I have been talking colchicine tablets for gout now for 4 days and they are having no affect on the pain or swelling

Hi Guys ,

I suffered with gout for years , it started off in my big toe then with the passing years progressed to every joint in my body , well most of them - my ankles , my knees , my left hip , my knuckles and my elbows - twice in my lifetime I was struck with such a bad attack of gout in all of those joints simultaneously , I was bedridden for days , I couldn't turn myself around in bed as all my joints hurt too much .

I was on diclofenac , naproxen and colchicine . Only the colchicine made a difference . I was also taking blood pressure tablets and amitryptiline , quite a cocktail .

In 2011 I was operated on my spine and the surgeon put up my diclofenac to 3 per day .

In December 2012 I contracted sepsis , my sole kidney and lungs failed in our local hospital - I was flown to Paisley as it was snowing in Inverness - I was put on a Life Support Machine and a Dialysis Machine  then  after a few days my heart stopped - my wife was informed that I'd passed away nut during the same conversation with the ICU Nurse my heart either started up on its own or they used a defibrillator on me [ I never found out ] - I was on the LSM for just under 3 weeks , every Doctor my wife spoke to told her I would die and to prepare the rest of the family for it .  My wife asked the usual question ' Is there nothing you can do ? ' and after a consultation the Doctors decided to insert a pacemaker telling my wife the procedure could kill me . The pacemaker kicked in every time my heart stopped but the Doctors warned my wife there may come a time when the pacemaker wouldn't work and that I would die .Then on Christmas Eve of all days my eyes opened - I wasn't out of the woods by a long shot and my body was swollen like a balloon , the Doctors had tried everything to get me to pee but nothing worked , my wife told them that I sometimes took colchicine for gout so they tried that and within 2 days I was passing fluid . my wife had played her part in saving my life !

I was in hospital for a total of 3 months .

The Doctors took away the diclofenac and the blood pressure tablets . I wasn't allowed to take hem any more as they were having an adverse effect on my only kidney . I told the Doctors that my GP had told me I could get a stroke if I didn't take my blood pressure tablets , in hospital it was around 154/85 , 145/85 , previously it had been as high as 190/90 .

Within days my hands were athritic , I took colchicine to help get rid of the pain .

I realised I had to take something so settled for allopurinol . I had refused allopurinol in the past as I'd read the side affects , I did try giving them a go [ in the past ] but they didn't seem to work [ I was drinking at the time ] but this time I knew I had to take them .

I had given up alcohol about a year past so i also tried avoiding certain foods .

I also gave up salt completely - giving up alcohol had been the most difficult thing I did , giving up salt wasn't quite as bad - I tried losing weight as well , I lost a stone , then another half a stone .

 By losing weight and giving up salt my blood pressure was down to 120/80 some days a little bit higher on others - by taking allopurinol the gout stayed away for months - in 5 years I've only had o take colchicine three times , today is one of them , I had dragged half a bag of coal about 20 yards then went to get another couple , my elbow had swollen up and I felt as if I had the flu , the coming of a bad gout attack affects me like that , I've been taking colchicine for the past 3 days and the pain has dissipated though there's still a bit of swelling in the elbow .

Give up alcohol - take up another pursuit , I chose photography , it's only a habit , or in my case an addiction , now I'm addicted o photography [ not sure which is more expensive !! ] .

Sorry about the long drawn out story , guys , it was meant as an explanation of how many drugs I was taking and how little I have to take today - I'd tried all the Old Wife's remedies like Cider Vinegar etc - nothing beats a healthy lifestyle - I take allopurinol twice a day , but not after an attack , a mistake I made this time around , I was taking allopurinol with colchicine , a mistake !

Gout is the most painful thing I have suffered and I've had an operation on 3 discs in my spine , I've been totally disabled through gout , I've had to come downstairs on my bottom as my knees were hurting so much , no one who hasn't had gout will understand that sort of pain , I would guess it's more painful that childbirth [ apologies , Ladies ] .

Now , apart from this week , I am gout free , you can be too .

 

I get gout mostly in my knees. It's some of the worst pain I've ever had. Right now, my left knee is about 3 1/2 inches bigger in circumference. Doctor had me on allopurinol and it seemef to work for a couple years

Then, I started gettong it twice a month. I stopped the allopurinol ans for a year had only minor flares. Now, it's back with a vengeance. Can"t take anti-inflammatories because of kidney disease. One thing doctor did say is stop the allopurinol duri g a flare because it makes it worse. You might try that. The only thing that has been mostly effective for me have been injections of prednisone. Good luck with overcoming it.

I was always told that Colchicine only works for about 30% of people. Don't know why that is.

You might not have gout...it could be pseudo gout which is calcium pyrophosphate crystals (not uric acid). Although colchicine doesn't do much to relieve your pseudo gout symptoms it will act as a prophylaxis once the PS has cleared. Some uric acid based gout attacxks can tacks a week or 2 to settle...keep taking 1 x 500 mcg colchicine tablets every morning. Are you on aspirin or a plaque stabiliser like clopidigrel or a statin by any chance? They will aggravate gout and pseudo gout. 

Hi Graham sorry to see you in pain.cholchine is a good tablet to take if you know the signs that gout is coming on.my doctor as prescribed i take 2 tablets at the start. then one every 6 hours.but check with your doctor first. it is not always possible to know a attack is going to strike.because you can go to bed and wake up to a lot of pain and it is harder to control after that.

Hi,

I have Severe form of Gout including tophi on my toe, fingers and had one on my ear that was surgically removed, I take Allopurinol 300mg, Co-codamol 30mg/500mg, ibuprofen and no one worked for me. Ice does help and raising my legs on top of sofa works but painful still ,especially if it happens at 3 am, you can kiss sleep good night. I also have high blood pressure and Awaiting for a gallbladder surgery. Unfortunately my GP does not understand the word pain, i sometime have to crawl to the bath room just to raise my leg in order to run cold water to ease pain, they think gout attack are one or two a year so taking Allopurinol should be ok,it is not ,i check my uric acid level and 9/10 it is way below the upper limit so it must be something else.. my pain is 3 times a week, I suspected RA or some autoimmune, because i get chronic hives that last 7 weeks with it, but GP insists it is only gout, I stopped all medications for one year and took ACV and daily smoothies, i lost 10 kg but due to fast weight loss i developed Gallstones, but i had no severe pain for a year until one day out of the blue i almost died of severe inflammation and high blood pressure of 200/110. and went back on Medication. What I learnt is that Uric acid will only form as crystal temperature reaches 37c so if you use ice that should stop it, but if you are late and end up with inflammation like mine than nothing works.