Does Anyone Out There Suffer from Gout? Do You Know Someone Who Does?

My mother suffers from it horribly in both feet. When she had flare ups, she reached a point where she could not move. Initially with her doctor's care she got the gout under control with medication. She also paid close attention to her food triggers. After one year of taking the medication every day and monitoring her food triggers, she has managed to find a middle ground. Now for about the last year she takes the medication on an as needed basis to address flare ups but largely avoids the flare ups altogether through monitoring her diet. She knows for instance corn meal and fried foods are strong triggers for her. So rather than eat a meal of fried fish and fried okra, she'll pick one and pair it with something else. Even then she has to pay close attention to her overall diet. Too much of all the little things does add up to trouble for her. I have noticed she struggles the most at holiday times when she is not always in control of the cooking processes. She did try various home remedies but her only success in taming the gout was through medications and diet. Good luck and many well wishes on feeling better soon. I have seen firsthand how debilitating gout can be.

My mother and uncle suffer from gout and they both swear by eating cherries. It makes a huge difference and most of the time it resolves quickly! Good luck!

I was diagnosed with it in May. It hurts like he$$... I think I'd rather have a root canal or birth a baby than deal with the pain.

When I was diagnosed, I was in extreme pain and thought I had a stress fracture or something. I went to my orthopedic guy and he diagnosed. The pain and swelling were under control within 24 hrs when I got meds from him (a pain pill and a potent NSAID). He also had me wear my boot ( I had one from previously due to a sports injury) to minimize the movement in the area and I think that helped as well.

I am not one to take RX unless it is an emergency. I still have a stash of meds left. I have not taken any of the RX meds since my first flare up and I do not take Aleve or OTC pain relievers unless I am in big pain. I posted on this back in May asking for help.

I acted on the 100% cherry juice (not concentrate) advice and it helps a LOT. I had a flare starting up last Friday and was limping and I ate my cherry pills (vitamin section), drank cherry juice ( I mix the heavy duty one with Cran-Cherry and it is easier to drink), and since cherries were not at the store anymore, I got dried cherries. It was better within 24 hours but I am not 100%. I shop at Market Street and they have supplements in the vitamin dept.

I am a healthy eater... tons of water, good foods, no junk, in great shape, not overweight. I was told that it is often inherited (my dad, brother, uncle and cousin have it) I am the only female in the family to get it. It does have to do with Uric acid and how your body processes certain foods. I am of Native American heritage and I am told that is also common for gout.

When I had my first flare up, I had been on my feet working around the house all day (one of my super woman days). Last week, I was on my feet subbing at the school and walking a lot. At least now, you will know the trigger of the first pain and be able to start something to nail it before it gets out of hand. Mine has acted up since last Friday but is NOTHING like the first time.

The article below has some good info as well.

http://healthyliving.msn.com/diseases/rheumatoid-arthriti...

Best wishes!

Added: Thanks Angela.. I posted that request as I referred to on this response!

It is caused from a build up of uric acid in your system. Stay away from foods with high uric acid content (google for more). Acetylcholine is the most common medication used. Some people have to take the med for life.

Gout is extremely painful - I hope you feel better soon!

My mom has gout. I also know another person who has it.
They are both very careful not to eat things that trigger a flare up.

Also, they both swear by cherry juice. 100% cherry juice...not from concentrate. You can sometimes my mom finds it in the freezer section. Other times she gets it at the health food store.

Best wishes. I know gout really, really hurts.

One of our good friends has gout.
It is now up to his knees.
He is on medication, tries to follow a suggested diet and also during the summer, eats fresh cherries like crazy..

Unfortunately he is in his car almost all of the time for his work...so he does not always eat properly...

A relative of mine has it. He always ate a lot of meat, had a desk job with a long commute, and didn't eat well (often only one meal a day). He's had it for a long time and, while he still gets occasional flare ups, controls it mainly with diet. He uses medication as needed.

Here was the last Mamapedia discussion about gout......
http://www.mamapedia.com/questions/5241101353228632065

Take care,
A.

I have read that drinking sour cherry juice is a good home remedy for gout. Of course, you will want to talk to your doctor before you try it. Good luck!

A male family member has it. He cut out all red meat, beer, and spinach (spinach is high in uric acid, I think he told me) and has changed entirely to a heart-healthy diet; he was on a mostly heart-healthy diet before, but is more strict, and there are a couple of other foods he's supposed to avoid (can't remember what they are, sorry). He also drinks a small glass of red wine per day or every other day, per his doctor's recommendation.

He also takes anti-inflammatorys (Alleve) at the first sign of pain, per his doctor. My relative said toughing it out is a really bad idea, because the pain just gets unbearable quickly. And this is from a guy who has had root canal surgery and did not take the pain meds afterward, so he has a really high pain tolerance.

Since his diet changes about 6 or 8 months ago, and using pain relievers/anti-inflammatory drugs when he feels a flare-up coming, he has been fine. He's only had 1 small twinge in the past 6 months, since making the changes, and tamped it down with Alleve. Before the changes, he had 3 flare-ups in about 4 months.

My husband has it very minor and occasionally. He manages it through diet.

My friend takes Allopurinol each and every day and will continue to do so for the rest of his life. He can almost eliminate the issue by diet but he never misses his pill because he found it is just so much easier to deal with.

http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/allopurinol-for-gout

I know a man who was hospitalized for it because he misused his medication. He took the emergency one daily and the daily one for emergencies which caused gross bleeding ulcers to form. Please follow doctor's directions.

My husband's uncle had gotten it quite often.. The best thing to resolve it in his case has been to eliminate foods in his diet that contain Archiadonic Acid.. .such foods are dairy and red meat.... when he does this, he does seem to get better. In addition, drinking lots of water to help flush the body out.... this will also help your kidneys processed toxins that may contribute to the gout..

Good luck

My son had it in his foot. He got rid of it in about a week using a safe nutritional supplementation product that cleanses the body of toxins. We heard about it from 3 health and sports professionals and we liked that it was all food and carried a US Government patent proving it is effective, unique and safe. We were told that patents are extremely hard to get on foods so that's a great thing. You can buy it on line but you need to sign up through a consultant who will be available by phone if you need anything or have questions. We also talked to a few others who had similar results and their gout was worse than our son's. Theirs took a little longer to go away completely but they definitely saw improvement in the first few weeks.

That's what we did and it was great that the company can provide follow-up - we knew we weren't going to get any help by buying something off a shelf somewhere that didn't have a guarantee. Our son never needed any medication and he just stayed on the supplement (it has other benefits) and the problem has not come back in 3 years.

My dad suffers from it. Black cherry pills help. I think he takes them every day as a prevention. During an attack, Advil helps him. During an attack I've heard it's important to drink lots of water to help flush out that uric acid.

I'm so sorry you have to go through this.

I don't have personal experience with it. But I do know it is caused by a rich-Western diet. I have been following Dr McDougall for over 15 years. Here's what he has to say about gout:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2006nl/june/gout.htm
He was also in the documentary Forks Over Knives. I've checked out the movie from my library or you can download from Amazon.com. Watch it for the improvement of your overall health. Good luck!