2nd gout flare up & a few questions

Folks, I thought I was in the clear. I've been on Allopurinol since my first very intense flare up that lasted over a month, and left my foot disfigured with trophi. I've had at least 4 UA tests since then, and I've seen the number fall to 5.7mg/dl in March. I was starting to feel comfortable, so I fell off of my diet. Not extreme, but I did have crawfish, and a little bit of steak after 9 months of waiting. I felt comfortable because my father was on allopurinol all of his life, but he was able to eat what he wanted, and was an alcoholic (beer) for 30+ years.

Before the gout hit, my main pain was a new condition that I've been dealing with over the past 3 month. I've had stiffness, popping/cracking/grinding in both of my big toe joints. I can only blame it on the intense gout flare up that I had last summer, and it has quickly become a new debilitating disease to deal with. I saw a podiatrist, and he diagnosed it as hallux limitus or rigitus. I got new shoes with a very curved front portion a few months ago, but the condition continued to get worse. Last week, I put steel plates as advised to prevent movement in that joint.

Lo and behold, that unforgettable pain set in on Saturday, and crippled me today. I'm not playing around this time. I'm going straight to the podiatrist to get an injection to hopefully get me back on my feet again very soon. 

Now for my questions-

1) My GP seemed very content with my UA numbers, and said that it should be under 7. This contradicts EVERYTHING that I've read online. Is he wrong, or could my age (32) factor into this?

2) Pain medication. My first gout flare up lasted way too long. I tried oral steroids, and multiple strong RX anti-inflammatory medications. Nothing provided any bit of relief. It was the only thing that was offered to me, and I think the doctor was personally afraid of prescribing opioids. I don't have any drug history, but I was desperate to find some relief. In this time, I found that a legal OTC herb - Kratom was a life saver, and it allowed at least 4-5 hours of mostly level 4 pain vs level 8-10. It's not an opioid, but it works on the same receptors, and is said to provide similar pain relief that a vicodin would. After the gout flare up, I was able to stop it after several weeks of use, and I don't recall any withdrawal symptoms. This seems to work for me, so I'm not interested in RX treatment. I am curious if this is the normal attitude for this disease in the states. It seems to go against logic to have one of the most painful afflictions go untreated, and to suffer. 

3) Going back to the hallux limitus problem. Once this gout heals, I am seriously considering begging my doctor for surgery. I feel that it is inevitable, and the other solutions don't seem to be working. I want to be myself again, and to be able to exercise. (even moderately.) Does anyone else have this condition? Was yours spawned from gout? Any podiatrists care to weigh in on surgery options? I read about all of the options, and a full artificial joint seems like the best possible option. Would an artificial joint have a side benefit (or drawback) of preventing a gout attack in that joint?

4) My father isn't the only one that I know that has gout. Since my flare up, I've met at least 3-4 other people at work that also suffer from it. Everyone else treats it like it's not a problem once you get on allopurinol. They eat, drink, and don't ever have gout. I know I'm only in my 1st year, but I'm curious if allopurinol will ever have that effect on me. I don't care about drinking, but I love shellfish.

5) Speaking of shellfish, my wife noticed a similarity between both gout flare ups. Right before they happened, I had cajun shellfish seafood dishes. These weren't copious quantities of shellfish, and over the past few months, I've indulged in occasional larger portions of fried shrimp and snowcrab. She suggested that maybe it is another ingredient in cajun cooking, or possibly a preservative/reaction when cajun ingredients (crawfish) are frozen and shipped to my state. Is it possible to have 1 particular item regardless of actual purine content trigger a gout flare up? Can anyone relate?

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