Preventing Gout Attacks: Know Treatment Options Like Uloric, Follow Gout Diet

Rx for Uloric @ over $6. per tab. Dr gave samples for 3 months, but I really couldn't tell ANY improvement. now have $4. monthly Allopurinol 300 mg, and we'll see if that helps

RICK G IN OKC of OK 11:25PM November 10, 2011

I had 5 attacks of gout in an eight month period. It came on slowly & I thought it was an infection from an ingrown toe nail removal which it wasn't. I was unable to walk due to extreme pain. I had to have bed rest, hired someone to come in & clean the house & hubby had to do the cooking. The first 3 attacks came in the left foot. The 2nd two came in the right foot. A friend loaned a scooter to me so I could get around & to the bathroom. I don't drink but we ate meat, seafood, veggies & I drank one coke a day. Checked with the family to see if any other kin had this & an uncle & his son had it, the son worse than the father. I took Allopruinol & ended up the ER, found that I was alllergic to it. Uloric seems to work better with me. I'm trying to stay on the food diet but there doesn't seem to a whole lot left for me to eat, so I still have small amounts of meat, trying to cut down on the cokes but when my tummy acts up, the coke always calms it down. Found out I'm also a borderline diabetic & I'm trying to cope with the food on that also.

Glenys Mathis of TX 10:27AM July 09, 2011

I have had Gout for almost 50 years. I am now 75 years old, am not obese and I eat a sensible diet. The Purine content used to worry me but they were only a secondary consideration. The first attacks were treated as a possible broken toe, infection or other unknown causations. Once Gout was diagnosed I was put on Colchisene, later Benemid and now Probenecid. They work.

Allopurinol was ineffective in my case. I can only speak personally. There are drugs out there for many different conditions and the standard gout drugs are now all out of patent protection and are available in generic form. Why pay more for a newly patented drug when old reliable treatments are there and they work?

Jerrold A. Weissman of MT 1:30PM March 09, 2011

1. high uric acid levels (a) result in chrystalline tophi formation and (b) are ACCORDING TO NEW RESSEARCH generally very bad for life expectancy

2. the tophi themselves re rarely a problem. if left untreated in severe cases result in chronic tophaceous gout which actually destroys joints. just about any course of treatment---even dietary---usually prevents this extreme result.

3. acute gout is a completely different disease which is actually caused by the dissolution of the tophi and the release of various corrupted molecules which invite immune inflamation and severe pain.

4. the best immediate treatment for an acute gout attack (regardless of severity) is colchcine.

5. very high doses of nsaids (other than aspirin!!!) are also usually effective for a severe gout attack, but colchicine probably is (a) safer and (b) musch faster.

6. high uric acid levels are best treated with a xanthase inhibitor BUT SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN DURING AN ACUTE GOUT ATTACK. the cascade of events in an acute gout attack is very complex and xanthase inhibitors may very well aggravate the attack. colchicine should probablybe prescribed for several weeks before a xanthase inhibitor.

7. allopurinol is a nearly 50 year old xanthase inhibitor is generally effective. it is also cheap and is probably also good for blood pressure. this drug has wiped out chronic tophaceous gout in developed countries. THE CLEAR DRUG OF CHOICE TO REDUCE URIC ACID LEVELS

8. a new xanthase inhibitor Uloric is more effective than allopurinol for difficult cases but is expensive and not well studied. allopurinol is very well tolerated and seems to be quite safe

9. while it is true that foods containing purines result in the creation of uric acid, dieetary modification is not a very effective treatment. the sad truth is that most things contain purines. some foods like anchovies, sardines and all small fish are very high in purines. as are beans. but then even asparagas and chicken are fairly high. dairy products contain no purines.

10. cherries seem to be good for gout, in some people providing complete relief but the underlying science suggests that a fairly large amount of cherries need to be consumed to do much. turmeric may also be helpful, as may various other foods.

11. very few physicians have much of an understanding of these salient facts. read the above carefully and you will know as much as most urologists.

philip goduti of MA 1:14PM February 18, 2011