Eliminate uric acid crystals?

Hi Dave. So I been getting foot pain for four years on top outside of foot under ankle area, stiff painful couldnt walk few times. Saw foot Dr for long time was useless. Finally went to RA Dr did all blood. Uric acid is 7.8. All kidneys liver sugar all good. So now being the attacks are more severe and frequent they are talking about allopurinal. I was at DR today and they are sending me for MRI friday to rule everything out before i have to take the med. I do take colch and indomethacin when im in pain. But dont want to get on allopurinal if i can avoid it. Doing turmeric and celery seed pills now. Also cherries and pineapple if i feel pain inflamation. I def have inflamation the marker was high for c reactive protien. So im gonna cut out beer which i think was my issue starting this off and see what happens. Its confusing. Its scary for future knowing i can be sidelined from everything so fast. This is my first time in a forum. I felt i had to talk to someone who knows this feeling. Its affecting me phys and mentally now. I still work a demanding job took off few weeks to get thru last episode. Have kids also who are active. So im nervous. At a minimum def changing eating and alcohol to see if uric number goes down. Thanks for listening. Im in New Jersey USA by the way. Yankees. Mark.

Went ot ?do yesterday also a fellow sufferer. suggets Alupurinol allied with Indometacin to avoid an attack and Omepprazole to protect my stomach.

David   so far so good.

So9rry meant to say went to doctor. This site close down so quickly if you respond slowly. 

David

Dave. I dont understand last message. Are you thinking of going on allopurinal? I guess every individual case is different. I want to avoid it if i can. My pain is on top foot so going to get a MRI this friday to rule out anything else before deciding. But reality is if the pain continues I have to do something. It is ruining my daily activites to often. Mark.

What's up brother man, writing from the western corner of the states. Sorry to hear about your symptoms. Me too. And my attacks have become very back to back and it's in the move,from left ankle now in the right Cuboid. I've had some recent luck with baking soda and lemon juice. I don't completely buy the beer diet thing, mainly because i don't drink beer very often. Seems like pizza for some reason does on the other hand kick it in tenfold.

Wulo. You in Cali? Yea this whole thing is a mess. Trying to stsy off alopurinal. Getting MRI tomorrow. Using celery seed pills. Apple cider vinegar. Cherry juice. My uric acid was high on normal end 7,8. So i guess its gout. Really got me down cant walk well sometimes not at all. Just dont know where this is going. Hopefully its not to frequent but it has been lately. Top outside of foot to the toe base. But never the big toe which is most common. Thanks for response. Im feeling lousy. Im a actice guy with two kids. Been missing work. Sucks. Mark. Yankees.

If you have gout, don't muck about with silly diets, we live in the 21st century now. Take the Allupirinol and eat and drink what you want. It really is as simple as that

Thanks. But can you really eat and drink what you want? Im trying to lower my acid next few months see how it goes. Want to see if diet and excersize make a difference. Also is allopur the way to go if i have to. Thanks.

What is your fear of allopurinol?

7.8 is above the level at which gout will occur unless you live in a very hot country. In areas where your body temperature falls to 35C you will get crystals forming in joints at 6.0. Our feet get to 35C at night in cold countries.

Well I do, almost. I drink cider rather than beer, and I am a vegetarian, but only because I have always been one. Animal protein is just about the worse thing for gout, so you could try substituting meat with a  good alternative, which ia also far better for you anyway. 

OK, I was exagerating a bit by saying take the drugs and eat what you want, but don't go down the slippery track of letting this desease rule your life. Like I said, it's the 21 st century now !!

I have not been put on allopurinal yet. Had mri that was not conclusive had no joint erosion at all. They saw bone edema in my left foot so would not say if its gout only. My pain is in bone alot. And little swell in tissue area outside top foot. By the way is cider better than beer for uric acid? I stopped beed all together. Wish there was a purine free n beer.

The definitive way to test for gout is to suck out a few drops of fluid from a joint and study under a microscope for crystals. I don't think waiting for damage to occur is sensible.

I've heard here people saying cider is better than beer, but no idea.

Are non wheat breads any better than wheat based breads?

Yes, cider is not brewed with yeast, as is wine also. However, like all alcohols it is high in sugar. It's certainly not good for gout, but your less likely to suffer as a result of drinking it. I find if I stick to cider and wine, and make sure I take my Allupurinal, I tend to be OK. I once read a study into gout and alcohol, and the author could find no direct link between wine and gout, albeit he didn't mention cider. Unfortunately I have not been able to find the web page again

I am afraid that wine and cider most definitely are used in brewing. In fact I can't think of any way of producing alcohol in a natural way without yeast.

I too have read articles which referred to the research that wine doesn't cause gout.

Alcohol is a complex sugar. When broken the alcohol becomes simple sugars.

I do not agree with that .I take Allopurinol 300 daily and got 3 attacks over the Christmas.I use Voltarol 75 to ease the pain. 

When tested what is your level of blood urate? If it were under control you wouldn't be getting attacks, unless you haven't been on allopurinol very long. How long have you been taking it?

My test was 5.7 last Sept ,I had an attack in Oct went to hospital and they told me to take 1 colchicine for 1 month .I felt great .Then in DEC I got an attack on knee , wrist and ankle all at different times .

Tony, Rusty Gecko helpoed explain a lot ot me a few weeks ago. I've had gout for over 20 years and I mean gout!!! I am now on Allopurinol at 600mgs daily and that seems ot be workong but stil lget some problems after eating shellfish etc. My doctor has given me colchicin as my stomach bleeds afrter using Ibuprofen or Indocetamin. however do look at rhe contras with colchicin. It is toxic and sympomts from use include reduced red blood cell; reduced white cells and also platelets. In other words very simialr to what our daughter was suffering with her bone marrow cancer and later Leukaemia. Watch it. There's no such thing as a free lunch and remeber your physics lessons; "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Life's a lottery; but you can improve your chances; or not!

Bonne chance!      David  

5.7 in an attack is very high; even outside of an attack it's towards the top end. So, you have gout.

As for colchesine - fist I've read in a research paper that if you cut them in half, and take them more frequently the toxicity is less. Colchesine is not designed to be a constant therapy - it should be used only when needed. It is toxic, but if you are in good health (esp the kidneys), you'll be okay but don't abuse it.

I'd guess that with the very high levels of blood urate over a long period with no symptoms, you are now getting the pain from it - I get it in the hands and wrists and thumbs and it's horrible.

My advice is to get yourself on allopurinol at a high enough dose to bring your blood urate down to flush it all from your system. The flushing can take up to 33 months before it becomes just a general maintenance dose. I can see no other solution. What do others think?

Good luck!

Hi I am off to Spain for a weeks holiday next week so I will get  a blood test when I come back.I am going to start with cutting out beer for the next 6 weeks and see if there is a difference.

I would like to thank everybody for their comments and advise .

I have to get on top of managing the gout or it will ruin my lifestyle

I have heard quite a lot of people say drink lots of water ,is this a fact ?

Yes Tony the best advice is water. Extended dehydratation will cause gout. Our problem is our kidneys aren't getting rid of enough urates. A way of helping the kidney is to give it more water which means it pumps more liquid out and more chance to push out the urates with it. Another reason is that gout suffererscan easily suffer from kidney stones - drinking water avoid that. Also having more water in the blood reduces the concentration of urates. Finally allopurinol requires we drink more. Keep yourself hydrated and it will help your gout. If your doctor didn't emphasise that... think about changing doctor!

Hi only getting back to your reply ,thank you for your help. I will let you know how I get on .

Hi ,I have had a bad run since mid DEC .Last night I had minor attack underneath my right foot at the small toe .I had been ok for a few days and the only thing I put it down to , I ate grilled rashers yesterday evening .

Is there a list of foods that you should definately NOT eat .

It was bad enough for me to miss my golf game .