# Gout Pain **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 2, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291 "2004-06-02T17:42:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/42 "2011-08-23T23:36:11Z")
I’m female and had my first gout attack at about age 54. I had an awful job doing inventory in stores that were too hot and breaks to replenish liquids were too infrequent and I became very dehydrated. Cherry juice didn’t do squat. Haven’t had an episode since I’ve been on allopurinol for the past 7 years or so. It’s only 4 dollars a month at Walmart or Krogers or other stores that do the 4 buck generic thing. I only take it three or four days of each week and that’s enough to keep attacks at bay. My sister also has high uric acid but doesn’t suffer from gout. Go figure. Never had a baby, so can’t compare the pain. It feels like someone has your big toe joint clamped in a pair of vice grips. But gout isn’t as bad as having a big festering boil lanced sans anesthetic or having a pelvic after 30 years of abstinence and 12 years post menopause (I’ll never do THAT again). All things are relative I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/43 "2011-08-24T23:44:42Z")
I’ve been told by multiple family members who’ve had both that kidney stone pain is worse than childbirth. As I’ve had a kidney stone but never given birth, I figure if I ever decide to pop out a kid (I won’t) that it should be easypeasy, comparatively. How about kidney stones vs gout? Which is worse? ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2011, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/44 "2011-08-24T23:54:04Z")
> [@rachelellogram](#): > > How about kidney stones vs gout? Which is worse? (see my post #36) Anyway, from my experience x-raying people for either gout flare-ups or kidney stone pain… People with gout aren’t usually writhing in pain or moaning out load. People with kidney stones often are–and occasionally vomiting. I’ve gotta say kidney stone pain is worse, but others may differ. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2011, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/45 "2011-08-25T00:14:39Z")
> [@irishgirl](#): > > He had tophi (hard lumps of urate crystals) on his nose, ears, shoulders, ankles, fingers and toes. Note to self: never again Google images of tophi. ---
**Author:** ![swati4891](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@swati4891](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swati4891)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/46 "2011-08-26T14:17:17Z")
I’m a 30-year old woman with gout (No, you don’t have to be 80 years old!), and I’m a doctor. Gout pain is pretty awful, but from the sight of patients in the labor room, childbirth is much much (^infinity) worse! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/47 "2011-08-26T21:00:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Everyone is different. I had naproxen for another condition, and it did nothing for me. > > One indomethacin, early enough (so the gout hasn’t had time to get “set in”), and the pain is totally, completely gone in an hour. I’ll second this. For my money, there’s a _world_ of difference between indomethacin and other medication I’ve tried. ---
**Author:** ![gerthearcejor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ad7895/32.png) [@gerthearcejor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gerthearcejor)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2011, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/48 "2011-09-21T05:06:27Z")
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**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/49 "2011-10-26T06:34:10Z")
Bumping this, I guess. I read this thread the first time I had a bout. (A bout of gout!) By the time I’d seen my doc, my foot was down and she likes to try diet changes, etc, instead of throwing pills at it. I’ve had some other issues where I haven’t been eating. And I’m an eater! Love food! (I mean, I haven’t been eating a bad diet for what I’ve read.) All I can think is that I had microwave popcorn. And suddenly, today, the gout is back. I had to drive for some reasons and ended up having to pull into a parking lot and cry for a while during ten minutes of my right foot recovering enough to drive an automatic I was braking with my left foot! I see my doc again on Friday, if anyone can give me advice, I’d appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/50 "2011-10-26T10:54:50Z")
> [@BrassyPhrase](#): > > Bumping this, I guess. > > I read this thread the first time I had a bout. (A bout of gout!) By the time I’d seen my doc, my foot was down and she likes to try diet changes, etc, instead of throwing pills at it. > > I’ve had some other issues where I haven’t been eating. And I’m an eater! Love food! (I mean, I haven’t been eating a bad diet for what I’ve read.) All I can think is that I had microwave popcorn. > > And suddenly, today, the gout is back. I had to drive for some reasons and ended up having to pull into a parking lot and cry for a while during ten minutes of my right foot recovering enough to drive an automatic > > I was braking with my left foot! > > I see my doc again on Friday, if anyone can give me advice, I’d appreciate it. It is really hard to beat indomethican and colchicine. I have pseudogout [calcium based, not uric acid based, but it has similar mechanics] and I get this tiny indicator set of cramps way early that indicates a flare. If I hammer down 2 colchicine and an indocin, with the third colchicine an hour later I can frequently head it off at the pass, or at least reduce the intenisity of it. I’m towards the end of a flare triggered by walking around a fair amount wednesday and thursday last up in Maine [our annual last minute rummage for specialty candy and cooking supplies before the family cranks up thanksgiving festivities and christmas preparations.] so I feel for you … ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/51 "2011-10-27T02:14:03Z")
My husband has had exactly one gout attack after switching to a paleo diet 2.5 years ago, and that was after he went on a six-day business trip to England and got stuck on several trains where the only available food was sandwiches. He used to get attacks every few months. ---
**Author:** ![BrassyPhrase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea666f/32.png) [@BrassyPhrase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrassyPhrase)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/52 "2011-10-27T04:01:28Z")
Thanks for your responses 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/53 "2011-10-27T04:16:15Z")
It seems that another risk factor for gout is sugar intake, especially fructose. It may be worth investigating a low-sugar diet. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/54 "2011-10-28T00:09:45Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I have pseudogout [calcium based, not uric acid based, but it has similar mechanics]…( Heh. My doctor said that the only way to tell gout from pseudogout was to wait until I had a flare-up, then go in to her office where they would stick a needle in the joint to draw out some fluid and see what kind of crystals they were. Now, this is funny. No, it’s fucking hilarious. Let’s see…I can’t even put on socks, let a sheet touch my foot, and I can’t walk, and you’re saying that you want to stick a needle in where it hurts… BWAAAA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!! Sure. Why not? Sound like fun. Go ahead and try it. G’ahead. But before you do, be sure you’re ready to die because I’m pretty sure something between “temporary insanity” and “justifiable homicide” would occur. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/55 "2011-10-28T01:29:10Z")
> [@Rysdad](#): > > Heh. My doctor said that the only way to tell gout from pseudogout was to wait until I had a flare-up, then go in to her office where they would stick a needle in the joint to draw out some fluid and see what kind of crystals they were. > > Now, this is funny. No, it’s fucking hilarious. > > Let’s see…I can’t even put on socks, let a sheet touch my foot, and I can’t walk, and you’re saying that you want to stick a needle in where it hurts… > > BWAAAA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!! > > Sure. Why not? Sound like fun. Go ahead and try it. G’ahead. > > But before you do, be sure you’re ready to die because I’m pretty sure something between “temporary insanity” and “justifiable homicide” would occur. Hm … why does that sound familiar … been there, did that ☹ Though I will say that I was very thankful I already had crutches from a broken foot from earlier that year. We found the issue had spawned the week after surgery to remove a frisky parathyroid gland by the cat jumping onto the foot of the bed making me scream in pain from the additional 7 pounds landing on the foot of the blanket near my foot. :eek: I had 3 _inches_ of edema - my foot looked like a football with toes. [my pseudogout is in both feet, though thankfully I rarely have flares in both feet at the same time - the original affected area was the distal ends of both 3d and 4th metatarsals.] I would kill for just plain gout, at least that can be controlled dietarily and has specific triggers. My feet just getting too cold can trigger a flare, or walking too much, or accidentally hitting the foot … or it being thursday on a new moon … ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/56 "2011-10-28T02:01:38Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Hm … why does that sound familiar … been there, did that ☹ > > Though I will say that I was very thankful I already had crutches from a broken foot from earlier that year. > > We found the issue had spawned the week after surgery to remove a frisky parathyroid gland by the cat jumping onto the foot of the bed making me scream in pain from the additional 7 pounds landing on the foot of the blanket near my foot. :eek: I had 3 _inches_ of edema - my foot looked like a football with toes. [my pseudogout is in both feet, though thankfully I rarely have flares in both feet at the same time - the original affected area was the distal ends of both 3d and 4th metatarsals.] > > I would kill for just plain gout, at least that can be controlled dietarily and has specific triggers. My feet just getting too cold can trigger a flare, or walking too much, or accidentally hitting the foot … or it being thursday on a new moon … ☹ I think I would seriously start to question the value of having feet. I’m really sorry for ya, man. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/57 "2011-10-28T02:40:07Z")
> [@Rysdad](#): > > I think I would seriously start to question the value of having feet. > > I’m really sorry for ya, man. Woman 😃 I have a running joke with my doctor and husband … I say that I want an elective operation to chop my feet off, but with my luck I would be prone to [phantom limb](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phantom_limb) and my damned feet would still flare :smack: ---
**Author:** ![matheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@matheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matheus)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/58 "2012-04-17T06:08:58Z")
So… XY here so no childbirth in my future… BUT! I’m 35. I’ve had migraines since I was 7… 28 years averaging 5/month. Pain. When I was 16 I burned the skin off of half of my hand. Pain. When I was 28 I had a kidney stone that took 2 weeks to come out. Pain. I’ve had 5 different whiplash accidents (one so bad I couldn’t stand up straight for a week). Pain. …and on this subject: I started getting Gout around 3 years ago. The first time I thought I’d accidentally broken my toe. Since then it has expanded to include both Right and Left of Knee, Ankle, Middle of Foot and Big Toe. The Knee is the most debilitating but the most painful is when I try to stand on a middle-of-foot attack. Picture squeezing a balloon until it pops… only the balloon never pops and the balloon is also covered in your skin well connected by nerves. Comparatively? I have to give the burning hand with no skin a slight win. At its worst it was more painful than gout (and that pain lasted for 3-4 weeks before _starting_ to subside.). BUT… Gout has now been affecting me for WAY longer than the fire did and it keeps getting worse not better like the burn slowly did… SO long run? Gout wins. I’m in the middle of a Middle-Left-Foot, Left Knee 2-fer. Can barely walk (thinking about getting a cane). I’ve consumed almost a quart of undiluted black cherry concentrate, a dozen or so Indomethacin, a lot of Aleve and a couple Vicodin over the past couple weeks… the last one allows me to sleep… the others take the edge off sometimes… Cholcocine gives me food poisoning so it stays in the cupboard… but other wise? FML. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/59 "2012-04-17T13:28:53Z")
> [@matheus](#): > > I’m in the middle of a Middle-Left-Foot, Left Knee 2-fer. Can barely walk (thinking about getting a cane). I’ve consumed almost a quart of undiluted black cherry concentrate, a dozen or so Indomethacin, a lot of Aleve and a couple Vicodin over the past couple weeks… the last one allows me to sleep… the others take the edge off sometimes… Cholcocine gives me food poisoning so it stays in the cupboard… but other wise? Thanks for reviving this thread. You may be a candidate for what was known as allopurinol as it sounds like you may have a chronic condition (you will need to take the drug from here on out). The drug has been branded and renamed (you have seen the commercials on TV - the one with the guy holding a jug of green liquid supposedly representing gout juice). I am not a doctor or pharmacist, so please consult yours. Colchicine absolutely wiped me out by evacuating every molecule of food from my system. I have suffered from infrequent but intense gout attacks on my feet for about 5 years. The best cure for it, I have found, is prevention. I understand the cause is due to a buildup of purines in your blood, which is a by-product of digestion of animal protien. So, by modifying my diet (meat only at one meal per day, if at all), and plenty of exercise, it has been a couple of years since my last attack. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/60 "2012-04-17T16:32:35Z")
Colchicine is the only med that helps my husband’s gout, but only the generic version, which he now has to order through Canada because it’s not currently being sold in the US. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291/61 "2012-04-17T17:21:29Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Colchicine is the only med that helps my husband’s gout, but only the generic version, which he now has to order through Canada because it’s not currently being sold in the US. I couldn’t believe when I read this – it’s like banning aspirin! Or worse – colchicine is reportedly one of the oldest drugs we have. And it’s one they wanted to put me on (only it had no beneficial effect onme that I could see) So I looked it up, and was appalled to read this: > [@](#): > > Marketing exclusivity in the United States > > As a drug predating the FDA, colchicine was sold in the United States as a generic drug for many years. In 2009, the FDA approved colchicine for gout flares, awarding Colcrys a three-year term of market exclusivity, prohibiting generic sales, and increasing the price of the drug from $0.09 to $4.85 per tablet.[23][24][25] > > Numerous consensus guidelines, and previous randomized controlled trials, had concluded that colchicine is effective for acute flares of gouty arthritis. However, as of 2006, the drug was not formally approved by the FDA, owing to the lack of a conclusive randomized control trial (RCT). That year, the FDA started their “Unapproved Drugs Initiative”, through which they sought more rigorous testing of efficacy and safety of colchicine and other unapproved drugs on the market.[26] In exchange for paying for the costly testing, the FDA gave URL Pharma three years of market exclusivity for its Colcrys brand,[27] under the Hatch-Waxman Act, based in part on URL-funded research in 2007, including pharmacokinetic studies and a randomized control trial with 185 patients with acute gout. URL Pharma also received seven years of market exclusivity for Colcrys in treatment of familial Mediterranean fever, under the Orphan Drug Law. URL Pharma then \*\* raised the price per tablet from $0.09 to $4.85 (!!!) and sued to remove other versions from the market (!!!) \*\*, increasing annual costs for the drug to U.S. state Medicaid programs from $1 million to $50 million. (In a similar case, thalidomide was approved in 1998 as an orphan drug for leprosy and in 2006 for multiple myeloma.)[28] > > In April 2010, in an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), A.S. Kesselheim and D.H. Solomon said that the rewards of this legislation are not calibrated to the quality or value of the information produced, that there is no evidence of meaningful improvement to public health, that it would be much less expensive for the FDA or National Institutes of Health to pay for trials themselves on widely available drugs such as colchicine, and that the cost burden falls primarily on patients or their insurers.[28] URL Pharma posted a detailed rebuttal of the NEJM editorial.[29] > > **In September 2010, the FDA ordered a halt to marketing of unapproved single-ingredient oral colchicine.** [30] > **[Colchicine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colchicine)** > > Colchicine is a medication used to prevent and treat gout, to treat familial Mediterranean fever and Behçet's disease, and to reduce the risk of myocardial infarction. The American College of Rheumatology recommends colchicine, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or steroids in the treatment of gout. Other uses for colchicine include the management of pericarditis. > Colchicine is taken by mouth. The injectable route of administration for colchicine can be toxic. In 2008, the US Food... This is freaking absurd! In exchange for testing the company gets a monopoly and raises costs on a millenia-old low-cost drug by over 5,000%? Then they block sales of colchicine? Somebody needs to be shot about this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gout-pain/248291.md?page=4)