Gout & Pseudogout Q & A

Will anything over the counter help with gout?

Your web site refers to an article for a list of food high in purines. Where pray tell is the list hidden?

I was a 36 year old healthy woman when my left knee started to give pain. I thought it was a fall or something & no big deal. I couldn’t ignore it any more after the right on done the same. I had been seeing the Doc about twice a week complaining of the pain. Finally my left knee & all the way down to my foot was swollen, red streaked, looking like celulitis & the pain was off the charts. I was finally Hospitaized where I seen a specialist who drew some fluid from under the patella. After several more test, including a 24hr urine collection test. They proved it to be Gout. It took a long time to get this Diagnosed. Even longer to walk without a limp. Acute & chronic pain ran my life. It left me so sedentary, I gained a lot of weight. It took abou a year for the acute pain to leave. Im 40 now. It has left me with just ordinary arthritis with pain that dont compare to before. I thought once you have gout you will always have gout. I have since moved & have different Dr’s now & I told them of my past & They dont believe me because all the test come up, no gout. They tell me it is not possible to have it in both knees at once. Especially a young woman. I still can’t use my knees as knees should be used. My arms are wearing out because of pushing my weight out of chairs. How did I possibaly get this debilitating disease so early on. I was in the Hospital for 2 weeks with meningitis just 6 months before the onset. Could it be connected? And is it likely to come back Can you give me any insight? Thank You Reita Stephens

Can you use heat or ice to relieve gout symtoms?

My father has had minor issues with Gout for many years no , and the attacks are becoming more frequent and intense. HE was taken out of work for short term disability in April because he could not hardly walk, and has developed problems with his shoulder, elbow and arm all on his left side. The swelling in his feet ankles, and knees is atrocious. They turn purple and extremly swollen. He is getting one attach after another within days of each other now. He is very very sick. He was in very good health up to this point. He has to use crutches some days, and other days cannot even walk. They took him out of work for a longer period of time because he can now barely use his arms, and are saying it is from the use of the crutches. THey had planned to do surgery on his arm this week but had to postpone. He had to go to the ER this AM for severe pain and was UNABLE to move. They ran a few tests and are saying it is probably rheumatoid arthritis. He has shown elevated uric acid levels on SEVERAL occasions. They are also saying his liver function is low, and his white blood cell count is up. Can rheumatoid arthritis be this debilitating and come on so suddenly? Could this be something else going undiagnosed? Could this be a more serious illness brought on by years of damage due to gout or the gout meds? His regular doc is saying there is noithing else he can do, and the orthopedic specialist is saying to go back to the regular doc because there is nothing else he can do. He has been reffered to a doctor specializing in rehematiod arthritis. Shouldn;t he see an endocrinologist? THe doctors keep upping his doses on allupurinol, indocin, naproxin, vicodin, and percocet, to name a few, and nothing is helping. He keeps voicing his concerns over taking such high doses to no avail. Is this not cause for concern? The doctor said he could not get a medical retirement or long term disability because gout is considered a controllable ailment. BUT THEY ARE NOT CONTROLLING IT!!! THe battery company he works for is infamous for “letting people go” in this situations. He is 62 years old and is going to lose everything if this happens. What are his options? Any advice would be helpful. He has been such a hard dedicated worker all of his life, and never lets anything get him beat. , but it honestly looks as if he is dying.

What causes allopurinol to have a deleterious effect on the liver? I know it cal alter enzymes levels and affect bilirubin levels, but cannot get any further than that.