I don't get it...

[dickey]

I have been on Allopurinol & occasional Colchicine for 2 months now. Gout free. Then this past weekend, I got a bad attack in my knee. It may have been brought on as we were in Daytona for Bike Week, and walked about 10 miles on Saturday. Got bloodwork on Monday, and my uric was 5.2. WHAT GIVES?? Why the attack if my uric was low? Got it under control with Prednisone, but still don't understand the reason for the attack. Could it have been the full day of walking, as my legs were dead by evening & I could barely walk? Or is this just something I gotta deal with?

[GreenToe]

This is some useful information that I read up on from another gout website called goutpal. And the reason behind you experiencing a gout attack is because, over the years uric acid has been deposited in our joints. The body coats the uric acid in a layer of protein as a form of protection, but when we start lowering the uric acids in our system via uric acid lowering drugs such as allopurinol and such, the layer of protein starts to shed its coat then the raw edges of the uric acid crystals are revealed. When white blood cells come and attack these sharp point crystals by surrounding it, the white blood cells will burst hence leading up to inflammation and then onto a full on gout attack.

So to sum it up, it is normal to experience a gout attack while using uric acid lowering drugs. But you have to stick with it even thru out the pain in order for it to work. 5.2mg/dl or whatever the measurement is, is considered the low range. So it may have just been the drugs doing its work in lowering your uric acid levels, but then in result leading to a gout attack. Hope that helps

[dickey]

Hey,thanks for the info. I started usin Allo about 2 months ago, after a couple weeks, I started getting these shooting, stabbing pains all throughout my knee & foot;usually when in bed at night. Sometimes felt like red-hot ants were crawling around inside my leg. Then, a full blown attack 2 weeks ago,took Prednisone, knocked it out, & have been good ever since. Someone told me that the shooting pains I've been having was the Allo breaking up the crystals. It seems to be over for good, now.

[GreenToe]

Yeah I am in the same boat as you are. I started the allo treatment about a month or so ago, this past wed I started to feel a tingle sensation in my left foot, near the tendon in my 4th toe. As much as I hate doing it, I had to resort to Colchicine. Colchicine is really toxic to our livers, and we people with gout already have a crappy liver to begin with. So taking colchicine is a lose-lose situation for us, but it helps to alleviate the pain and avoid to become a full on gout attack.

Most likely the pain and the attack was caused by the allo starting to take effect. I havent measured my uric acid levels yet, but prior to taking allo mine was at 11.2 mg/dl which is 5 points higher than what is recommended. *sigh*

[Hildundululty]

Nice people on the forum!! Any of you guys live near to Las Vegas and need house cleaning then look me up. Thanks!

[I_think]

Colchicine is really toxic to our livers, and we people with gout already have a crappy liver to begin with. So taking colchicine is a lose-lose situation for us, but it helps to alleviate the pain and avoid to become a full on gout attack.


did u try febuxostat ? I found this much effective . I take 80 mg everyday. google results did not give me anything about longterm usages problem.

[GreenToe]

did u try febuxostat ? I found this much effective . I take 80 mg everyday. google results did not give me anything about longterm usages problem.

Hey thanks for your comment. I have some research on the different type of medications for gout prior to starting my allopurionl treatment. Febuxostat is the name for Uloric which is a relatively new drug for gout sufferers, as compared to Allopurinol which has been around for 30 years or so believe it or not.

I have heard wonderful things about Uloric and its effectiveness at lowering the uric acid levels in the body. But since this is such a new drug, long term studies and effects on bodies are not yet concluded. And another thing about Uloric is that, it is DAMN expensive. I believe it costs a user an average of $5/day to be taking this medication.

When asking my doctor about Uloric for my treatment, he recommended me to start it off with allopruinol because it is a tried and true method for helping keep our gout under control, and that if my body was to have any adverse side effects to the allopurinol than I can switch to Uloric.

Colchince or colcrys on the other hand is gout medication that should ONLY be used when we feel like we're about to have an onset of gout, and should be avoided at all costs since the side effects of colchicine are devastating.

[I_think]

Uloric is that, it is DAMN expensive. I believe it costs a user an average of $5/day to be taking this medication.



Try to find who all mfg tablets using this drug. I guess your local medical shop can help you with this. The brand prescribed by my doctor was costly too( basically this drug is costly). I bought what he prescribed. my Serum Uric acid (SUA) came down to 4.3mg. later i stopped taking those. in a weeks time i thought i would check SUA level, and so went to local pathological laboratory. I found my SUA level was 6.3mg.And for the crystal to slowly dissolve back the level needs to be below 5mg. I immediately started with the tabs. then checked on net if the drug can be taken for longterm. And found that test for 2 years were made and was safe. After this my local medical shop helped me to find the cheapest tab containing the same drug. the cost now is 1/3 of the original.

but seriously i want to discontinue the medication. but fear what if the level shoots up.people talk of celery seeds but it did no magic on my gout.

[tiger2118]

My rheumatologist told me that any doctor that knew how to treat gout would place you on colchicine first for about two weeks. This will prevent gout attacks. When you take maintenance meds it triggers gout flares because of the excess crystals in your joints. He told me that I would have to take colchicine and alenpurinal for together as long as 1 to 2 years before your body can rid itself of crystals in your joints. He said getting blood to proper levels is easy, getting crystals out of your joints not so easy...... Hope this helps you might talk with doctor to get colchicine. The just pulled colchicine off the market and replaced it with colcrys and at their website you can get a coupon up to $75.00 off since ther is no generic for this med.....