# Gout!



## chickenmommy (Aug 24, 2004)

Wow! I had no idea it was so painful! Holy Cow! I am firmly planted in my third week of flare and it is slowly winning. I am now ready to find a capable butcher to amputate my foot at the ankle and burn it. The foot not the ankle. I am currently taking Colcrys for the pain, but I can only take that for two more days and then the next step is alopurinol for the rest of my life. This is unacceptable to me. I would like to find a less toxic alternative. Is anyone aware of anything else that is effective?


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Yes, a diet that avoids purines. If I were you, I'd take the allopurinol until I got my uric acids down quite low anyway. Then try to maintain a healthy level with diet. I have felt your pain.


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## sss3 (Jul 15, 2007)

I have gout; I'd consider it to be severe. To me, gout is diet based. No beef, etc. The only meat I can eat is chicken. No beans, asparagus, spinach, etc. Google gout and you'll gets lots of info. I had fish last summer; another no no, it costs me 3 wks of my life. My feet seems to be the worst place. I can barely walk; and don't think that's going to get any better. I take 200 mgs of alpuranol a day.


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## Wolfy-hound (May 5, 2013)

Many people can "cure" their gout to liveable levels using diet.

I've only experienced gout from too much salt. That was a super easy fix, thank goodness. I know I'd be in sad shape if I had to deal with that sort of pain without the easy fix. It was horrible.

Best wishes, and I would definitely look into the diet. Especially the fluids you drink on a daily basis.


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

I think it may be some genetics that involve how we metabolize purines. I have eaten very heathy for most of my life. I had my first attack of gout at 42, same as my dad, I had the second one at 50, same as my dad. I've only had those two, the second lasting a week and putting the fear of another one in me, and the first just a day or two. That second one, I actually thought I might have been snake bit in my sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night to a greatly swollen toe that looked like it was on fire and felt worse than it looked. In a matter of hours it spread to the next two toes, and the next morning the other foot started the. I think ( if I remember correctly) my uric acid levels tested at 8 or 10. I took the allopurinol until I tested at 2. I was eating a lot of venison at the time.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

I, too, have been suffering from what I decided was a form of gout. My toes (where they joined my foot) were painful and felt swollen. I suspect it is connected to sodium in my diet too because I just have found no way of getting away from sodium as much as I want to. Seems it is in everything processed and I don't make my own bread/crackers.

Diet is a culprit for so many problems that I decided to see what alternatives there may be in helping me flush the uric acid out of my system before the pain was overbearing. (I really don't want to take Rx meds if I can find something more natural to use; and of course I am continuously monitoring my sodium intake.)

I invite you all to google "celery seed for gout" as you will be astonished at what you find. (I found some "powdered" celery seed and have been taking 1 tsp 3 x daily now for about a week. Seems to be working but want to continue for awhile longer to be sure.)


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## whodunit (Mar 29, 2004)

We have an acquaintance who has been suffering from gout and she was advised by a PRN to avoid high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), which is now in almost everything even stuff that isn't sweet.


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## chickenmommy (Aug 24, 2004)

I have been making drastic diet changes due to an extremely high acid (in general, not just uric) level. Removed red meat, etc, and replaced with all the things (unknowingly) that feed gout. So now am trying to flush all the uric acid as well. I'm taking Colcrys right now--well, took the last one today. Scared to death about the weekend now and no more colcrys. Hoping it continues to subside and eases eventually.


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Raw goat milk will also help as it does NOT leave an acidic ash in the stomach as cow milk does. Goat milk leaves an alkaline ash which is good for the body.


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## Ardie/WI (May 10, 2002)

I had one bout with gout and there is only one living human being that I'd wish that kind of pain on!

If I ever have it again, I'll leave skid marks getting to the doctor and run over any little ol' ladies who get in my way.


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## onebizebee (May 12, 2011)

My husband suffers with gout. He gets it so sever it looks like his toe is going to explode! The one and only thing that has worked for him is tart cherry juice. I mix it in to his water about a 1/2 ounce of cherry juice to 16 oz water ratio. He drinks this everyday. This keeps him gout free. He also drinks a lot of plain ol water. If he gets the tiniest bit dehydrated bam gout attack by the middle of the night. None of the prescribed meds did anything for him. The cherry juice is about 12.00 for 16 ounces. He also limits his beef, and wine and other gout causing foods.


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## unregistered97395 (Feb 28, 2011)

Baking soda, lots of liquids, not sitting too long and not letting my feet get cold in the winter.

I've had a few attacks, and they're awful. If I take about 1/2 tsp of baking soda in water at night, tho, it will start to clear up. Longest I've ever had to take the baking soda is 3 days.

I get attacks if:

1. I let myself get at all dehydrated, especially in the summer;
2. My feet get cold in winter---seriously, I can't let my feet get cold in winter or I'll get it;
3. I sit too long without moving my feet.

I get it in two toes that I injured pretty severely years ago (dropped a huge sheet of thick plywood on those toes), so I think mine might have something to do with less than optimal circulation in those toes. And I have family members with genetic problems with kidney stones (long story, they're not the usual kind of kidney stones), and they have to take baking soda, so we might have some weird genetic predisposition to ... something, I don't know what.

But I've known of a ton of other people who've cured their gout with baking soda. It's cheap and as long as you don't overdo it, it's safe, so it might be worth a try.


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## unregistered97395 (Feb 28, 2011)

Here's something written about it by a genetics professor with kidney disease (scroll down)---he/she has some great suggestions if you can't take baking soda:

A snippet:



> ... But an obviously huge concern for a renal patient (and people with cardiac/circulatory disease or chronic hypertension) is the massive dose of sodium. ... Such a sodium overdose is a bad idea for people with renal disease, as perpetuating renal function depends on keeping blood pressure low; higher blood pressure can accelerate the progress of renal disease. Given that one of the most common sources of gout is people with renal disease, it is critical to prevent them from ingesting too much sodium.
> 
> ...
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> ...


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