I Can No Longer Bend The Middle Finger Of My Right Hand.....

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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… and it is playing havoc with my typing. so please excuse me if you see any typos I made and didn’t catch.

About three weeks ago I was diagnosed with “gouty arthritis”, and I am taking Colchysine (0.5mg) and Vioxx (25mg) for the pain. I have a referral with my normal MD to see an orthopedist, but it isn’t till next week.

My hospital charting sucks because my handwriting suddenly went to sh*t and the pain is no fun either.

I also tried cherry extract capsules snd somethiing called Goutcure. In addition to that I modified my diet to exclude red meat, and diet cola drinks. I still drink my Gerolsteiner water and last Saturday I drank a few beers with a friend who came over to play guitar with me. Yup, I know about the alcohol affecting gout, but I just can’t enjoy my guitar playing without my German beer (even though the American versions all taste watered-down).

So if you know of anything that has worked for you, please let me know. My finger is starting to look like a wiener! :smiley:

Thanks very much!

Quasi

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Well, at least you’re ready if your car’s horn conks out.

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I thought for sure this was going to be a driving rant, that you were having to bird so often it’d finally locked in place.

Sorry about the red meat exclusion. While nothing about gout sounds fun, that’s what really brought a tear to my eye.

And the German beer? If I ever make it to Georgia, I’m buying.

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Yeah, it’ll save some time in traffic :slight_smile:

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Quasi, I wish I knew something that would help. I’ve got creeping arthritis in my fingers too. So far it’s mostly affecting the little finger on my right hand (getting hard to bend and straighten. But my right middle finger is starting to have crepitation in the joint closest to my hand.

It worries me to think I may not be able to do a lot of things I planned to do when I got old because of physical limitations.

Good luck – does icing or heating help? I tend to stand extra-long in the shower with my hands on my shoulders, letting the warm water run over my fingers.

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I can see the humor in it myself. If I ever get desperate I can use that thing in place of having to take Viagra! :smiley:

lieu my friend, I’d like nothing better than to have a beer with you sometime. Zenster too.

Q

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Yeah Hon, it does, but when I take the heat off it just starts back to hurting again. Thanks for the good wishes! I still hope to see you and your friend in August! :smiley:

Q

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Quasi, have you tried a paraffin bath? (That’s American paraffin, not the British version, which we know as kerosene, I believe.) The heat from that soaks in wonderfully and lasts a lot longer than just hot water or a heating pad or something. I have one and it really helps the hands a lot.

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Who would’e guessed this was about gout?

My conmdolences. I have gout, and wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. (Search recent threads – we discussed gout not that long ago).

Colchicine is not for pain – it’s supposed to alleviate the gout directly. I haven’t had any luck with it myself. Talk to your doctor about alternatives and other drugs. Allopurinol and related substances are supposed to prevent gout (not that it’s worked for me). Anti-inflammatories like Indocin (indomethacine) can work wonders, in my experience.

Stay away from gout-inducers. I’m told that shellfish is among the worst. Wine seems to do it, too.

I hadn’t heard about diet colas, though. Where do you have that from? And is it the diet part, or the cola part?

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Cal, sorry to mislead you with the diet cola part. A friend in Germany told me that my low-carb diet plus the colas had to go. Yup, and no more shrimp and oysters for Quasi. :frowning:
MamaTiger, I have not tried a paraffin bath and I am currently trying Allopurinol to reduce the uric acid content in my blood. This will be my first day on it. Are the baths affordable?

Also, I knew about the previous gout thread of course, but decided to post another one because of my inability to find something that works.

Thanks so much for the advice! Y’all are the greatest!

Q

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I second Mama Tiger’s hot paraffin bath idea. They are wonderful! I believe they start at about $30 and wax refills are about $10. Kohl’s and the like that carry small electronics have them and since they were last year’s hot ticket, they seem cheaper now.

Now, if you want to try a cold compress that isn’t too bulky, look for Mentholateum Migraine Patches. They are fairly thin, stretchy and have a cooling gel that stays cool for about 4 hours. You can cut them to fit and we find they are great for burns, sprains, headaches and other swollen things. The smell can be a bit obnoxious but the relief is worth it.

Hope that helps!

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I was the one who brought up gout recently. I kept waking up with a very swollen and painful toe every few weeks. I ended up going to a podiatrist and having an MRI, which showed “arthritis,” possibly related to some overextension injury. He mentioned gout as a possibility after my first visit, but doesn’t really think it’s likely—wrong sex, wrong age, wrong toe–but they haven’t caught me at a point where they could do a definitive test yet. I’m taking Bextra, but it still looks kind of sausage-y first thing in the morning.

Good luck. While I was waiting to see the specialist I did some research and found a study that suggested that a moderate reduced carb diet may help. The site where I found it is down right now, but I’ll post it later, if I can.

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Here it is:

http://www.healthandage.com/Home/gid2=864

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Hi Quasi, I’ve had gout for a few years now and and at first I spent a lot of time on line looking for information about it without much success. So consider what I say as just one man’s experience, okay?

I don’t believe gout is all that gender specific. My mother and Aunt have it much worse than I do. They take Allipurinol for it.
People usually get it in their toes. I get my attacks in my toes and my ankle joints.

Did your Doc talk about purines? Let me quote something here for those who don’t know what they are:

"Uric acid is a substance that results from the breakdown of purines, which are part of all human tissue and are found in many foods. Normally, uric acid is dissolved in the blood and passed through the kidneys into the urine, where it is eliminated. If the body increases its production of uric acid or if the kidneys do not eliminate enough uric acid from the body, levels of it build up in the blood (a condition called hyperuricemia). Hyperuricemia also may result when a person eats too many high-purine foods, such as liver, dried beans and peas, anchovies, and gravies. Hyperuricemia is not a disease and by itself is not dangerous. However, if excess uric acid crystals form as a result of hyperuricemia, gout can develop. The excess crystals build up in the joint spaces, causing inflammation. Deposits of uric acid, called tophi (singular: tophus), can appear as lumps under the skin around the joints and at the rim of the ear. In addition, uric acid crystals can collect in the kidneys and cause kidney stones.

It’s really hard to find any information on how much purines can be found in different foods. I pretty much stick to boneless skinless chicken breasts for my protein five or six days a week, and very seldom eat beef. Oddly enough, I seem to be able to eat quite a bit of pork. My doctor doesn’t know why either. I’m not anxious to test just how much I can get away with however. I haven’t had an attack for a couple of years now, for which I am grateful. The last one did some permanent damage in my feet. i.e. I seem to have some serious arthritis in my toes now.

Anyway, when I’d slip up and have an attack, I’d eat veggie soup for 2 - 3 days and take massive doses of Naproxin Sodium. (880 mg. It’s what my Doc prescribed the first time.) Now if I think I’m about to have an attack, I hit the Naproxin and cut back on meats. I also can’t eat a lot of beans, so no minestrone. :frowning: And I have to limit my seafood a lot, too. :frowning: :frowning:

Well, that’s pretty much all I know. And most of that was learned the hard way. Good luck.

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Thanks cher3 for the link, and everyone who responded with some good info. Bumbazine I started the Allopurinol (300mgs) today, so I’m anxious to see what happens. Veggie soup sounds good and so does the paraffin bath thingie.

Do y’all find it strange as I do that I’m getting gout in only the middle finger of my dominant hand? People at work are already asking me about my “'tude”, and why I seem to be flipping everyone off. If it didn’t sometimes hurt so damn bad, it would be hilarious.

The other thing I noticed was a distinctive “pop” in the joint when it started stiffening and I would force the bend.

And no, my doc didn’t talk to me about purines. I found out about them by doing a GOOGLE search.

Once again, I appreciate what y’all are doing and all of your suggestions. Just one more reason I call this a community of caring folks.

Quasi

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Just a thought, but my wife has a persistently swollen wedding ring finger from getting a horse lead line yanked out of her hand. She’s done vioxx and a bunch of different stuff with no luck. The one thing that has sort of worked is massage. She got a series of massages for her back through her chiropractor, and the guy worked on her finger too. He claimed that by massaging the tendons and stretching them out a bit it would help. Lo and behold she could make a fist again. If she doesn’t do it every day or two it goes back to it’s old condition, but it may be worth a shot.

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My husband had an attack of gout a couple of years ago that had him out of work, since they couldn’t figure out what the problem was right away. He also has arthritis in the same toe, so he couldn’t walk for weeks. The doctor put him on Indocin, which helped a lot, to the point that he didn’t have to keep taking it. He also started taking Glucosamine supplements that seem to make some difference. I say “seem” since we have no real proof, but the arthritis isn’t bothering him nearly as much any more. The gout isn’t hurting him right now, either, which is good, but bad, because when it doesn’t hurt, he isn’t motivated to stay away from the foods he shouldn’t eat.

I hope you find something that helps soon. The big toe was a lot less embarassing than that finger must be.