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Cholchicine

Posted , 6 users are following.

maren87215
maren87215

I have just started cholchicine for pseudogout. Can someone tell me how long it might take to make a difference if it is going to help? Thanks.

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • Redshells67
    Redshells67 maren87215

    Posted

    Depending on how bad your gout attack is, you should start seeing results almost immediately.  Make sure you adjust your diet and do not eat red meat, shellfish, beer, and those veggies that are high in purines.  Also, drink 6-8 glasses of water and flush out that uric acid.  

    Good luck.  Gout is very painful!

     

  • jx41870
    jx41870 maren87215

    Posted

    For real gout I believe colchicine is supposed to make a difference pretty quickly, certainly within a day or so.  For pseudogout I don't know, but will guess that it will also do what it's going to do within a day or so at worst.

    Pseudogout is supposed to clear itself after about a week at most.

    Do you have an official diagnosis of pseudogout?  That alone would be worth celebrating!

    • maren87215
      maren87215 jx41870

      Posted

      I was diagnosed with chronic pseudogout two years ago. I have been through many drugs, including chemo...and just now have been willing to try cholchicine. Third day........no difference...... sad
    • jx41870
      jx41870 maren87215

      Posted

      "Chronic" sounds bad, sorry to hear.

      I think I've had it a couple of times, intermixed with real gout, self-diagnosed.

      So I guess your uric acid numbers are low, that's how they decided on the "pseudo", or did they have other tests?

      For regular gout I quite recommend celery seed - even more as a preventative but good as a treatment, too.  But it seems to have just about zilch effect on pseudogout, and that's partially how I did my own self-diagnosis.  Also the pseudogout likes other foot and knee joints, moves around from joint to joint in a matter of hours, doesn't have quite as much swelling or pain as the real thing.

  • Guest
    Guest maren87215

    Posted

    Hi Maren .... I would also expect colchicine to act within a day or two.    You say it's made no difference in 3 days, sounds weird, like maybe the initial diagnosis was wrong.

    Also - I think colchicine is a very old-fashioned drug ... there are stronger and better ones (in Europe anyway) - you might want to ask your GP for another drug?

    Long term though - only lifestyle change is gonna keep you pain and drug free.    I know this because I had my first attack of proper gout at 22, and have only recently managed to get it under control (at 50) by finding and implementing all the relevant lifestyle changes.     I'm drug free and gout free except if I binge on red meat and wine, then I pay for it.

    • maren87215
      maren87215 Guest

      Posted

      Hi,

      Thanks for your response. Do you know the names of other drugs? I have been told that food choices make no difference with pseudogout, contrary to gout, where it does help. My knee was aspirated many times with the pyrophosphate crystals present, not uric acid as in gout. The pain has put me in a wheelchair, or on a cane depending on the day. It is unrelenting, and has been in six joints at one time. I now only have one knee, but it is debilitating. Any leads on other meds to try would be welcome. I'm ready to drink iguana pee! sad

    • jx41870
      jx41870 maren87215

      Posted

      Wow!  So you have a real diagnosis!  First time I've heard from someone who had that.  Of course, I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles, but it's even worse when you don't know what it is!

      What do your uric acid levels look like?  IF they are high, then even though this is pseudogout, I suspect that reducing the uric acid would still be helpful, that it may be a co-factor.

    • maren87215
      maren87215 jx41870

      Posted

      Took me a year and three doctors to get the dx. Uric acid levels were fine when last checked. I try to follow a plant based diet, and don't have much meat. Weather seems to affect the joints more than anything else. They like warm, dry climates best. Would love to find something to take down the pain. So far no success.

  • Sxyaznchanksta
    Sxyaznchanksta maren87215

    Posted

    I’d say give it some time, perhaps 3-4 days. Make sure your drinking a lot of water.
  • andrew41895
    andrew41895 maren87215

    Posted

    I find cholchicine is even more effective when combined with high potency bromelain (gdu > 2800) and NSAIDS (e.g. Ibuprrofen). In most gout episodes, the pain and swelling is gone in 30 mins to 1 hour.

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