Gout!!! Need an MD recommendation or personal experience advice

[RobertH]

Allopurinol, 300mg, the only thing that works, forget cherry juice,health food remedies. like Champa Piedra, Milk Thistle, etc.

Hi Gary, 
Thanks for the tip.
My uric acid is 6.1, which is average, and I'm taking 100mg of allopurinol.
Since allopurinol clears uric acid perhaps upping the dose is a good idea.
I've tried "natural" and standard treatment remedies without luck,
and for me, all I get for it is more gout!

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Hi Robert, are you taking any blood pressure medicine?  Some blood pressure meds, particularly the diuretics- such as furosemide and hydrochlorothiazide, can cause gout.  If you are taking BP meds, you might want to consider talking with your doctor and changing one of them to something else.  You should also look carefully at your diet and see if you can find a trigger food and eliminate it.  Preventing gout flare ups is better than medicating it, in my humble opinion. Every medicine you add to your pharmacological handbag has potential side effects, some short term- as your body adjusts to it, and some long term which can cause other health problems down the line, such as kidney failure, liver disease and other fun things.

The two most commonly prescribed meds to treat gout are colchicine and allopurinol, both of which have potential side effects that you should read about before taking.  Drugs interact with other drugs that you are taking as well, and cause other symptoms, which then can be medicated with more drugs until some patients are walking zombies.  Our medical profession is designed to keep you sick and medicate the symptoms.  I think people would be better off to find natural cures to things, even Chinese medicine, ayurvedic medicine, even Edgar Cayce.  Of  course, this usually requires lifestyle changes, diet changes and the releasing of emotional baggage that causes energy blockages in the body, and most people would rather just take a pill.  So be it.

My husband found that cranberry juice was triggering his gout flares and eliminating that had a huge impact on his flare ups.  I hope you find relief, whatever you do.

Sandy, thanks for your thoughtful reply.
I agree that more pharma often has negative consequence.
I've 
My BP is normal, and I'm not on diuretics.
Oral steroids as a treatment for this scare me - my BIL took 'em and they caused prediabetes to 
go full blown insulin dependent on the 2nd round.     
FWIW, my uric acid (UA) is 6.1, within normal range.
I've tried "natural" remedies and TCM (traditional Chinese medicine) to no avail.
If you told me that the anal gland squeezings of a common Madagascar gibbon would fix it,
I'd import a gibbon colony ;-)

Here's my understanding of the malady - it's 2/3s genetic - you either have faulty UA elimination,
or you're eating too many UA producing foods (and can't eliminate, UA goes high).
That's why elimination diets might work.
The 3 major exogenous UA producers are alcohol, fructose and refined carbs, and purines.
I'm keto, and haven't used alcohol or sugar/carbs for years.
That leaves purines, so an elimination diet consisting of eggs for a week would likely
show if purines are causing it.   But as far as I can tell, that would contribute 1/9th of the biological insult.
Drop Acid by David Perlmutter, a 2022 book by the doc that did Wheat Belly,
goes into UA metabolism.   It's a mofo compared to glucose, which I monitor
with a CGM.   

Cranberry and cherry juice certainly work for some folks, but for me, no cigar.
Not that I smoke cigars these days ;-)
I will say the juices are tasty, but keto treif,
which in Yiddish is a non-kosher foodstuff.

I hope your husband keeps up the good work and finds relief.
Gary's post of taking 300mg of allopurinol looks promsing - I'm
only on 100mg, and maybe it's time to titrate upwards.
I'm also trying an all-egg elimination diet - not very inspiring, but it might 
produce a result.


Cheers!