Gout attacks in my left shoulder, collarbone and back.

Sorry i meant to add im 42 years of age and venerally quite fit.

Hi Paul6676,

I've nothing major to say but will give you my amateurs view.

I have been on 300mg Allopurinol for about 4 years and am pretty much gout free.

Question : Have you diligently taken allopurinol daily?

Also, my view would be that a GP is not a specialist and may not even know as much as you or I do about the day to day reality of gout.

I "paid" to see a specialist in gout/arthritis and make an appointment perhaps once every two years.

My consultant is dealing with this stuff every hour of every day and is more expert than a GP.

Having said that, I doubt If he can fix all problems.

Specialists aren't cheap but good health is everything.

Ok,

300mg is my dosage too....however, it is possible to get a higher dosage...which may/may not be useful.

I believe up to 900mg per day??

Above all, I believe that it is always best to continue with allopurinol. I.e. dont stop.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/drugs/allopurinol/

Hi Paul. I had several attacks of gout over the years, but never took allopurinol, just controlled through diet. Then discovered celery seed and taking it regularly haven't had an attack since, it's pretty much equivalent to allopurinol. However, had one or two attacks that the celery seed did not seem to help - at first I just took celery, or celery seed, only when I had an attack, and not to prevent. So I finally took seriously this thing called "pseudo-gout". Look it up. It has a different basis from regular gout, but may be more likely if you have had (real) gout. It is not quite as painful, and is more likely to occur away from the feet - and it moves around over a day or two, or it did for me, to adjacent joints, and real gout never did that.

I also had a painful attack of something in my neck and shoulder, as much stiffness as pain, and this might have been pseudo-gout, or it might have been something else. Whatever it cleared in a week or two and has not recurred, while I've stayed with the celery seed.

Of course also get your blood uric acid level checked, and I guess calcium levels checked for the pseudo-gout. Neither test is definitive, but of course if you seem to have gout, and the levels are high, at least that confirms.

Do you still watch your diet, while you're on allopurinol?

How do you know that it's gout? Shoulder gout is not common.

This is an unpleasant situation Paul. my first port of call would be a blood test to test for blood urate - it may be that the 300mg no longer does it for you (and you are miles below the maximum). I have a constant supply of colchecine and i would try to see if that helps. There are a host of things this could be apart from gout - and if it persists then perhaps you need to see a rheumatologist. Fingers crossed that its simply a question of increasing the dose of allopurinol.

Hi Paul sorry to hear that your gout is worse.and gone to your shoulder and back.after having gout for 20 years I have sympathy with you. Has gout as plagued my life.i also this last 6 months have had the same pains in my shoulders neck and left side of my back.the gp as sent me to see a specialist at the hospital.he has given me a injection for the pain in my left shoulder which helped for 3 weeks.i have had x rays on my shoulder and back, waiting for results.and waiting for a lumber puncture to exclude any spine problems this week I shall be seeing a physio i hope he can give me some excercise to relief the pain.i note you taking allorpuranol 300 mg have you had a blood test to see how much your uric acid levels are.if they are normal it is not gout.

Im back at my GP on 28th Jan and I've also got blood tests booked in.

A quick update. I had a blood test on 25th then saw my Dr today for the results. It turns out my levels are 315 so my shoulder pain is not gout. Ive been referred for physio so il see what happens. Thanks to everyone for their responses.