[goutorarthritis]

Thanks again for all your advice and your moral support to my endeavour to reduce my uric acid levels and at the same time reduce my overweight.

Both are hard tasks and very much related to each other and most importantly, to my health.

I do have many questions and few answers, but as GoutPal says I’m going in the right direction.

With regards to daily water intake (I even drink a lot during the night); I can state that no less than 3 liters go through my body. I am a heavy beer drinker (not at this stage of course), so it’s easy for me to gulp big amounts of fluid in one go and even though it was tough at first, being water the most unpleasant fluid to take when not thirsty, as most of the things in life, it takes time but you get accustomed to almost anything…..

The thing about drinking a lot of water though is that when trying to keep smaller food quantity intakes, water tends to enlarge your stomach as beer used to, so it is seldom you feel satisfied or full after meals; small and constant sips would be perfect I guess, but an impossible task when you have other important tasks in life such as working to bring money home.

I thought about that Japanese health method when you are supposed to drink 1 liter of water as you get up in the morning, all in one go and every morning, but I doubt that being the answer to all our health problems and I actually think it can even be harmful for you.

I didn’t know what PRAL meant till Gary S mentioned it; did a short search and found this page:  http://www.bitterpoison.com/ar…..l-formula/

So now I know and as GoutPal mentioned and the author of the document says, “Of course, acid/alkaline balance is only one small way to look at health. I do not think it is useful to micromanage your diet to get the lowest PRAL values”. Still it must be wise to keep the total figure your daily food intake close to zero or on the negative side, so thanks for that Gary!

My PRAL balance now must be well into the (-) zone, since I eat so much fruit, mainly about ½ to 1Kgr of raw cherries per day; out of the box and in to my mouth….. Not that I was aware of this PRAL thing, but more because I read in this and other forums that it was one of the best ways to lower your uric acid.

And Zip2play, I really suffer in sympathy with your pain as I read about your gouty toe; it must be terrible, but at least you have no doubt of what your illness is. In my case and even after suffering from joint pains for more than 33 years, I don’t know what Tophi are, at least in my body; have seen pictures from gout related websites, but never on me.

I actually wish all my problems were gout related because I would then know I had a solution, even if it was a lifetime drug one. But if it is an autoimmune disease, not Gout related, then I know there is no cure, just anti-inflammatory pain relief drugs that can kill you or at least make your crippled life more miserable if that is possible.

So trying to end this “brick” so you don’t suffer additional psychological pain, I’ll end-up saying that as for me, I DO have high Uric Acid level in blood so I will continue with the Allopurinol as long as it takes, in the hope that my pains go one day; I will also aim to reaching my appropriate body weight (around 80 Kg), since that in itself will be terrific for my general health status.

Thank you all once again and keep in touch.

And GoutPal what can I say about your website, but to thank you once more, for the great job done……

Best regards,

Charles

[goutorarthritis]

I am the starter of this thread (Gout Addict), but forgot my details and re-registered as “goutorarthritis”.

Thanks for the comments and help.

Since May and following the good advice from GoutPal I started taking Allopurinol 300 mg and Colchicine to avoid any gout attacks.

Today I still take both plus some Indomethacin when pain on my knees starts to worsen.

I have also started a diet to lose as much weight as possible (already lost 9 kgr); the diet basically consists on no red meat, mostly grilled or boiled chicken, no fat, no alcohol in any form, low carbohidrates, minimum bread and some Allbran with my no fat yogurts. 5 meals a day ( 9:00 am, 11:00 am, 13:00, 18:00 and 21:00). No real limit on amount per serving (chicken, fish or salad), more like take as much as you feel like it….

Had a blood test done a week ago and EVERYTHING is great; my uric acid in blood is down to 5.3 (from 8.6), 170 Cholesterol and all the rest are well below limits.

Problem is I still suffer from multijoint pain and to tell the truth it is worse than ever; can't use my hands, my knees don't allow me to try any healthy daily walk  and my stomach is starting to complain from what I think is the colchicine intake.

The doctor told me he NOW believes it is some kind of arthrosis, not Gout related, so I'm a bit at a loss here, could it be I have both Gout and and Rheumatism of some kind? Blood analysis gives negative on rheumatism, but the doctor says that doesn't mean I don't suffer such illness.

I will continue with the mild diet, but need to know if it is normal with such low uric acid in blood figures can bring about such painful joinst, mainly hands, knees, anckles and feet; when I stop moving, the pain tends to be less, but still I must move in bed constantly while I try sleep, to adopt different postures so some joints get their needed relief.

Any clues or ideas?

Thanks anyway,

Charles (57 years old, 20Kg overweight, but decreasing…)

[Author]

Posts