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has changing your diet or taking medication helped
I've only just now changed my diet.? The only meds I've taken is 800 mg ibuprofen 3 x a day and that was only for current and previous attacks. That did help. Perhaps one day I'll need something stonger and/or more specific. Until then I will try to manage it without “special” pills.? You do whatever you and doc feel is best for you.
Do your attacks coincide with having dark beer and shrimp, or other things
My attacks are mainly due to my overall diet.? From what I now understand, the uric acid builds up in my blood over time until saturation is maxed out and precipitation of crystals occurs ? a gout attack.? I often pull my left leg out from under the covers while sleeping, that's near a window ? left foot becomes a cool part of my body and *_boom_* there it is.
Beer and shrimp are not part of my normal diet. I suspect it's a coincidence that at least 2 of my attacks (#4 and #6) arrived ~36 hours after such indulgence.? It may be the case that I am especially intolerant to beer and shrimp, though I doubt it. More likely that I gorged myself on beer and shrimp a couple of times when an attack was probably imminent anyway.
To answer your question; It's other things, a combination of everything in my (previously) gout-prone diet.? Don't remember if anything special brought on the other attacks ? probably was just my “normal” diet catching up with me? lots of booze mixed with cola and other sodas, lots of meat ? all kinds, maybe some fruit and veggies for color now and then… maybe.
I've sworn off beer and shrimp just to be safe and am now making a real effort to improve my diet and fitness.? We'll see how far that gets me.
Good Luck to You,
@maybegout
You seem to have the same trigger as me? lots of shrimp and dark beer.
Let me tell you about my experience with gout so you can learn from my mistakes.? Please bear in mind, I am not a doctor and gout can vary wildly from person to person.
That said, I'm just getting over my 6th attack in just about as many years.? Like you, a feast of shrimp and dark beer over New Years Eve is the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, though I'm sure there is a variety of contributors that build up over time..? Like you, I am middle aged and have all of the classic gout lifestyle risk factors.? Like you, my gout is at the base of my big toe, left foot for me.?
My first two attacks, years ago, I thought to be pain from work shoes or I brusied my toe/foot without knowing it somehow. Those first couple of attacks were mild compared to later attacks.? I could walk with some pain, but no real limp.? My 3rd attack was much worse than the first two and I started to complain.? That's when someone said “Maybe it's gout?”. Never really heard of gout before that.?
My health care provider has been largely useless and I felt like I was on my own, until finding this site this week.
My 4th attack was in the spring of 2008. Brutal and made worse by popping aspirin day and night.? Big mistake.? On a scale of 1 ? 10, let's classify attacks 1 and 2 at pain level 2 or 3 .? This attack was a solid pain level 8 or 9 and for days with the whole event spanning weeks.? Worst pain of my life and I know pain.? I reserve pain level 10 for things I haven't felt yet like torture and certain kinds of death.? Blinding pain where you see sparks and flashes should you bang you toe on something ? to the brink of passing out.? Pain that is both throbbing AND stabbing and contant, day and night. My 5th attack reached pain level 8, but peak and overall duration was less due to a slightly better understanding of what was going on.
Up to this point, I misunderstood my gout.? Like trev said, “it's for life” ? pending diagnosis.? I did not realize this until coming here.? I had assumed it was rather like catching cold.? I assumed I had gout only during the attacks and not in between.? Wrong.? It's a condition I need to monitor and manage.? I know that now.
Finding this site has been the best thing possible for helping me understand my gout and adjust my lifestyle.? This, my 6th attack, while getting up to a pain level 7 or 8, was only there for hours, not days.? Now 5 days into my attack, I'm at pain level 2 and dropping. All thanks to the advice I've read on this site.
Since we seem to have similar triggers for an attack, we may have similar remedies.? See what worked for me this week in my recent post in “Giving Gout The Finger” thread.? Get to know your gout, and do yourself a big favor; poke around this site and learn from others like I have.
Regards,
SB
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