Gout runs in my family. Yesterday my hand started hurting for no reason at all that I could tell. The first joint of my little finger, down in the palm. Today the rest of the finger is hurting. The area is turning red, but I don’t see much swelling. The area hurts to touch. Once it’s been touched, it keeps hurting for quite a while. The pain has increased a fair amount from yesterday to today. In fact, now after I touch it, it actually throbs. Grr.
I don’t see any signs of a bug or spider bite.
Those of you with gout experience, could this be gout?
Any gout stories to share with me?
I’ll be watching the area. If it gets worse, I’ll probably head to urgent care.
Instead of pretending that I know anything about gout (“it most often presents in the big toe or thumb…”) I’ll just wish you good luck. I’ve known people who had it, and it appeared to be a pain in the…well…not ass, but other places.
Gout is a form of arthritis - caused by uric acid.
IOW: males only
Conventional pain meds do nothing - indomethicin to fight it, allopurinol to prevent.
I always get it in the foot - the acid settles downward.
I have developed a painful cramp in my left pinky - this does not feel like gout. Have no idea what it is - it seems to indicate status of kidney failure - when the kidneys are kinda working, the pain (and cramp) decrease.
I’ve only experienced gout in my feet, and one tell-tale sign of gout is that it HURTS LIKE A BASTARD!
I once spoke to someone who had gout in his hand, and he had my sympathy. My doctor has put me on Allopurinol to limit the amount of uric acid my body produces (I think that’s how it works) and so far, so good. If you think it’s gout, see a doctor, they can help.
My husband has had gout in his feet. Low-fat or skim milk, and black cherry juice, have ingredients that can alleviate it to some degree, and he has been free of symptoms since he started drinking them regularly. He has also been more careful with his diet (no beef, for example). You can look up a list of foods to avoid on the internet.
The doctor said that he could give him a prescription (he didn’t tell us what it is) that would take care of it, but that once he started taking it he would have to take it forever. He is trying to avoid starting in on something like that, hence the “home remedies.” The doctor also said that gout can result in permanent joint damage; my husband has a small amount of such damage but it has stopped getting worse.
Good luck with it. If this is your first outbreak I hope that means that it will be something you can control.
Gout is probably 95% male, but women definitely get it. My dad’s had two attacks in his life - one after eating almonds, and the other after indulging in sardines. Celebrex did the job for him, and he still eats those foods but limits his intake.
Colchicine was the gold standard for treating acute attacks until the patent thing was changed on it and it went from about 5 cents a tablet to $5-plus. :mad:
Gout first showing its ugly head in a hand would be unusual but not unheard of. And as at least one other person posted, it does hit women as well. As pohjonen said you usually look for three things - red, swollen and it will feel physically warmer than other areas around it. And pain; the pain can be awful. To the point where even a light breeze from say a fan blowing across it can bring you to tears when it really flares. I use allopurinol as a daily preventative and colcrys if it really flares up. You can be tested but the bad news is the test is usually more accurate the worse it hits you so minor annoying may not be the best time; seriously huring is better.
There was more than just the price thing involved; something about data never being properly filed with the FDA and a lot of other stuff was going on as well. Good old-fashioned colchicine can still be had overseas but the US version of basically the same thing is colcrys. The price on it isn’t too terrible around me but I will admit to not having needed it for a few years so that could well have changed.
Can’t diagnose you from those symptoms, I would say what anyone else would say in this regard is and that is “See Your Physician”. It is not simple to diagnose a gout attack when one is not suffering, however, so it’s best to get an appointment when you have symptoms like this.
One thing I can tell you is how to help avoid attacks: Stay away from HFCS. High Fructose Corn Syrup, fructose being the key word here that brings on gout. Fructose, beer, certain foods will bring it on. I “caused” a major attack after consuming a large quantity of various sorts of fruit-flavored and hard candies, that were all made with HFCS. I have removed all HFCS from my diet, and I almost never get an attack. I was getting attacks on average once every 3 weeks, and it would hit one knee and one of my toes, sometimes by themselves sometimes both at once.
In a digit like a thumb or finger is not that common, it would most likely affect a limb further down the line. It is crystals that collect in areas, and you will even feel them “crunch” when flexing a joint like a toe some times.
Gout is nothing to sneeze at, as little as century ago gouty people were not expected to live long past the age of 50. It can affect kidneys, bladder, etc so see your doctor! A real doctor. Not a Nurse Practitioner (they use a computer program to diagnose and prognose)
IANAD, and what follows is an anecdote from a random dude on internet, so treat it with the appropriate dose of salt.
My paternal grandfather had gout, but none of my parents and I started getting gout last year, at the ripe old age of 36. (I’m overweight from far from obese.) Toes are the joint most commonly affected but for me its my knees.
Did you feel a bit of pain when you woke up?Gout usually comes on at night; I have pain the next morning but can still walk. During the day I start to limp; by next morning leg is practically immobile.
What works and starts to clear the swelling and pain within a couple of hours is cataflam, (diclofenac potassium) which is an inexpensive OTC non-steroidal anti-inflammatory.
I’ve had gout for many years now. I don’t have much to add to what has already been said except: Yes, women do get it. My mother and my aunt (her sister) both had it.
I take Allopurinol. The effect of allopurinol appears to be cumulative, i.e. the longer you take it, the better it works and the more you can get away with eating. One of my cousins, aforementioned aunts son, swears by Colchicine but I have no experience with it.
I believe it’s true that once you’re on it, you have to stay on it. When my aunt was in hospital for surgery they took her off it and she had an immediate and serious gout attack.
Joint damage is cumulative, After my heart attack 12 years ago they put me on a bunch of drugs, one of which (I don’t remember which, sorry) gave me intense gout attacks, and I still have joint damage in my feet and ankles which makes it painful to walk most of the time.
If it turns out to be gout, you’ll want to study up on what foods contain purines.
(quoted from WebMD: Purines (specific chemical compounds found in some foods) are broken down into uric acid. A diet rich in purines from certain sources can raise uric acid levels in the body, which sometimes leads to gout. Meat and seafood may increase your risk of gout. Dairy products may lower your risk.)
Many websites fail to mention them, but beans also contain purines. I am also told that beer is high in purines.
I am largely bedridden which may explain the hand versus the foot. I am waiting for it to either get miserable or just go away.
Today the area feels hot. Some redness. Some swelling. There’s something going in, but I don’t know what. Good to know about the other organ damage potential. I’ll be keeping an eye out and reading up on diet.
(Usual IANAD, just a dude with a keyboard caveat applies)
You started this thread about 18 hours ago when your hand/joint was sore but not bouncing off the walls sore. If the pain is not yet “miserable” then to this gout sufferer, it honestly doesn’t sound like gout.
As always, going to a medical professional for a diagnosis is the obvious best course of action.
According to my doctor, it’s the yeast specifically. When he mentioned this to me, I told him that at home I currently had 10 gallons of beer fermenting in my basement. 2 fermenters, each with a thick layer of yeast at the bottom. This was a few years ago, and I haven’t yet brewed another batch at home, but I intend to one of these days.
Tell you about gout? It sucks, what else is there to say?
I had gout for years, though never anywhere but in my feet, so I can’t speak to whether your hand pain is gout. But I will say that the pain is excruciating.
Thank heavens, since my kidney transplant, I have not had a flare-up in about six weeks, which is probably a record since I began having the condition. I’m hopeful that it’s gone.
(Apropos to another thread - this is another way in which a real, working kidney is better than dialysis.)
This was a few years ago, and I haven’t yet brewed another batch at home, but I intend to one of these days.