Posted , 13 users are following.
Has anybody successfully treated gout with diet? My O/H has recently been diagnosed and the medication is making him ill, he has just changed meds but would rather not take any at all.
Thanks
0 likes, 35 replies
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jx41870 Mrs_Bx
Posted
Yes, I guess I've been "successful" with just diet. Of course there's two kinds of success, first treating an acute attack, and second preventing it from coming back.
Make sure you have a good list of high purine foods to avoid and AVOID THEM!
You can eat mostly vegetables but not all - no legumes (peas, beans), no mushrooms, nuts but not peanuts, I think all roots are OK, grains are OK - but check the lists. Avoid beer, red meat, fresh fish, pickled herring. A little chicken is OK, and a little canned salmon is OK. Sugar must be limited too - too much fructose raises uric acid, too.
Celery is specifically good, and celery seed is a great condiment and also available in capsules, and I think is far more tolerable than allopurinol. Read up on it. And of course drink lots of water.
And OK, a few aspirin for the pain, but the less the better, it's supposed to slow the clearing, too.
Should start getting better within a few days, if it doesn't, then maybe go with the meds.
But even if it starts getting better quickly it can take several weeks before you're more or less back to normal.
**
Then, watch the diet, get your blood tested, and maybe take the celery seed regularly to prevent future attacks.
Mrs_Bx jx41870
Posted
Thanks, he doesn't have an attack right now, the new meds are to prevent one but ge doesn't want to take them.
rustygecko jx41870
Posted
You may have stopped the gout symptoms, but have you stopped the disease? If you havent bought the blood urate level down to say under 3, you are setting yourself up for a host of illnesses - including but not limited to heart problems, a decade or so down the line.
jx41870 rustygecko
Posted
@rustygecko, isn't "under 3" awfully low? How many people who are prone to gout get urate levels under 3 even with medication?
I get the following from the Internet: "Normal Uric acid levels are 2.4-6.0 mg/dL (female) and 3.4-7.0 mg/dL (male)". My own levels have been higher in the past, but have been dancing around the top end of that range the last few years - with no attacks.
rustygecko jx41870
Posted
You are correct - and if you were a healthy person then you would have no health implications at those levels. However, a person who has had gout and levels of uric acid above those levels - we are not healthy and there are long term implications. If you read the BMJ it advises levels of below 300 and so does NICE....The European League Against Rheumatism stipulates a serum urate level treatment target of ❤️60micromol/L. The British Society for Rheumatology target is ❤️00micromol/L. Arthritis Research UK recommends a 'sensible compromise between these two recommendations' and states that 'lower levels are desirable whenever possible'.
Not having gout attacks does not = optimal health. Its like someone who is HIV+ claiming that because they have no symptoms they are healthy.
jx41870 rustygecko
Posted
Then to repeat - what numbers do people taking allopurinol, commonly show?
kandy59799 jx41870
Posted
How much celery seed should be used and how is it used? Thank you.
VSM152015 Mrs_Bx
Posted
Hello Mrs Bx
I have not posted here for a while, mainly because my severe gout attacks have all but gone. I had my first attack when I was 29 and it was horrendous and then subsequently kept getting them every 3-6 months.
The doctor did advise medication but this would mean having to take them for the rest of my life. I did not want to go down this route so tried to tackle it with diet alone.
I was not a heavy drinker by any stretch and ate meat 2-3 times a week. So I cut out the booze for 3 months and only ate meat once a week. But personally what I think made the real difference was taking cherry capsules (2x) and cellery seed in the morning and increasing my water intake to about 5 litres a day. I have not had a gout attack for 5 years now and I have even managed to start eating a bit more meat again.
I would say ask your O/H to try it and see how they get along, of course before stopping any kind of medication speak to the doctor first.
Mrs_Bx VSM152015
Posted
Thats great to hear, we do have cherry capsules and I will get some celery seed. He doesn't want to go down that route either.
Thanks for the reply and the hope!
rustygecko VSM152015
Posted
What is your level of blood urate?
Mrs_Bx rustygecko
Posted
It is my O/H who has it and are waiting for his latest blood results before he starts his new meds.
goldadilema VSM152015
Posted
Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
21Dewsbury Mrs_Bx
Posted
What is the name of the medication?
Mrs_Bx 21Dewsbury
Posted
He was in allupurinol and yesterday he was changed to febuxostat but the side affects look just as bad.
rustygecko Mrs_Bx
Posted
Which medication is he taking and for how long and what way is he ill? There are alternative medicines and often problems sort themselves out in time, and / or are dose dependent.
Mrs_Bx rustygecko
Posted
He has had it on and off for a few years, he first thought he had injured himself walking which is why he went to the DR. He has tried Allupurinol but it gave him a bad stomach and made him feel generally unwell, he needed to focus to work.
He went to the clinic yesterday and they prescribed Febuxostat instead. I actually feel they were way to quick to get him in medication which they say he will always have to take.
I would rather try and help him manage it with diet if I can.
Thanks
rustygecko Mrs_Bx
Posted
The important thing is the level of blood urate.
It can be possible to control blood urate by diet to the point of rarely having a gout attack - but the problem is not gout per se - gout is a symptom not a disease - the disease is Hyperuricemia - the long term effects of which are disease in the archeries, heart attack, kidney disease and more. Gout is painful, debilitating and damages the joints - the high blood urate just kills you.
Mrs_Bx rustygecko
Posted
Ever wish you hadn't asked the question? 😦
rustygecko Mrs_Bx
Posted
The good thing is you now know to take it seriously, especially so as he is relatively young and could have half a century of life ahead.
rustygecko Mrs_Bx
Posted
FYI when i first started on allopurinol it hurt my stomach - so i then took to taking it "hidden" inside a piece of banana. After a few weeks I dropped the banana and it was okay after.
Mrs_Bx rustygecko
Posted
Good o know, thanks a bunch 😉