my second attack

[gabagoo]

I am glad I decided to search for a gout forum today and have read many posts and feel I will get my feet back on the ground fast.

My first gout attack occured last March, ironically on the first day of a 1 week golf vacation in Myrtle Beach.

We had double rounds planned every day and being a golfaholic, nothing is going to get in my way of playing.

I had never had gout before or an attack, I now suspect that I have had some form of gout issues over the years that just never really came to a head. I remembered once the attack occured that I had experienced strange pains in my foot over the years but nothing like this!!

So basically my first attack happened day one of my golf trip. Having never had gout I had no idea what was wrong with me and being out of town I was fearful of seeking medical advise out of country .....$$$$$, I figured I had sprained my foot or had stubbed my toe earlier in the week and this was some sort of after effect.

The pain was pretty intense and I hobbled around that first morning. I popped Advils all day to help the pain and was convinced after day 1 I had broken a bone or something.
I actually played every round all week and never once questioned what I had and was convinced I had fractured my foot somehow.

In the winter months I don't really drink to much beer or wine and my eating habits are pretty well rounded with a good mix of everything.
I put up with this condition the entire week and cursed the day I was born almost every waking minute lol.

When I returned home I went to my family Doctor and he told me I had Gout. I then started researching and realized that it was a lot more common than I had thought.

My doctor gave me teva indomethacin 25 mg and instructed me to take 3 per day and also prescribed an ant acid drug for my stomach, from possible symptomsof the pill.

I took the pills for less than a week as the pain seemed to subside almost from the point I got back from holidays.

Maybe over the next few months I may have thought I was having a gout issue and would take a pill here or there but nothing ever happened and figured I had beat this iproblem.

Now today I sit in bed as I had to leave work from a throbbing pain that was unbearable. I stuck it out hobbling around the office for about 5 hours and I am sure the pain was worse this time than last year. I took some meds, took a shot glass of apple cider vinegar (with the mother) and my wife is making me a celery soup. After reading some posts here I am going to hop downstairs and start chewing on some marachino cherries.

OK now I am pretty sure I know how the attack happened and I am sure you will all agree.

I got back 10 days ago from a weeks vacation in the Dominican Republic in a resort that was all inclusive!!! Thats right....FREE BOOZE!!!.
I have to be honest and can say that I don't think I have drank that much in my life and deserve everything I am experiencing at this point. Lots of Rum and sweet drinks for a week and although normally I am a large water drinker at home, I really did not drink that much water down there. I ate very rich fatty foods and had probably more red meat than I normally would in day to day life.
I guess I figured this gout thing was a one time occurence. Apparently not.
So as I sit here chewing on a stalk of celery I realize that for me it takes a week or so for the onslaught of the pain to occur.

I wont forget today for a long time and will take this disease very seriously as I dont know if I can sit in a bed for much more than a day.
I have my own business and it is very dependant on me being there.

I will attempt to go back in tomorrow and maybe take a pair of slippers to walk around in for comfort.

The question I have is do I do more damage by triggering the pain by walking and need to keep my feet up? I ask this as last year I played 11 rounds of golf over a 6 day period and the pain subsided shortly afterwards, so I am not sure if it has to run its course or did walking on it prevent it from healing?

[painfree]

Gabagoo - Although you did not specifically state it, your story implies that your two gout attacks were first noticed just after you awoke in the morning. That's the usual time for the onset of a gout attack, and here's why. The gout attack develops during sleep because the gout sufferer has had significant sleep apnea overnight, which is the frequent cessation of breathing during sleep for many seconds at a time. The reduction in oxygen in your blood causes an excessive concentration of uric acid in the blood, so concentrated that crystals of monosodium urate precipitate. When these crystals form in a joint, they cause the severe pain and inflammation of a gout attack.

Instead of focusing on how to best bear the attacks, focus on how to prevent them. Get tested for sleep apnea, and follow whatever treatment is prescribed to overcome it. Not only will you prevent future overnight gout attacks, but you will greatly reduce you risk for developing the very serious consequences of long term, untreated sleep apnea -- cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, kidney disease, high blood pressure, excessive daytime sleepiness, etc.

[gabagoo]

yes I would say both attacks were discovered in the morning, and my wife says that I do have sleep apnea at times. I will seriously look into this but I am not thrilled with a sleeping device hooked up to my face...not sure I willever get used to it.

[clk1999]

Hi ,

If I may , can I suggest an alternative ..... alkaline water. I have tried everything to control my gout. Nothing seems to work and trying out alkaline water was practically my last option. It is really good , at least for me. My bout of gout usually last for about 2 weeks. Happy to say I have been gout free for nearly a year. BTW I don't 'drink' nor smoke. Meats / nuts etc .... no issues I eat em all. You can get a commercially available water ionizer almost anywhere. Its just water with a ph between 9 - 10. Drink about 1.5 litres / day.

Mine is a low cost home made water ionizer

[painfree]

Gabagoo - Although the pressurized mask to be worn while sleeping (CPAP) is the most generally effective therapy for sleep apnea, there are other therapies which are known to be effective in some cases-- changing your sleeping position so you never sleep on your back, wearing a specially fitted mouth guard to keep your lower jaw moved forward during sleep, or even surgery to modify the structure of your airway. The really important thing to focus on is overcoming your sleep apnea before you become one more statistic supporting the finding that people with moderate or severe sleep apnea have an 18 year reduction in life expectancy. Your gout is your early warning.

[gabagoo]

I'm going to sew the tennis balls onto a t shirt and see if that works. I generally prefer sleeping in a fetal position, but I guess within an hour or so I roll onto my back.

As to the water, we use reverse osmosis filtered water. What is involved in Ionizing it?

[painfree]

Gabagoo - Good luck with that approach. That's what worked for me, and after 18 months I found that I had trained myself to always sleep on my side so I don't need the balls on the back anymore. I've been gout free for over 8 years, following a 15 year period of frequent gout attacks. One caveat - if your gout attacks continue, that would indicate that the sleeping position approach isn't effective for you, and you should consult a physician about other methods to overcome your sleep apnea.