Advice for newly diagnosed
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hi all, I was recently diagnosed with acute gout (primary gout) just this past Thursday and am quite terrified so I've been reading as much of the academic literature as possible over the past couple of days mainly searching for justification of my current eating habits and psychological feeling that my world isn't ending i.e. support and advice. I'm 30 years old, had a history of asthma as an adolescent including bouts of pneumonia, rectal fistula (colon cancer is a genetic hereditary illness along with diabetes and increased odds for heart attack (my father died of it at a young age). No familMy current eating habits consist of eating large amounts of chicken, rice, vegetables every lunch and dinner with soda during the day for caffeine (19 mg vs 91 mg in average cup of coffee). I'm also twenty pounds overweight, though as I currently live in a city with easy walking distance to everything, my weight has been going down steadily. I was prescribed colchine which worked wonderfully and is in line with my understanding that this is indeed gout. I will be following up with my provider during this coming week as well as a rheumatologist to confirm my diagnosis. My general diet consists of a glass of water in the morning with dry cereal, chicken and rice for lunch and dinner with some vegetables, indian snacks or fruits for snack time and very occasionally ice-cream (about once per quarter) as well as a can of Coke during working days for caffeine. Since my diagnosis, following extant literature, I've quit soda (I had been meaning to anyway), added a 500 mg Vitamin C tablet everyday and soon hope to switch to coffee as it has a relative risk score of .46 compared to soda's 1.86 and chicken's 1.21). My goal is to get more exercise by getting a bike and biking to work but for now just walking everywhere (it is a major city after all). I don't eat beef, touch alcohol very sparingly (I had half a beer a month ago and threw it out because it tasted terrible, not the worst $9 spent but still), rarer still eat fish (very very picky about where it's sourced and how it's cooked), and don't smoke. My boss, a physician, thinks it's unlikely that I have gout given my age and habits but still I'm fairly certain it is given that Colchine worked relatively effectively. Given all of this and it is a lot, would you kind folks have any advice on how to proceed? My mom's already offered to take me to get homeopathy medicine (it's not scientific and likely worse for me) and truth be told, I'm scared that this is a lifelong thing that is essentially an early death sentence.
0 likes, 30 replies
Sochima822 ResPsychDude
Posted
You took the first step in getting rid of the major culprit, Coke which has HFCS, which in turn gives people gout. Cut out the cereal, wheat also aids in giving people gout so avoid it like the plague. I eat sourdough bread because it's not only refined but there's no wheat content left in it after all the processing. Any type of wheat, wheat bran, wheat farina, wheat bread all are culprits of gout.
I've lived with gout since I was 14. Now in my 50's I watch what I eat,but most of all, I drink tons of water. Gout has the predisposition of also giving you arthritis when you get older but as long as you keep exercising you should be fine. Doing mild exercises, running is not good for gout sufferers, nor are high impact sports.
Next is to see your Rheumatologist who may prescribed Allopurinol. Let us know what happens after your visit.
ResPsychDude Sochima822
Posted
Hi, thank you so very much for your advice and experience. My lab results from last week showed that a week after the attack, my urate levels were high at 10 mg/dL indicating that during the height of my attack, it was closer to 12 mg/dL probably even 13 mg/dL and sort of confirms the diagnosis of gout, though I won't be able to see a rheumatologist till a month from now. The orthopedist who saw me and my boss were both surprised but if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck, it must be gout. In any case, one of the perhaps comforting things I've heard from calling veterans to recruit them into a study of ours is that people can live into their 70's with gout. I've cut down my soda consumption, limiting it to two times a week and hopefully moving forward, getting that down to just major celebrations and eventually just my birthday, as my dentist prefers. I reckon making the changes needed to live with gout are changes I intended to make anyway and this merely provides a more pressing rationale for it. I do like running a lot and hope to continue doing so as well as walking. When I used to volunteer in Columbia University, I used to walk from Penn Station to 116 st where the place was and then back down, only taking the subway if I got too exhausted. As I've been reading, taking a 500 mg dose of vitamin C does help reduce urate acid levels down. My hope is that I can get started on allopurinol soon to reduce my chances of another gout attack faster (it's a cheap drug and the creators won the Nobel Prize in Physiology for their work in 1997).
rustygecko ResPsychDude
Posted
" I've heard from calling veterans to recruit them into a study of ours is that people can live into their 70's with gout. "
People live into their 80s and 90s with gout.
ResPsychDude rustygecko
Posted
Plenty of people live with it as it has a higher prevalence than schizophrenia well into old age but my fear isn't gout so much as the illnesses that typically come with it for which I already have a high genetic disposition for. Combined, the three are just a bit scary meaning that in order to lower that risk, I have to make fairly significant changes to my body and lifestyle. However, now I have an increased likelihood and so it is imperative that I get treated as quickly as possible and make the necessary changes soon; at least before 35-37.
rustygecko ResPsychDude
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Not sure which three risks you refer to - but if it's any help - allopurinol reduces bad cholesterol and over cholesterol!
rustygecko
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Xxxx! Why is there no editing facility?
I meant overall / total cholesterol not "over cholesterol".
ResPsychDude rustygecko
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Yes thank you! meaning that I won't have to take simvastatin in the future which is wonderful considering the chance of its side effects. I'm referring to diabetes and cardiovascular disease (my father passed from a heart attack at a fairly early age, early 50's but he had diabetes which my mom also has). Having gout increases the likelihood of diabetes and cardiovascular disease by about 40% each and factoring in my likely genetic inheritance(barring a protective mutation or few), it's significantly higher but not totally unavoidable and I do not like the odds. Oh well, such is life.
rustygecko ResPsychDude
Posted
A friend of mine was in a similar situation to you. None of his siblings passed 53 nor did his mum band dad. All went with heart attacks. In his late 40s he bought himself a bike. He uses it every day. His cholesterol is through the roof but 30 years later he's still peddling away.
ResPsychDude rustygecko
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rustygecko ResPsychDude
Posted
ResPsychDude rustygecko
Posted
Funny enough, my boss is a cardiologist. He'll be renown in a few years due to his efforts in the groundbreaking research he's undertaking. When I was in college, my treatment provider did say that I shouldn't stress out so much but I have an anxious personality and do get overly panicked when faced with some stressful situations (once thinking I had failed an exam, experienced palpitations and all manner of not sleeping until I found out that the scoring system was weird and in fact I had an A). Pursuing my ambitions have not helped in this but hopefully one day I'll reach a place where I can live with fewer concerns. Meditation and exercise are my friends in this as well as social support.
rustygecko ResPsychDude
Posted
Sochi is correct dude.
Get rid of the coke and all sodas and any product that has even sniffed HFCS.
Second the primary cause is your genes. You can hardly blame yourself for that.
Third, homeopathy is water, pure n simple. It will do no harm apart from costing money.
Gout can start at your age. However... it's not considered to be gout until you've had two attacks in a year. Next you've had colchicine which seemed to work but you need in a few weeks after you're symptom free for several weeks check out your blood urate level and then come back here.
Lastly gout is not a death sentence as long as you treat it with respect. And even if you don't it's a slow killer. So don't panic. It is very controllable.
And this really is last - drink lots of water, just pure simply tap water. As much as you possibly can.
ResPsychDude rustygecko
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My feeling is that with a family history of diabetes and given that my father died at 51 of a heart attack (it'll be his death anniversary in ten days), and now gout which significantly increases the odds of both, the chance of living past 50 is lower than I anticipated, though death can strike at anytime, sometimes as random as falling into a puddle of water and drowning. I've been drinking water except when I went home for the long weekend to care for my mom.
rustygecko ResPsychDude
Posted
You are correct that allopurinol is ridiculously cheap and effective.
I think all a person needs to do to keep urate low is take allopurinol (300 does me), and drink a bit more water than normal. Be aware that allopurinol will cause gout while your system is clearing (most people few months but can take up to 33 months). In the case keep colchicine at hand.
High blood urate causes inflammation and will eventually get us.
Imho follow my advice and you'll be ok till your four score year n ten.
Good luck and good 'ealth.
james60070 ResPsychDude
Posted
PsychDude.. chill!!
Gout is extremely painful, depressing and dehabilitating.. but it does pass. After having periodic attacks for years, treated with indomethacin, after the last attack had passed I was put on allupironal and colchicine. The colchicine in low daily dose was a preventative short term measure while the allopurinol began to work which ironically often leads to another attack. I have not had an issue since. If the worst comes to the worst and it returns for you there are medications which can help and in 3/4 days it will usually pass. If you get a bad prolonged attack, you can always take a five day course of steroids or a steroid injection which usually have immediate benefits. But don't worry so much. For 99.9 per cent of people it is easily treatable and with allopurinol (and other meciciness) preventable. If you google the common cold on the internet you will think it is a death sentence... just chill. Take the tablets, drink lots of water and it will pass. Worrying so much will not help. Best wishes!
ResPsychDude james60070
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Thank you so much for your advice. It's not the illness itself that bothers me but its comorbidities and boils down to a fear of an early death. That's something we all deal with and so to speak, I've got to 'man up'. Thank you so very much for your advice again, it's very helpful