Gout and Alcohol

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I've had 5 attacks in 6 years although my previous to this was 2014 (now Jan 2017). I've coped pretty well with alcohol consuming no more than 2 x pints of beer on alternate days and similarly with wine (maybe a little more wine). Having been recently diagnosed with Coeliac disease I stopped beer and drank the equivalent in spirits (4 units alternate days). BANG, instant gout but everyone says beer is by far the worst? Can I believe ANY of the literature?

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  • Posted

    I have never been a spirit drinker so wont comment on that. I do think that there are individual triggers for everyone but to find out what they are may prove time consuming and..... painful.

    I have recently given up drinking and the health benefits are there if you want to do it. Assuming you enjoy it and dont want to give it up then white wine or pilsner lager would seem to be your best option.

    I will say that looking back all of my attacks have happened when i lowered my water consumption. Thats was the one thing i can say happened prior to an attack.

    I drink stacks of water but on certain occasions work courses or activity meant i couldnt facillitate it.

    Finally, i chose to believe for a long time that it was a combination of food and beer that caused my attacks. I.e i could drink but eat like a trapist monk and all would be fine... Basically i wanted to keep drinking!

    A lot of people will state Allipurinol as a wonder drug... Thing is im now not drinking so the wonder drug can work to full effect. I want rid of any topgi deposits as soon as possible.

    Joint damage is progressive and debilitating.

    Apologies for long post..... just my thoughts

    • Posted

      Roger, you make a valid point in seeking out the culprits that trigger gout. I can certainly attest to this as I have found the culprits that trigger gout in my system. But oh how I miss eating pickled herring.
    • Posted

      Yes but when you then think of the worst attack you have had you dont feel hungry anymore.....
    • Posted

      If you have tophi you must get your blood urate down as low as possible: research indicates it takes up to 60 months but most people get rid of them in 33 months. Good luck. You will know you have flushed it all out when a) the tophi have gone and b) you haven't had an attack or flare up for 1 year. At that point you can reduce the level of allopurinol to maintenance dose.

    • Posted

      When I worked in the medical field, people who had tophi were overweight, and you could tell they lead a very unhealthy lifestyle. Blotchy red faces which usually indicated they were heavy drinkers.
    • Posted

      I got tophi. I probably drank a bottle of wine a month, maybe less. I was however overweight (BMI of 32 at max point), but I was certainly no whale. What I do have though is a whole load of cousins all of whom have gout. The allopurinol and getting back to exercise and losing 25 pounds got rid of the tophi and (touch wood), I've not had a flare up in ages.

      I'm sure you are correct though that tophi is associated with excess.

      Incidentally the research shows that if your gout is late onset you are more likely to get tophi quicker. I had my first attack in my mid fifties and got the first tophi (after having no treatment) a couple of years later.

    • Posted

      That's funny because on occasions I have noted herring triggering attacks. However I have noted that the longer I have had my blood urate low, herrings are back on the menu.

    • Posted

      This is good to know, because it means I won't ever get tophi since I got gout at a very early adolescent age.

    • Posted

      Lucky I miss eating herring. I'm thinking of going on allopurinol to bring my irate lower so I can eat herring. I just hope he agrees to give it to me.

    • Posted

      I mean urate .. I hope my doctor gives it to me.
    • Posted

      I think all the time you have been storing uric acid tophi is forming.

      Thus until the level is 0 uric adid then you have tophi deposits and formations.

      Sorry to burst the bubble

    • Posted

      I don't think I'm a candidate for tophi, 1. Because I'm not fat 2. I eat healthy foods 3. I'm constantly drinking water and 4. Because

      I keep my ph in my body in a non acidic state. I've only had 3 attacks since I was 14. When I had the attacks there was no redness, no bump, nothing that showed I had anything there. Just pain as if someone hit the ball of my foot with a hammer.

    • Posted

      Except my first attack was on top of my 3rd & 4th metatarsal. Which I believe was contributed to being on point toes when in ballet.

    • Posted

      Everybody's body is slightly alchaline. The level of acidity in the blood (not the gut) is controlled to around 7.4 (from memory) - its controlled regardless of what we eat or drink (through breathing) - indeed if our metabolism wanders off 7.4 we are dead. Nobody has acidic blood.

    • Posted

      I think I misspelled alkaline!
    • Posted

      Rusty, I wasn't referring to my blood but to my urine which is vitally important when you consider that if we let our bodies dip into an acidic state, we are 10x more prone to building uric crystals.

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