Uric Acid 'Normal'

[RobertF]

I have had gout attacks over the past several years and the past year or two these are more frequent -- three or four times a year with episodes lasting a month or so each. My father and younger brother also suffer from gout.

In my annual physicals my uric acid levels were on the high side of normal (7.1 in December 2010 and 6.2 in December 2011). I started taking allopurinol (100mg once a day) on January 1, 2012 after my most recent incident, which began in mid-November, had cleared up.

On January 9 I felt a little pain which went away but then on January 12-14 the pain in the right big toe was acute with swelling and redness (the typical gout symptoms), however the pain has substantially reduced since January 15 and am now only walking with a slight limp and no pain.

On January 13, uric acid was checked and it was 5.1, even though that essentially was at the height of the attack (and lower than when tested three weeks earlier when I was experiencing no pain/inflammation).

Any reasons why I would get a 'normal' uric acid reading when I was having a gout attack??

Because I had started allopurinol a few weeks earlier, would this account for the 'normal' uric acid reading? Also, would having started the allopurinol account for the limited duration of this gout attack?

My father has taken allopurinol for years and has not suffered a gout attack since he began that course of medicine.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

[podagra]

Precipitation of uric acid in painful crystals during an attack normally reduces the uric acid dissolved in the blood. So it is useless to test uric acid during or shortly after an attack. The best time to test is when you feel well, so you can estimate the risk of an attack and if it's high, take measures to reduce it.
The best way to reduce uric acid levels and the risk of an attack is to donate blood in order to eliminate the excess iron and molybdenum that men accumulate during our lifetime and women after menopause and to take 2 mg/d of copper from GNC, and 200 mg/d magnesium (as citrate) and 800 IU/d vit D to compensate for the declining copper levels as testosterone production drops. Doing this keeps urate levels below 5 and prevents gout completely. A blood ferritin test is important to know how many times to donate before ferritin drops below 55, but not below 30.
Another way to reduce uric acid and to dissolve the crystals formed during an attack is to take 2 half hr baths a day in a tub with 6 lb of table salt. This rapidly dissolves the crystals and eliminates uric acid throughthe skin (like urinating through the skin). Drink a glass of water with a spoonful of sodium bicarboante before the bath and a glass of skim nilk blended with strawberries or cherries after the bath. You can also take a weekly bath in order to reduce uric acid levels, even when there is no attack, this simply helps the kidneys to eliminate uric acid, urea, creatinine, homocysteine and many other toxic waste products.
Eat plenty of vegetables, dairy products and fruits in order to alkalinize blood and prevent uric acid precipitation in painful crystals.