Gout Isn't Gone, Guys

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I've been dealing with gout for many years now and Aleve really works for me.
I drink cranberry juice daily and limit my red meat consumption to a couple of times a week but sometimes, I fall off the wagon and eat too much red meat.
That's when I turn to Aleve and I get relieve right away.

Joe in Toronto, Canada 6:56AM July 17, 2009

enjoied readinng everybody comentes but i am not going to stop eating or drink what i love

steve of KS 9:22PM July 11, 2009

This is one of the strangest articles about gout I have ever read. The most important dietary consideration BY FAR in connection with gout is elimination of alcohol. Alcohol inhibits the body's ability to remove uric acid, inhibits the funtioning of allopurinol (the most important gout drug) and is outright dangerous in combination with colchicine. The most important "natural" dietary modification is DON'T DRINK ANY ALCOHOL but DO DRINK lots of water (which helps flush out uric acid). If you do drink some alcohol, drink lots of extra water as soon as possible. Beer includes alsohol and purines, so it's especially bad. But if the alcohol were not there, allopurinol would deal effectively with the purines.
And what the heck is you co-worker thinking? Aleve is just, exactly naproxen. Further, naproxen won't do much to relieve gout pain anyway because it works as a Cox-2 inhibitor. To relieve gout pain one needs to take something that suppresses the white blood cells that are involved in the body's immune system attack on the uric acid crystals. Colchicine is the classic treatment for that, although there are others now. But NOT Cox-2 inhibitors. Cox-2 is involved in ordinary osteoarthritis pain, but has almost nothing to do directly with gout.
If your coworker's doctor has him on cherry juice and Aleve, your coworker needs another doctor! Cherry juice contains vitamin C, which is what some studies show help with gout. There's nothing special known about cherries as such.
All proteins break down into purines and most purines come in this way from proteins. So a "low purine" diet is essentially just a low protein diet... which usually means a high carbohydrate diet. High carbohydrate diets tend to make people fat, which aggrevates gout. One can avoid excessively protein heavy diets, but one cannot really live well on a diet abnormally low in proteins for as long time. It's dangerous, and lots of vegetarians face this danger and are made very sick by their diets.
Purines are broken down by the body into xanthines, which are then broken down into uric acid. Allopurinol works by inhibiting the conversion of xanthines into uric acid, so it reduces gout. Caffein in coffee is a xanthine, but otherwise not involved in gout in any special way. Allopurinol will take care of the adverse effects from coffee and moderate amounts of other purine and xanthine rich non-alcoholic foods.
In sum, for most people: Eat moderate protein and purines. Don't drink alcohol. Do drinks lot of water. Take allopurinol. In case of flare-ups, take colchicine or a more modern drug that suppresses the white blood cells involved, keeping in mind that ordinary pain relievers will have only small incidental affect on the pain. Lose weight to relieve stress on the joint. Get exercise to increase blood flow through the joints.
THIS IS NOT ROCKET SCIENCE! Sheesh!
And, O yes, avoid bad advice and "natural" pseudo-remedies that won't work.

Terry Hughes of CA 4:07PM June 25, 2009

The guy taking Aleve and cherries, is being helped by the Aleve. It was funny how "he stopped taking naproxen", then the next sentence "he takes an Aleve and cherry juice". I've chased every natural cure for 20 years for asthma, eczema, gout, panic etc. etc. It's very hard to figure out what really works. You won't have gout if you only eat raw food and avoid meat, but 95% of us do not have that willpower and resistance to social criticism. There are certain things for which medicine is the best help. One thing that's been useless to me is all the "natural" remedies for infection: garlic etc etc - all completely useless for me. Wanna know what works for infections? Antibiotics.

Scott Covert 10:11PM April 10, 2009

My very first outbreak with Gout was many years ago as I was attending a national sales meeting. The next morning of course at 5'6" and a little better than 300lbs., at the end of the day everywhere from the shoe laces down every step felt as if a new laceration became present upon each step. Sharing a hotel room with a gentleman I'd never met before I did feel a bit odd as I did what came absolutely natural. "Didn't take much to learn how to crawl again." Plates and Plates and Plates of fresh shrimp was the culprit. Must add the warm sour dough bread and butter.
I think from some point in the 80's through now it's still 300MG of Allopurinol which is a generic or Zyloprim Oral. All is fine but don't forget "To Follow Your Instructions." It's just not worth the pain. G-d Bless...
Franky (boston terrier neuro service companion) and Breeze (me)

Breeze and Franky of MO 9:23AM March 02, 2009

I first experienced gout after a shot at the Atkins diet four years ago. Pretty steady pain for a month or so then I did some relearch into natural cures (I'm a pilot so I couln't take medicines). Long story short I tried milk thistle in a product called Liver Cleanse and was good the next day. Now everytime I get a flare up (usually after a hard weekend) I take a couple pills and the pains goes away. I understand the milk thistle absorbs uric acid and from my esperience it does a great job. Have had several friends with gout and kidney stones try it as well with similar results.

Battman of SC 4:50PM July 15, 2008

Ever hear of pseudogout? That's probably what I got in the middle of the night about two years ago. Terrible pain in my big toe, nothing helped, not heat nor ice, not massage; I even applied a TENS unit. Next morning the doctor told me I had gout, but late when I saw my internist, he thought it was likely pseudogout, caused by calcium and/or phosphate crystals. The first doctor treated me with steroids and pain killers, which certainly helped.
Since then I've only had a few twings, not the unremitting pain of the first time.

of FL 4:25PM June 03, 2008

I have had Gout for several years--and my first attack was classic.
In the old days- I looked this up in a copy of Samuel Johnson's dictionary-they thought it was a circulation problem, since it happened most commonly in the joints furthest from the heart. And ironically there hasn't been much research done about it recently.
There is recent literature suggesting that ALL CARBONATED beverages will induce gout. Not just beer, but soft drinks etc. It's not just the cereals in beer, its the CO2.
There is also some association between gout and diabetes. The screwed up metabolism of the purines, may have a cascade effect... This warrants much more research.
I'm a radiologist, and I didn't look at my foot x-rays until recently . After my last attack, (probably my fifth or sixth) I looked and I have a rat bite erosion on the neck of my first metatarsal that looks like the bone was hit by a hatchet, and looks like it could break with any strong force. So I finally decided to take allopurinol.
Allopurinol is very safe drug, and extraordinarily effective at preventing Gout, but you need to take it continuously. And, do not begin to take it in the time period surrounding attacks. You can develop an allergy to allopurinol that is dangerous--like a vasculitis. Starting and stopping and restarting this drug is ill-advised. So if you start taking that drug, keep taking it.

Phil of OR 9:38AM June 03, 2008

I'm male. In my mid-to-late forties, I had periodic episodes for about 5 years, before I even knew that it WAS gout. I decided against medication; instead I started hydrating more, I temporarily eliminated alcohol, I switched to a vegetarian diet for 6 weeks. As a result, I lost a few pounds, increased my level of exercise, felt a lot healthier, and managed to lower my uric acid levels dramatically. When I reintroduced alcohol later, I made sure I didn't overdo it and also continued to drink lots of water. I ate cherries and drank cherry juice every day, and it may have helped, I don't know. I have been gout-free for about three years now.
On the subject of pain management, I found that heat, rather than cold helped relieve the pain during my last attack. Hot tub soaks were especially helpful.

Male, Fifty of CA 9:26PM June 02, 2008

My gout is an old friend. We've had a close relationship for the past 23 years. At first it was classic, laying me up as long as six weeks with foot-in-air but now it has evolved into something much milder just another ache of old age. It's still gout but different than the aches from other arthritis common to we 'Octos'. My old stand by is indomethacin the same as my doctor uses. At first a 28 day series was prescribed (25 mg 3X d) but over time I cut that back to only one cap when I felt it coming on. Beer is my nemesis. Sometimes when I get cocky and foolishly think I can sneak one in my old buddy gently warns me by blowing up my foot. Not much pain but the swelling is so great I can only fit on my old felt Velcro wrap slipper. I have never developed any tophus but the ache likes to move around. Most often it is my lower extremities; different areas about the size of a quarter around my knees, ankles and any toe joints and once in my left shoulder. Haven’t taken a cap for a couple months. I wonder if I’m over the gout. There is one way to find out. Well, maybe this weekend when I don’t have much planned. I could start with one of the lower purine foods. Maybe a nice little sirloin steak. Funny how we never learn. Right?

Evan Cundiff of AK 5:30PM June 02, 2008