Gout Support Group
Gout is a form of arthritis caused by the accumulation of uric acid crystals in joints. It is an intensely painful disease, which in most cases affects only one joint (monoarthritis), most commonly the big toe. The classic picture is of excruciating and sudden pain, swelling, redness, warmness and stiffness in the joint. Low-grade fever may also be present.
Hi, poking around today and found your forum. (I usually hang out on the DVT, PE, and blood clot boards.) Here's the situation...
My husband just turned 40. He's been having pain in his right big toe for several years now. The surgeon he saw thought it was bunion problems and he had surgery for that the week of Thanksgiving 2007. But the pain came back ... and it was worse than before the surgery!
He went back to the surgeon, who suggested removing the screws from the first surgery and cleaning up scar tissue. He had that done in January of this year. We were very diligent about keeping his toe moving after the surgery to prevent more scar tissue (since that was theoretically the cause of the pain after the first surgery). But the pain came back.
The theory now is that he's got gout in the joint. He has had the euric acid test (think that is what it is called?) and he was in the "normal" range but at the high end, which his doctor told him could cause some pain.
He was uncomfortable enough today that he came home from work early and called the doc to see if he could get some gout meds. He hates meds and he rarely complains about pain! He wants to "try" the meds to see if they fix the gout so he would know conclusively if the problem is gout or something else. He was unable to get ahold of his doctor's office so we'll have to wait until Monday.
I guess I'm just looking for some insight and advice. What should we try next? What questions should we ask the doc? What tests should be run? Are there meds to try first? Any natural solutions that help? Any advice from the experts?
I'm really in the dark on this... Thanks so much!
My husband just turned 40. He's been having pain in his right big toe for several years now. The surgeon he saw thought it was bunion problems and he had surgery for that the week of Thanksgiving 2007. But the pain came back ... and it was worse than before the surgery!
He went back to the surgeon, who suggested removing the screws from the first surgery and cleaning up scar tissue. He had that done in January of this year. We were very diligent about keeping his toe moving after the surgery to prevent more scar tissue (since that was theoretically the cause of the pain after the first surgery). But the pain came back.
The theory now is that he's got gout in the joint. He has had the euric acid test (think that is what it is called?) and he was in the "normal" range but at the high end, which his doctor told him could cause some pain.
He was uncomfortable enough today that he came home from work early and called the doc to see if he could get some gout meds. He hates meds and he rarely complains about pain! He wants to "try" the meds to see if they fix the gout so he would know conclusively if the problem is gout or something else. He was unable to get ahold of his doctor's office so we'll have to wait until Monday.
I guess I'm just looking for some insight and advice. What should we try next? What questions should we ask the doc? What tests should be run? Are there meds to try first? Any natural solutions that help? Any advice from the experts?
I'm really in the dark on this... Thanks so much!
Gout can be extremely painful -- I could hardly walk and when I did it was verry difficult. There are a list of things you can get off most Internet sites that deal with gout to cut down on dietwise -- I think what got me was the combination of turkey and ham at the holidays -- I stuffed on both. Get the list -- nuts, all internal organs of animals -- heart, liver, etc., red meat, turkey, and quite a few other things. Cut them down to a small serving if at all.
Go to a good foot doctor -- do not depend on a general practitioner for this -- get the GP to refer you to a foot doctor. Some of the gout medicines are quite dangerous when taken over a long period of time -- don't just take them blindly. The docs seem to want to bring instant relief at the expence of the long term things and often their choices are limited. Fortunately it is very easy for us to get the side effects and the long term downsides for any drug, so take advantage of that, especially if he has a heart condition or anything like that.
My foot doctor gave me a shot of some steroid right in the toe and although it came back, it never came back as bad. Perhaps that is because I started walking on it again and all of that helps. Basically it is a form of arthritus and it will probably be there forever, but there are ways that you minimize its effects.
The right toe was my problem as well. If something similar gets in other toes and joints then that would prove to me that it is gout. I don't know that a clinical success is at all definitive ... it could have gone away of its own volition. Or, it might hang around after taking the drug because the drug has no effect on it. I know of no quick fix for it other than the steroid shot, and that is mostly a pain killer as opposed to a cure.
I hope this helps -- dave