Paris Be aware of food allergies. Gout is NOT only caused by high uric acid. I found I was allergic to dairy and after eliminating that I noticed a big difference in the gout of one knuckle of a finger and my big toe. The size of the joint has decreased [not 100%] and the inflammation gone. Diet is a big factor and needs to be followed. We should not only rely on medications because we get the idea if we take medication for it we can eat what we want. Not so. Medications are good for relief of pain/discomfort at the moment but prevention is the key.
Re: Vitamin C — Started taking vitamin C this past winter and had multiple bouts of gout. Stopped taking it and haven't had an episode since.
Re: Cherry Juice — Works best as a preventative, not a treatment.
pandemonica Re: Ice — I have not tried ice. In *theory* it should make it worse since lowering the temperature would cause *more* uric acid crystals to crystallize in the joint. IMHO, heat is the only way to go. Warm socks. That and anti-inflammatories.
pandemonica Re: Ibuprofen — Works really well but needs to be combined with other treatments like hydration, staying warm, and bed rest.
pandemonica Re: Warm socks — Keeping your toes and feet warm makes the uric acid crystals in the joints warm up and go back into solution in the blood. Combine warm socks, bed rest, lots of liquids including cherry or cranberry juice, anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen, and colchine to get over a gout attack in a day or so.
pandemonica Re: Colchicine — Seems to work in mild cases
pandemonica Re: Tophies — Tophies are uric acid crystals forming in your body, typically under your skin. You start getting tophies after years of untreated gout. They start out insignificant but grow over time and can become disfiguring. small ones may dissolve back if gout is treated.
pandemonica Re: High serum ferritin — If your serum ferritin is high, then you may have a hereditary condition called Hemochromatosis which leads to the pancreas, liver, and kidneys oxidizing, literally *rusting*, which leads to diabetes, liver disease, and kidney diseases such as gout.
Antidrugrep Re: Low Vitamin C intake — See "Vitamin C" category under "treatment."
Antidrugrep Re: Vitamin C — Increase your vitamin C intake and you will likely lower your uric acid levels. Humans are among a handful of creatures who don't make their own vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Uric acid acts as a poor anti-oxidant substitute for ascorbic acid. Both respond to illness/injury/distress in a similar fashion, by increasing. The key difference is, vitamin C doesn't precipitate gout. Uric acid crystals do. If your body made Vitamin C, uric acid levels would stay low enough to avoid trouble. Unfortunately, that gene has been broken for a LONG time. In animals that DO make it (Vitamin C), how much do they make? Take a pet dog, say a Great Dane - every bit as massive as a full-grown human. Marmaduke's liver makes 3-4 GRAMS (3000-4000 mg) per day when WELL. When he gets sick or injured, this could increase to 10-20 TIMES that amount. Same thing happens in people, only substitute uric for ascorbic acid. Ever hear of a dog getting gout?
Vitamin C for gout is for MAINTENANCE, not acute RELIEF. For that, you'd need NSAIDs or colchicine.
g8r Re: Indomethacin — it makes it better within hours of taking. just continue as prescribed
Paris
Be aware of food allergies. Gout is NOT only caused by high uric acid. I found I was allergic to dairy and after eliminating that I noticed a big difference in the gout of one knuckle of a finger and my big toe. The size of the joint has decreased [not 100%] and the inflammation gone. Diet is a big factor and needs to be followed. We should not only rely on medications because we get the idea if we take medication for it we can eat what we want. Not so. Medications are good for relief of pain/discomfort at the moment but prevention is the key.
Re: Vitamin C — Started taking vitamin C this past winter and had multiple bouts of gout. Stopped taking it and haven't had an episode since.
Re: Cherry Juice — Works best as a preventative, not a treatment.
pandemonica
Re: Ice — I have not tried ice. In *theory* it should make it worse since lowering the temperature would cause *more* uric acid crystals to crystallize in the joint. IMHO, heat is the only way to go. Warm socks. That and anti-inflammatories.
pandemonica
Re: Ibuprofen — Works really well but needs to be combined with other treatments like hydration, staying warm, and bed rest.
pandemonica
Re: Warm socks — Keeping your toes and feet warm makes the uric acid crystals in the joints warm up and go back into solution in the blood. Combine warm socks, bed rest, lots of liquids including cherry or cranberry juice, anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen, and colchine to get over a gout attack in a day or so.
pandemonica
Re: Colchicine — Seems to work in mild cases
pandemonica
Re: Tophies — Tophies are uric acid crystals forming in your body, typically under your skin. You start getting tophies after years of untreated gout. They start out insignificant but grow over time and can become disfiguring. small ones may dissolve back if gout is treated.
pandemonica
Re: High serum ferritin — If your serum ferritin is high, then you may have a hereditary condition called Hemochromatosis which leads to the pancreas, liver, and kidneys oxidizing, literally *rusting*, which leads to diabetes, liver disease, and kidney diseases such as gout.
Antidrugrep
Re: Low Vitamin C intake — See "Vitamin C" category under "treatment."
Antidrugrep
Re: Vitamin C — Increase your vitamin C intake and you will likely lower your uric acid levels. Humans are among a handful of creatures who don't make their own vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Uric acid acts as a poor anti-oxidant substitute for ascorbic acid. Both respond to illness/injury/distress in a similar fashion, by increasing. The key difference is, vitamin C doesn't precipitate gout. Uric acid crystals do. If your body made Vitamin C, uric acid levels would stay low enough to avoid trouble. Unfortunately, that gene has been broken for a LONG time. In animals that DO make it (Vitamin C), how much do they make? Take a pet dog, say a Great Dane - every bit as massive as a full-grown human. Marmaduke's liver makes 3-4 GRAMS (3000-4000 mg) per day when WELL. When he gets sick or injured, this could increase to 10-20 TIMES that amount. Same thing happens in people, only substitute uric for ascorbic acid. Ever hear of a dog getting gout? Vitamin C for gout is for MAINTENANCE, not acute RELIEF. For that, you'd need NSAIDs or colchicine.
g8r
Re: Indomethacin — it makes it better within hours of taking. just continue as prescribed