Summaries of questions about gout medications to avoid gout by lowering uric acid. These drugs are normally referred to as Urate Lowering Therapy/Treatment (ULT).
There are specific pages for each of these ULT gout medications:
- Allopurinol
- Febuxostat
- Probenecid
- Benzbromarone
- Sulphinpyrazone
Note that some questions about specific drugs, e.g. Is allopurinol a lifetime drug? apply to all types of ULT. Where possible, I will summarize those questions on this page. Similarly, some questions are about comparisons between one or more type of ULT, and I include these on this general page. However, it pays to review all the specific gout medication questions as well as, as well as those here, to get a complete picture.
- Are urate lowering treatments lifetime gout medications?
- Often asked about allopurinol, but applying to all ULT. The question is often answered with a ‘Yes’, but this is lazy. See why the answer is ‘Probably not’ in Is Allopurinol A Lifetime Drug?
- What Is Narcaricin?
- Narcaricin (often called Narcaricin Mite) is the German brand name for benzbromarone. Articles about benzbromarone are limited as it has been withdrawn in the USA due to safety fears.
Dear sir’s, I have high Uric Acid 8.75 and very bad pain on my big toe. Biggest problem I have is allergy reaction from Allopurinol. Just one tablet of 50 mg can cause itching on my full body.
Could anyone advise any other medicine without side effects?
Presently I am managing with apple cider vinegar. As per my past experience it can take up to 3 to 5 months to bring down the Uric acid to normal.
Regards
Pal
As per the article, other choices include:
I have had severe hair loss while on allopurinol. Doctor said it would stop but it has only slowed down a small amount and seems to be starting up again. I also have intermittent severe itching all over . Would you say that this is severe enough to stop taking? Should I be getting uric acid testing? Thank you.
It is absolutely vital to have frequent uric acid tests, along with liver function tests, and kidney function tests when you take allopurinol, or other uric acid lowering treatments. I would go so far as to say that anyone prescribing these gout medications without performing adequate blood tests is acting immorally and negligently.
As far as allopurinol side effects are concerned, only you can judge if the effects are serious enough to warrant switching to a different treatment. I cannot recommend that you stop treatment, as excess uric acid will lead to severe osteoarthritis as the deposits destrroy cartilage, tendons and bone. You must discuss this with your doctor, though you might be better switching to a doctor that has some idea about how to manage uric acid.