Living with gout in asia

[Lao-miner]

Hello fellow sufferers
i have had gout for many years now and at the age of 47 it is getting worse , i have had consistent pain in my feet ( it alternates between feet) for about a month previous to this it was an attack about every 2 or 3 weeks, my first blood test for uric acid was extremely high ( 11.1) i stopped the beer completly for about 2 weeks and it was down to 9.4 i am on a remote mining camp and can get limited help apart from a few painkillers so mostly i bring my own medications ( colchicine ) which is readily available over the counter in Vientiane but hard to find in the sticks , i have been taking allopurinol 100mg reccomended by the doctor in vientiane but so far nothing has changed i still take then daily but the level of pain is still the same in 2 days time i will go on break to vientiane again and test the uric acid again ive again had no beer and been watching what i eat which is damn hard to do on a mining site in the jungle as there isnt much else to do after work , What i want to know is should i persist with the allopurinol and is the allopurinol causing the attack ? i also dont have a lot of faith in the medical proffesion here in Laos , its pretty backward , might have to take a visit to bangkok to see a rhuematologist , any advice please anyone

[noapnea]

Given the situation you are in, I would do for myself the following:

1. Stop taking Allopurinol immediately, because Allopurinol, and other uric acid lowering drugs, are known to trigger and worsen gout attacks. Stopping these med can help gout attack heal faster. This approach worked very well for me in the past.

2. Strong attacks require strong medicine. For acute attacks, American Academy of Family Physicians recommends:
* Ibuprofen (Motrin or another brand, OTC) 800 mg 4 times a day, or
* Naproxen (Aleve, or another brand, OTC) 500 mg 2 times a day, or
* Indomethacin (Rx required) 25~50 mg 4 times a day.
In my experience, the best is to dissolve 600 mg of Ibuprofen plus 500 mg of Acetaminophen (Tylenol or another brand) in 1/2 cup of water and drink it with food. (Be sure not to drink alcohol, nor take more than 3,000 mg of Acetaminophen from all sources a day, nor take both at the same time. They can cause damage to the liver!!!)

3. Reduce the salt intake to near zero. Then drink 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in 1/2 cup of water, 2~3 times a day. BS has helped many gouties with good results. Sodium in salt and baking soda can increase the blood pressure. If the blood pressure goes up too much, reduce intake of salt, baking soda, or both.)

4. I would keep taking 2~3 tablets (0.5 or 0.6 mg/tablet) of Colchicine a day. Taking more than 2~3 T/day can cause bad side effects, notably diarrhea.

5. As the attack subsides, reduce the intake of meds. I would keep taking Colchicine 1~3 T/a day even after the attack has completely subsided. Then, 3~4 weeks after the attack has subsided, I would start taking Allopurinol 100 mg/day for a month while keep taking 1~3T/day of Colchicine. If that is OK, increase Allo intake by 100 mg/day every month until my blood uric acid (UA) level reaches 5~6 mg/dL. I need uric acid (UA) test before the increases of Allo dosage to determine if I have reached the UA target of 5~6 mg/dL in the blood. It may take months or years to clean out the UA deposits in the body.

The above is for your info only. Do not try it unless your doctor approves of it.

If you are seeing a doctor while the attack is still going, ask for an injection of something like Methylprednisolone in Acetate, 80 mg, in muscle. It can stop the attack in a matter of minutes or hours in most people.

The best doctors to see are the ones who have gout themselves. The rest of them can repeat part of what the books say, but are not necessary helpful to the gouties. This seems to be true either in Laos or elsewhere.

Good luck and get well soon.

[horton]

My Dad lives IN Thailand and has suffered from Gout for years. You should read his and my earlier posts. Whist living there he was offered a chinese herbal remedy and swares by it. He said as soon as he feels the first tingle he takes the tablets and that is the end of it. He never goes anywhere without these tablets and people who have tried them now come back to him from all over the world for more. I could give you his contact details. We are trying to raise awareness of these tablets and I'm sure he would let you try a dose for free.
I gave my Mom a dose here in the UK for her arthritic shoulder and she also says the same....got to be worth a try if you are in so much pain?
Let me know.

[noapnea]

-
Could you tell us what are in those miracle tablets? Any steroids or other prescription drugs in it? They can relief gout pain but will also wreck havoc to our health. Tell your mom to be careful and good luck to her.

[horton]

Hiya,

They are going to be anaylised but they are completley natural and sold in a pharmacy in Thailand. People sware by them I cant say as I dont suffer with anything like this. My Dad however has suffered with Gout for many years and has tried everything - this is the only thing that has ever worked!
Thanks for the reply.

[noapnea]

Some plant matters are poisonous. You don't know what are in the pills you try to sell. You even gave them to your mom to take. That's not very nice.

[podagra]

If you have access to salt (NaCL), hot water and a bathtub and if you can donate blood or undergo bloodletting (a pint every 2 months), eat dairy (hard to do in Asia), vegetables and fruits, you´ll get rid of gout if you have access to copper sulfate take 2mg/d dissolved in juice.

http://www.goutonline.net/showthread.php?t=10755

[damon669]

My Dad lives IN Thailand and has suffered from Gout for years. You should read his and my earlier posts. Whist living there he was offered a chinese herbal remedy and swares by it. He said as soon as he feels the first tingle he takes the tablets and that is the end of it. He never goes anywhere without these tablets and people who have tried them now come back to him from all over the world for more. I could give you his contact details. We are trying to raise awareness of these tablets and I'm sure he would let you try a dose for free.
I gave my Mom a dose here in the UK for her arthritic shoulder and she also says the same....got to be worth a try if you are in so much pain?
Let me know.
link please