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Posted , 4 users are following.
Hi , Have Arthritis in both ankles and knees 2weeks ago went to GP had massive flair in June (in my mind )she sent me for x-ray and full bloods . Blood came back couple problems main shock Gout, took me about 24 hours to get my head round it. Have started on Allopurinol 100mg did a lot of reading found that things could get worse before getting better,dose might go up after blood test ,life time medication. I take levothyroxine so will need extra checking
Questions
Script tells you to take drug with or after food could I take with yoghurt that I have about 9pm every night.
How often should I ask for blood test for thyroid and kidneys.
Iam the type of person who need facts then I can cope with anything
Thanks in advance for any information
0 likes, 5 replies
rustygecko OPG
Posted
Firstly, dont worry. This is no big deal. Gout is like diabetes without the injections. Its perfectly treatable.
Allopurinol at 100mg is the way to start. Look out for a very serious but very rare allergic reaction (skin sloughing off) in the first few weeks. in the very unlikely event you get this (assuming you are European), go to A&E.
You need to have another blood test in a month or so. Your target for blood urate should be under 300. For most people thst means 300mg of allopurinol.
Reducing blood urate may cause gout attacks. You should have been given some colchecine to combat this.
As for taking allopurinol - i found it made me sleepy in the first month, took it at night and slept like a baby. unfortunately this side effect lasted only a month or so.
At one point i had a stomach issue with allopurinol and hid it in a piece of banana, but that lasted only a few weeks. Now i just take it with a glass of water.
I am assuming that you have a thyroid problem? i personally know nothing about the intersection of gout and thyroid.
blood test for urate - every couple of month till you get correct does of allopurinol. After that every 6 months or a year is ok.
Good health.
W-H rustygecko
Posted
Yes, yes made me feel soooooooo weak and tired too!!!! Thankfully it did not last long.
jx41870 OPG
Posted
As rustygecko says in a way gout is the good news in that it's more treatable than many things, of course the bad news is it hurts like the dickens.
It may not even be medicine for life, if you treat the condition now and reform your diet you may be able to stop the allopurinol and just keep an eye on your urates.
Frequency of blood tests is going to depend heavily on your individual progress, what else did you expect to hear, LOL. But once the immediate episode is controlled it doesn't require a lot of ongoing testing, once or twice a year would be fine in most cases.
OPG
Posted
Its the diet thing I had trouble with. My husband has COPD so our diet is very good the only processed foods I eat are 2 sausages and 3 slices of bacon every 2 weeks pizza once every school holiday when the grandkids help make from scratch,before I retired I cooked for a living so make everything. No alcohol for 19 years never smoked about 16 pounds overweight caused by longterm use of oral steroids they lay down fat pads on your body that can take years to go if ever , My husbands Consultant is very happy with his diet I eat the same in fact I have more veg.
Have no idea how to improve it
rustygecko OPG
Posted
Even if you improved your diet it will have little impact on longterm health. Take it seriously as you would other life threatening illnesses.