How bad is your GOUT pain? I would like to hear your story.

[GoutyAlcoholic]

Here is my story. On Tuesday my middle pad on my left foot (pretend I was a dog) started feeling sore that I couldn't put my whole weight on it. I have had gout for 10 years so this is nothing new. By Wednesday I could no longer stand, as my right leg muscles were to sore from hopping around the house like a circus act. So I busted out the old pair of crutches, and braced myself for another grueling GOUT attack. By Thursday, the crystals had formed all over my left foot, so now it was in my ankle area. So you think people complain about soft sheets touching their gouty foot? Well try GRAVITY!!! The weight of my foot would pull my joints into the crystals. So anytime my ankle would move in the slightest the crystals would stab. So I have to remain perfectly still. If I have to stand to take a piss, the blood would rush down in to the foot and STAB. All night long, I am moving my foot, to find the least painful position, so it's not the sheets or movement but a resting period where GRAVITY would have the least amount of leverage to STAB those crystals into my joints. How was the pain level? The baseline PAIN was like someone cut off my foot, and the bloody stub was air dying. that was just baseline, meaning constant throbbing. then when you add GRAVITY, it's like someone is getting pliers and tearing your joints. So the pain was so bad, I actually passed out many times from the pain, but that wasn't too bad because I was already lying down. This was the worst pain of my life. I am also a Martial Artist, and I have have trained all my life to withstand and fight pain, but GOUT has defeated me. So today is Saturday, I finally resorted to eating crackers and vegetables only. I just got some colchicine, so let's see if I can make that job interview on Tuesday.

Let me hear your story !!!

[GoutyAlcoholic]

Does anyone have any stories? Is this site DEAD?

[JohnAnderson]

First we have to talk about the cause of the pain. The crystals don't really stab you or cause pain. It's your immune system that causes the pain. We all have hyperuricemia, which causes crystals, but the crystals don't cause pain. Your body's willingness to fight these crystals is what causes the pain and inflammation.

Gout is a viscous degenerative cycle, and it hurts like hell, even gravity hurts, but understand that the crystals themselves aren't the main source of the pain. If you can understand that inflammation is the main source of pain, hopefully you can take steps to safeguard against it. Think about it, these crystals are microscopic, really, really tiny. To your nerve cells these crystals are like .22 caliber bullets against a man sized target, for one to strike a nerve when they are so tiny in all that space would be miraculous.

The difference between a gout attack and not isn't the presence of crystals. It's your bodies immune response to those crystals. People like you and me have gout because our uric acid molecules form crystals, and we get symptoms. However lots of other folk have crystalline uric acid formations, they just don't get the symptoms. The symptoms occur because our bodies decide to fight the crystals.

When uric acid crystals form, they have very little chance of causing you pain. However, Lymphocytes (white blood cells), recognize this crystal as an intruder and attack it as only they know how. They try to eat the crystal as if it were a bacterium or some other foreign body. Unfortunately, uric acid crystals are long and hard and sharp, and they "pop" the lymphocyte. This "popping" causes a release of proteins, which your body interprets as an infection run-amok, and sends in more lymphocytes as reinforcements. The Uric acid crystals "pop" these cells as well, so your body goes into overdrive producing lymphocytes and sending them to the front where they are slaughtered. This causes an immunological response, and the pain of acute inflammation is inevitable. These excess proteins, emitted from dying lymphocytes increase the pH of the joint fluid and allow more cyrstals to form, so they not only increase inflammation, they increase the cause of the inflammation.

Basically, it's a cycle. The more your immune system fights the uric acid crystals, the longer the pain and inflammation of an attack lasts. The only way out is to suppress your immunological response to this perceived invasion of crystals. The logical "why" of this course of action is obvious, the "how" is much more difficult, even for modern science to understand. You basically have to turn your immunological response "off" for this invader, and it just can't really be done.

Ice helps, anti inflammatory drugs that don't effect kidney or liver function help. However, the only way to conquer is to hit the problem from all sides. That means reducing blood uric acid levels while inhibiting immuno-response. That means ice your foot and take your medication. Also stop drinking, and start up on a vitamin C supplement, as well as Potassium if you don't get much fresh fruit or vegetables.


The key to beating the pain and problems of an attack are battling the immuno-response, inflammation and swelling, while removing the problem of hyperuricemia. The key to preventing future attacks lies in making sure your body has all it needs to excrete whatever uric acid you give it. If you want to drink you are adding excess uric acid. You need proper nutrition and supplements to excrete this. The drinking, though it should, doesn't have to stop, you just need to make adjustments so that you can get rid of the Uric Acid drinking produces. I drink too, and I have gout issues, I just minimize them by getting proper nutrition and take supplements where necessary. I have about 2 attacks a year, even though I drink bourbon regularly. Usually my attacks occur after the holidays and summer vacation when I drink beer and eat sweets. Minimize sugar, increase your vitamins, especially C, take supplements if you have to, and drink lots and lots of water. If we are going to willingly increase uric acid levels by drinking, we had better take mediating steps to help excrete it.

[GoutyAlcoholic]

Hi John,

thank you for your thorough posting, and for spending the time on this. How come it sounds like you are the only one that knows this? It sounds like what you are telling me isn't common knowledge and there is an implication that "everyone has it all wrong". It's the first I heard of this approach of explaining the root cause of the pain and it's association to our immuno-response. But I am also a rookie in terms of medical research, so that could explain my ignorance. Did you come up with this theory yourself, or is this already widespread knowledge that can easily be found on Wikipedia, if I search for "GOUT". I thought the GOUT pain was as simple as crystal 'needles' in my foot, that are stabbing the nerves, as the throbbing inflames everything.
Anyway, if your theory is correct, it is a great write up, and I appreciate your insight, as I never would have connected our vigilant immune system as the culprit for this pain.

take care.

[mr pain]

i understand the causes of the pain to be exactly as jon states. unfortunately i am cursed with a brain that needs to know WHY. i want to know why my body chemistry suddenly tipped over the edge and now i suffer when a few weeks ago i didnt. not much has changed with my diet ect. it is hard to fathom that just a few days a go i was running around with a beer in one hand and a beef stick in the other. now i am on the couch writhing in pain.

and i cant even have a beer to make me feel better !:(

[GoutyAlcoholic]

Mr.t-pain,
your gout pain is soo easy to explain. It's your beer drinking combined with any meat you ate the previous night. You also forgot to drink enough water, so it's your fault. I drink alcohol like a fish but I make sure I stay away from beer and have 1 litre of water before I go to sleep.

[mr pain]

sure, i get that. wondering more why i suddenly suffer gout when for the last 20 years my habits have not changed much. keep thinking about what sent me over the edge.

[JohnAnderson]

Hi John,

thank you for your thorough posting, and for spending the time on this. How come it sounds like you are the only one that knows this? It sounds like what you are telling me isn't common knowledge and there is an implication that "everyone has it all wrong". It's the first I heard of this approach of explaining the root cause of the pain and it's association to our immuno-response. But I am also a rookie in terms of medical research, so that could explain my ignorance. Did you come up with this theory yourself, or is this already widespread knowledge that can easily be found on Wikipedia, if I search for "GOUT". I thought the GOUT pain was as simple as crystal 'needles' in my foot, that are stabbing the nerves, as the throbbing inflames everything.
Anyway, if your theory is correct, it is a great write up, and I appreciate your insight, as I never would have connected our vigilant immune system as the culprit for this pain.

take care.

I'm not the only who knows this. Since the 1940's only colchicine, and a select few NSAIDs were approved to treat gout pain. This is representative of our government at work. Gout pain is an auto-immune disease. Our immune systems react to hyperuricemia with a good effect on target. Only about 1% of us experience any signifigant systems. So the case is closed as far as modern medical,. federally involved facilities are concerned;.

[GoutyAlcoholic]

Hi John,
you have a sophisticated vocabulary but I don't know what you are trying to say. Do you actually talk like this in real life?
"our government At work"?
"good effect on target"?
"Case is closed"?
What are you trying to say? It sounds like jiberish.

[JohnAnderson]

sure, i get that. wondering more why i suddenly suffer gout when for the last 20 years my habits have not changed much. keep thinking about what sent me over the edge.

The answer to why you suddenly suffer gout revolves around the magic number 6mg/dL (6 milligrams per deciliter). So long as your blood uric acid levels remain below 6 mg of uric acid per deciliter of blood, crystals cannot form unless you are very deep underwater and freezing. You can dissolve salt into water only so much before salt stops dissolving. The same thing happens in your blood. I'm fairly sure you already knew this, but it's worth stating for context. You haven't changed your habits much in 20 years, but I'm willing to bet your body has changed considerably in those 2 decades. Your body has two mechanisms it can use to keep your uric acid levels below 6mg/dL. One is production and the other is excretion. The breaking down of purines, present in meat and beer, produces uric acid. Most current gout remedies and drugs and seek to inhibit production. The other process involves your kidneys filtering out the excess uric acid from your blood so you can basically urinate it out. There is very little doubt that your kidneys aren't as efficient in this process as they were 20 years ago. They might need some help now, so inhibiting production of uric acid and doing whatever you can to help your body excrete uric acid will help control your gout.


Hi John,
you have a sophisticated vocabulary but I don't know what you are trying to say. Do you actually talk like this in real life?
"our government At work"?
"good effect on target"?
"Case is closed"?
What are you trying to say? It sounds like jiberish.


When I replied to this, I had just read the blog of a doctor who deals with hyperuricemia and gout, and what I read made me really pissed off at the American government. Basically, no new drugs for gout have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from the 1940's until 2005 even though several were submitted, the new drug that was approved is basically allopurinol on steroids[1]. Several of these new drugs which weren't approved promote the excretion of uric acid rather than limiting it's production, which is much more efficient for the body to do. In other words, some of these new drugs work well (good effect on target), but they haven't been approved by the FDA (our government at work), and no one seems to care because gout is a very little market (case is closed). Basically, I'm trying to say that there are all sorts of new advancements in gout research and technology, but out government is keeping our doctors from tyring them.

Yes I do talk like this in real life. I'm not an intellectual, or a snob or anything. I'm a former Marine, an Arizona man, a Unix Systems Architect in my day life, and a firearm enthusiast and specialty ammunition manufacturer in my down time. My scientific curiousness behavior leads me to research, in-depth, the problems that cause me pain, which is why I read so much about gout and gout research.


[1] Allopurinol is a drug currently used to inhibit uric acid production. Basically allopurinol is effective in about of 30% of people who suffer from hyperuricemia. It would be effective in 100% of hyperuricemics, though the dose required to be effective would be fatal, or would cause severe problems. Sure, you can take allopurinol until your body stops producing uric acid, and that would eventually cure your gout, but the amount of allopurinol might eventually kill you The new, approved, drug called Uloric, is effective and safe in about 80% of patients. While this new drug is effective in lowering uric acid production, it also causes liver function abnormalities, joint pain, and nausea. Liver function abnormalities would be very bad for people who drink alcohol, which comprises a large number of gout suffers. Joint pain is what this drug is designed to stop, gout is rheumatoid arthritis. My point is that the only drugs approved by the FDA to fight hyperuricemia focus on inhibiting production. The FDA needs to look into and approve drugs that help your body eliminate or excrete uric acid. Unfortunately, the FDA won't do this for gout, because gout is such a small, per capita problem. However, research is beginning to find that hyperuricemia is also a cause of general inflammation. General inflammation has been linked to heart disease, high cholesterol, high triglycerides, and obesity among other things, so hopefully the FDA will take a second look.

[mr pain]

thanks Jon. the internet can be a beautiful place. (now, if we could just get the porn and molesters off of it !) my wife and i have been doing a lot of thinking about my past behavior leading up to this. we have identified several things we think may have pushed me over the edge.

1. i have never been a big H2O drinker. sometimes going for days without a glass of water.

2. recent hobby of brewing beer increased the consumption of "brewers yeast" ( i read beer does not actually have that much compared to "brewers yeast". commercial beer has much of the yeast filtered out but when you brew your own its another story.)

3. age

4. diet. i love beef and beef jerky. i try to eat my veggies but its never enough i am sure.

5. a recent course of meds may have reduced kidney function and promoted blood concentration.

here is a table i found.....

http://www.acumedico.com/purine.htm

[GoutyAlcoholic]

Hi John,
thank you for the clear explanation. You have the gift of words, and I just had a hard time interpreting all of the implied meaning. We have much to learn from your insight and experience with gout. I am glad you are on this forum.
Thanks for sharing your background it's interesting.

Take care,

[rafaela]

John, since you know so much, and I am really delighted to have read your postings, can you answer a question or two, if you have the time.

I have had my first attack, and one week later, although the intense pain is gone, I am still really sore and swollen. I drink 2 glasses (small glasses, not tanks) of red wine per day. I would miss that, but could deal with it, though I find it difficult to believe it causes health problems. My doctor blames a diuretic that, she says, is known to bring on gout. So I have quit that, and am hoping that this is a single episode. But is it a long one?

And should I be walking? it is my only exercise, and I would miss it, although at the moment I am hobbling

[Festus50]

eat marachino cherries. it works for me

[Festus50]

eat marachino cherries!! They work for me!

[Festus50]

I didn't refill my allpurnil (spelling) drug. I started eating marachino cherries everyday with some of the juice and I've been pain free. Eat walnuts too.
I no longer get swelling either! I'm tellin ya these cherries are a miracle-natural
drug. Give'em a try!

[rafaela]

thanks Festus. Will try that and let you know how they go. I am trying the homoepathic remedy Ledum, and that seems to be helping this first attack.

[bertmiddleton]

Ok . . . all good stuff but back to the beginning . . . what's my story? Gout for 14 years, 3 surgeries for tophi. Dozens maybe hundreds of gout attacks in my feet, ankles, knees, and wrists. I was a walking science project with all the drugs and natural stuff.

It's gone now. I drink a half a bottle of red wine every night . . . good red wine and I eat good food.

It's all about how we live . . . and eating is only part of how we live.

Hope that helps . . .

[jeanpaulinmiami]

:eek:Hello everyone,

Well, another Gout Case here . I am now experiencing my second gout attack in my right hand wrist. Unfortunately about 8 weeks ago I started having a sharp pain in my right wrist. The first 3 weeks everyone in my circle of friends and family kept telling me that I was suffering of carpal tunnel syndrome. Because of that I failed diagnosing my second gout case. After almost 4 weeks I finally was able to visit a doctor on my trip overseas and was dagnosed with gout. I received some anti inflamatory medicine as well as med to treat gout. After about 2 weeks I returned to the same doctor. My swelling had completely stopped but the pain never really went away. My wrist still can't move the way I used to and I am experiencing a sharp pain when performing certain moves. My wrist just feels stiff. My doctor explained to me that because of the late diagnose of gout and the late treatment that it will take quite some time to heal.
Besides adapting a healthier diet I am also looking to try some natural preventive supplements in order to avoid future gout attacks. I much prefer to try a natural remedy versus medicine with lots of side effects. One product I am considering trying is URICELAX.
Does anyone have any suggestions or experience with this product and any suggestions in preventing gout by taking natural supplements or any homopathic remedy?
I would appreciate any response or experience you could share.
Also a warm thank you to all the people that have shared their knowledge and experiences on this site.
G.J.P.A.

[bertmiddleton]

jeanpaulinmiami! Welcome to the Club! Gout is a nasty and fierce thing but I've managed to tame the beast and I'm all about passing on what I've learned. Good job on changing your diet and that's the place to start but my progress happened from looking at it from a more "cellular" health level. There are all sorts of Acids that build up in our bodies and Uric Acid is one of them. The opposite of Acid is Alkaline and there are several things to do to Alkalize, better food is one of them. Baking soda and Apple Cider Vinegar are good to help raise up the pH to Alkaline but without addressing the oxidation (damage) to the cell walls it's only a relatively temporary fix. (like drugs) Stress is a big producer of acid chemicals like Cortisol and Adrenaline, so what' going on in your life and how are you sleeping? Next is Water - some statistics say that 80% of the population is Chronically Dehydrated - so acid wastes build up and don't get flushed out. Anyway, Gout is my thing and I could go on and on but if you want to know more or contact me, click my link in my signature. Good Luck! :)

[jeanpaulinmiami]

Thank you Bert,
I do appreciate your response very much. A lot of the medical terms I am not very familiar wth but you are absolutely right. One of the main factors dominating my life in the past year has been stress which makes sense to me now. Since I take things very much personal and to heart one of my immediate reactions to stress is an upset stomach and all the good stuff that comes with it. So who knows what else in one's body gets affected wth it. Water consumption is another thing I need to improve in order to flush my system. Hopefully all that combined with a healthy diet will reduce or even eliminate my gout.

Also I have read in another blog that cherries and cherry juice can do a great job in eliminating the pain and swelling of a gout attack. So off I am with some good advice and diet adjustment. I just hope to report back with some great news soon.

Thank you to all of you for sharing and reporting on this topic.

[bertmiddleton]

Yes jeanpaulinmiami! You are on the right track; Cherries! They're all about antioxidants, especially the Flavonoids in them - the right thing to clean up the cell walls and also a natural anti-inflammatory. Try to eat a lot of those kinds of foods. Reduce Acid, Reduce Oxidation . . . you're one of the smart ones! Thx 4 the thumbs up! :)

[vishalp]

had severe gout pain few years back, unbearable pain in the foot at night, kept a diet - no:green peas, spanich, red meat[mutton, pork, beef], liver, brain, tongue, shell fish, pork, beer. Fresh Cherries are available here in June only for a week to 10 days, ate min 1/4 kg [250 gms] cherries per day for 5-6 days, repeated the same for 3 years + 2 ayurvedic gout tablets being taken every night as a routine, since the past 2+ years have started regular diet, no gout attacks, drinking only beer as heavy drinker when it comes to hard drinks, beer also clears your kidneys as you urinate often after drinking + cannot drink beyond 3-4 big bottles as fills stomach. Rarely have hard drinks.

[bertmiddleton]

@vishalp

Good for you that you're trying to take all the precautions you can and are paying attention.

It seems like when I used to drink beer I got more gout attacks - then I read beer has more purines than wine or spirits. It seemed to work, I still drink plenty of red wine and gout is a thing of the past.

Cherries are great; lots of antioxidant power - that's what seemed to do the trick for me. When I started understanding gout from a more "cellular" perspective, I made progress. Antioxidants clean up the cell walls and help move out acidity.

Good job getting the jump on dealing with you Gout! :cool:

[Gout-hero]

can allopurinol and indomethacin be taken at the same time?

[Nix]

Hello all, new to this forum and relatively new to gout.
I started having strange pains in the mornings, like I had twisted my ankle the night before. I suspected gout from the various examples I had heard from other people, but was hesitant to assume I could have these problems at 34 years old.
After the first attack intensified to the point where I was actually tearing up at times, I decided to get checked out by a Dr.
He looked into the problem, and, after hearing I have a pretty strong family history of gout, concluded that it was probably the culprit. He prescribed the obligatory indomethacin, which ended up helping the gout, and cursed me with nightmarish diarrhea for 48 hours before I stopped taking it. I told him about the side effects, and he just sort of sat there. He said a steroid taper could be used, but didn't want to do so until a few blood tests were performed. Needless to say, but I kind of feel like I wasted a bunch of money with the whole experience.
Anyway, I picked up some black cherry extract, so I'll see if it works as well as some say. I also grabbed a bottle of unfiltered ACV to try if the cherry stuff doesn't work. I'm not just ready to give up my beloved beer, but that's probably what's going to have to happen if I want to keep my job.

[bertmiddleton]

Nix - sounds like my first encounter with Gout, I couldn't figure out what I'd done.

I've started my own War on Gout and what got me out of pain, attacks, and drugs was learning that due my crazy life; not only food and alcohol, but stress, toxic construction chemicals, and other bad habits - the overall acidity built up. Not just Uric Acid but general Acidosis. Baking soda will fix the attacks, ACV everyday will start to shift the acid/alkaline balance and antioxidant foods will clean up the damage to the cell walls.

If you do this stuff this stuff the need for drugs will probably disappear. Force yourself to drink tons of water and learn to love Red Wine! ;)

[HATEgoutx20]

first attack - 19 yrs old - (some time last year 2oo9) - time of first symptom
Ankle felt as if i had sprung it and had to limp in order to walk on it. later figuring out it had to be gout since i had not worked out or been in any activity for it to act up.
second attack - 20 yrs old - (2o10)
the heel, going up toward the back of my leg (calf) stings. throbs kind of.
well all in all i have signed up on this site just to have incite and get advice on do's and don'ts on gout. ''/

[thurstonb]

Hi there

First thing you should probably do is get along to a doctor to see if it is gout for sure. There are other things your pain could be.

What makes you think it could be gout? There are other afflictions that can impact your joints so it pays to know for sure

Cheers
Brett

[HATEgoutx20]

well.. my dad gots it... and. trust me ive done my research. its gout. :|

[bertmiddleton]

HATEgoutx20 - it's amazing that you are so young to be getting gout. I'm sure you've heard all the shellfish, red meat, alcohol bullshit about gout, so you probably are already on some kind of meds like allopurinol.

Take a closer look at the rest of your life:
- drugs, including prescription drugs
-how much water you drink and what is in that water (water quality)
-stress: adrenaline and cortisol
-the air you breathe
-environmental chemicals: fuels, paints, solvents, etc.

Think I caught gout when I was 38 because of all the toxic dust and chemicals I was breathing doing construction work. Of course, it really was because toxic acid waste (uric acid) had slowly been increasing/building up for many years. (too much recreational abuse in too many ways) The toxic chemicals just tipped me over the edge.

Eating the right foods and avoiding the bad ones is a good idea and a good place to start, but it's not the only thing that creates how and why gout happens to us. :cool:

[HATEgoutx20]

i actually am not on any meds, ever since I've found out that meds in general mess up your liver/kidney I have stopped taken them... from tylenol to indomethacine or whatsoever. so yea bro, it is crazy that Im so young and have gout. even my younger cousin 18yrs old has gout in his foot. (i think because of drinking so much hes an alco.) and yes I do drink lots of water up to 8 cups of water everyday if not more just to make sure gout doesnt flare up anytime soon. hope you are ok too man.

[minna]

Gout remedies (http://out-with-gout.com/gout-remedies-how-to-get-your-perfect-gout-therapy/) are available today if you are dealing with gout. Gout can be very painful, and no doubt you want to find out what you can do to eliminate this problem. There are lots of home remedies available that you can easily use at home to take care of this problem.

[c matthews]

Its clear to me that everyones gout is particular to them . I am not overweight , nor have I been , my trigger seems to be anxiety ? When I have something to make me anxious , gout usually kicks in .
The othet thing is dehydration , if I overexercise and dont keep myself hydrated , gout follows.
My attacks usually short lived at the moment , havent had a bad attack for a while .

My GP advised that I stop running on the roads , and run on treadmills instead. I have starting cycling as well, and that seems to be helping .

[bertmiddleton]

c mathews - anxiety is a big deal - it's very acid producing in the sense that the metabolic chemicals - cortisol and adrenaline - are very acidic in nature. That just creates the right environment of uric acid to kick in too.

And - dehydration. When the cells get too loaded up with acidity and then the there isn't enough exchange of nutrients and wastes into and out of the cells, then the over-acidic problem finds all kinds of expressions.

Breathing techniques/exercises and alkaline ionized water is the hot ticket for me. :cool:

[c matthews]

Bert> where do you get your alkaline ionized water from , how does that help ?

[bertmiddleton]

c matthews - I get it from my own ionizer on my countertop - that's the way it needs to be done - make it fresh and drink it - that's when it's strongest and most effective. There are lots of ionizers out there, but the one I use is Kangen - the others are knock offs. When I got past my struggles with gout, I saw an opportunity - to help others out of their pain and make a living doing that - if you really want to know more, click on my signature. :cool:

[c matthews]

Do you know if they sell Ionisers in the UK ?

[bertmiddleton]

Definitely. If you want, I can hook you up. :cool:

[c matthews]

I will take a look on the net

[pain inthe foot]

I have been in pain for a month. It is getting old.

[Ohithurtssomuch]

First we have to talk about the cause of the pain. The crystals don't really stab you or cause pain. It's your immune system that causes the pain. We all have hyperuricemia, which causes crystals, but the crystals don't cause pain. Your body's willingness to fight these crystals is what causes the pain and inflammation.

Gout is a viscous degenerative cycle, and it hurts like hell, even gravity hurts, but understand that the crystals themselves aren't the main source of the pain. If you can understand that inflammation is the main source of pain, hopefully you can take steps to safeguard against it. Think about it, these crystals are microscopic, really, really tiny. To your nerve cells these crystals are like .22 caliber bullets against a man sized target, for one to strike a nerve when they are so tiny in all that space would be miraculous.

The difference between a gout attack and not isn't the presence of crystals. It's your bodies immune response to those crystals. People like you and me have gout because our uric acid molecules form crystals, and we get symptoms. However lots of other folk have crystalline uric acid formations, they just don't get the symptoms. The symptoms occur because our bodies decide to fight the crystals.

When uric acid crystals form, they have very little chance of causing you pain. However, Lymphocytes (white blood cells), recognize this crystal as an intruder and attack it as only they know how. They try to eat the crystal as if it were a bacterium or some other foreign body. Unfortunately, uric acid crystals are long and hard and sharp, and they "pop" the lymphocyte. This "popping" causes a release of proteins, which your body interprets as an infection run-amok, and sends in more lymphocytes as reinforcements. The Uric acid crystals "pop" these cells as well, so your body goes into overdrive producing lymphocytes and sending them to the front where they are slaughtered. This causes an immunological response, and the pain of acute inflammation is inevitable. These excess proteins, emitted from dying lymphocytes increase the pH of the joint fluid and allow more cyrstals to form, so they not only increase inflammation, they increase the cause of the inflammation.

Basically, it's a cycle. The more your immune system fights the uric acid crystals, the longer the pain and inflammation of an attack lasts. The only way out is to suppress your immunological response to this perceived invasion of crystals. The logical "why" of this course of action is obvious, the "how" is much more difficult, even for modern science to understand. You basically have to turn your immunological response "off" for this invader, and it just can't really be done.

Ice helps, anti inflammatory drugs that don't effect kidney or liver function help. However, the only way to conquer is to hit the problem from all sides. That means reducing blood uric acid levels while inhibiting immuno-response. That means ice your foot and take your medication. Also stop drinking, and start up on a vitamin C supplement, as well as Potassium if you don't get much fresh fruit or vegetables.


The key to beating the pain and problems of an attack are battling the immuno-response, inflammation and swelling, while removing the problem of hyperuricemia. The key to preventing future attacks lies in making sure your body has all it needs to excrete whatever uric acid you give it. If you want to drink you are adding excess uric acid. You need proper nutrition and supplements to excrete this. The drinking, though it should, doesn't have to stop, you just need to make adjustments so that you can get rid of the Uric Acid drinking produces. I drink too, and I have gout issues, I just minimize them by getting proper nutrition and take supplements where necessary. I have about 2 attacks a year, even though I drink bourbon regularly. Usually my attacks occur after the holidays and summer vacation when I drink beer and eat sweets. Minimize sugar, increase your vitamins, especially C, take supplements if you have to, and drink lots and lots of water. If we are going to willingly increase uric acid levels by drinking, we had better take mediating steps to help excrete it.

My question how do you know what causes the pain(not crystals)? Are you a doctor or where did you read this information? I'm not being smart alec but I read a lot of theories and this is the first time I read this statement. I get gout attacks about 2 to 3 times a year in my left big toe and the last attack was in my left knee. I learned not to eat certain foods to avoid my attacks. I chewed on sunflower seeds daily for years now I learned I get gout attack from them. Beer in heavy consumption and organ meats and fresh pork I try to stay away. My doctor says dehydration cause alot of attacks. Most people and doctors tell me the crystals causes the pain.

[thurstonb]

JohnAnderson is 100% right. It's not the crystals that cause the pain. It's your body's reaction to the crystals that cause the pain. What he has described above is exactly the way I understand it to be.

[bertmiddleton]

@pain inthe foot - JonAnderson has some good information if you want to be a techno-gout-freak but really, it all comes down to one problem; too much acidity in your whole body. The solution to that problem is to understand that our bodies get over acidic in general from what we breathe and the way we breathe, what we eat and drink, what goes through out skin and gets in our blood, and the metabolic chemicals we make like adrenaline and cortisol (stress)

Learn to breathe properly, drink really high quality water, eat live food - the breathing will take care of the stress.

When you get on with minimizing the addition of acidity to you body and start to clean up what's already there, gout goes away with it. :cool:

PS: get the book "Alkalize or Die" by Theodore Baroody

[Jason]

I've had gout for 7 years. Tried most things, but still get the gout attacks quite often. Recently I have linked the attacks to excessive sweating while doing house renovations over the last 7 years. It's summer hear in Australia and I had to move furniture out of the house, took some 3 hours and required heavy lighting etc. Throughout I drank 2-3 litres of water, but sweated excessively and got the attack a day or so later. I've noticed the attacks are less during the colder months and completely stopped when I finished the last house last December 2010, and I had a whole year without any attacks, that was until I started to do work on the new house. However, during that year I did go to the gym 3 times a week for an hour, but drank plenty of water and still didn't get an attack.

Conclusion, for me anyway, moderate the amount of physical activity to 1-2 hours per day and keep drinking lots and lots of water to prevent dehydration. Schedule heavy work that requires extended periods of more than 2 hours to the colder months of the year.

[bertmiddleton]

Jason - it's good to hear that you're paying attention to what seems to be kicking the gout in for you.

I used to work a lot of construction and that was when I first started getting gout attacks. I also ended up with a thyroid condition at that time as well. I think it had to do with the "green-treated" lumber I was handling, sawing up, breathing the dust, getting it all over my skin and soaking into my blood.

My conclusion was that there are many different ways that our bodies become overly-acidic in general; including uric acid. Paying attention to what I was adding to the load and eating/drinking/and doing the things that helped clear it out got me gout free. :cool: