I think Benjamin Franklin suffered terribly from gout too.
I get gout a few times a year, ALWAYS when I don’t drink enough water. Naproxen Sodium takes care of the pain, and lots of water makes it go away.
I’m low carb for my blood sugar (diabetes, now controlled) and (former) high blood pressure. The threat of a gout attack is not going to make me start eating carbs.
DMark, I take allipurinol too, but I’m one of the small minority that does not take it for gout.
I have had kidney stones, and the last set were uric acid based, not calcium based. When I mention it to folks who know pharmaceuticals they all assume gout though.
Surprised to see this thread resurrected.
Follow up:
No new outbreak - and I have been pushing the envelope. I have tried eating certain things that supposedly cause gout to return (only one of those things per day) and nothing has even caused even a minor flare up. Luckily, the occasional cheeseburger does not seem to be an issue! (That was my biggest fear - love 'em, but probably only have one once a week, tops, anyway…)
Then I even tried the dreaded “beer” - combination of alcohol and yeast! My SO warned me not to do so. Supposedly the worst thing to have. Had three beers two days ago and woke up feeling fine. (Again, rarely drink much beer anymore - unlike my younger days - but was just checking…)
So, who knows what caused it and why? I am inclined to think perhaps this all came about due to lack of fluids that day? Who knows. But I am keeping a mental list of everything I eat, have my pills handy, and will see if I can find my own personal “trigger” for this.
No, I don’t intend to go overboard on any of the items that normally cause gout - but I am curious to see what exactly did cause this one-and-only onset to date. It sure as hell wasn’t being in a cold and damp environment - we are still hovering around the 100 degree mark here in Las Vegas.
I will report back if I find the bad magic bullet.
And mutter about King George…
Around the third or fourth day of my first gout attack, that scene from 1776 suddenly popped into my mind: Ben Franklin with his heavily bandaged foot up on a stool, saying “I only wish King George felt like my big toe, all over.”
The following week, when I was finally able to go in to Medical, they confirmed gout. My reaction, of course, was “That’s a rich man’s disease - I’m not qualified!”
A friend of mine had a few attacks of gout when he was in his twenties(!) and he puts it down to not drinking enough water and letting him get himself dehydrated. Funnily enough, seeing as the original OPs list of foods to avoid included a lot of meat, my friend started doing the very meat and protein heavy Atkins diet, lost weight and hasn’t had a gout attack since.
PS. Apart from the obvious discomfort that this complaint causes, some of the replies on this thread are very funny 