioned the gout pain being similar to childbirth. I said that on here, too! So right!
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Since February's 1st double whammy, I've had 3 mild attacks, the last one August 2010. So far so good, and my Uric Acid is now at 4.5, from the original 10.1 last year. I'm still on 100 mg Allopurinol and 40 mg Lisinopril for BP….nothing else, although I have found my fluid builds up about every 4-5 weeks. One furosemide (40 mg) takes care of that, and the bloat flushes away. I don't eat seafood at all, and have 1-2 small servings of lean beef a couple times/month. I never ate much meat anyway, but loaded up on seafood my entire life. Non-fat plain yogurt, lots of fresh fruits, and veggies helped me through this. I keep my freezer full of bags of frozen black cherries, strawberries, blueberries and blackberries. I don't miss my former sugar desserts at all. A small amount of white carbs is o.k. with me, but I gingerly eat small portions (spaghetti, noodles). I'm 12 lbs. lighter, and have had no twinges or pangs of pain in my toes since September 2010. I treat myself to a couple glasses of wine, only for a special occasion. Honestly, I don't miss my old way of eating, because I feel good about myself.
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Hope you all are doing o.k. my friends. I'll try to read back, but so many posts, and so much good information left me WAY behind.
GoutGal (from February 2010)
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