Allopurinol and gout attackes

Foot care
1

Hi. Any help or advise would be really appreciated please. After having regular gout attacks my doctor has put me on allopurinol. I had to take colchicine for 2 weeks before I started taking one tablet (100mg) of allopurinol per day. I had to continue on the colchince along side the allopurinol for a further 2 weeks in case the allopurinol caused a gout attack (which it did) I had numerous attacks in two months but had no pain relief from the doctor except paracetomal. I had a blood test after 2 months on allopurinol then the doc raised the allopurinal to 200mg per day, still didn't prescribe additional pain relief. I am due another blood test in early december but i'm not sure i am going to continue on the allopurinol as the attacks have been constants since i have been taking 200mg. I have had severe attacks in my toe, then ankle, most recently in my keft elbow and index finger, which were both inflamed and painfully unbearable. my finger was so swollen i went to nhs direct who prescribed diclofenac. when this attack was finally subsiding the gout decided to attack my right shoulder , after speaking with nurse at my doctors surgery i was prescribed dihydrocodeine, along side paracetamol and ibrobrufon. I know i have come a long way on the allopurinol but the thought of the doctor raising the allopurinol again after my next blood test brings me out in a sweat. I don't know how much longer i can bear the pain. I am getting anxious, short tempered and basically quite depressed now. any advise would be really, really appreciated. Thanks.

SYFY

2

Hello Guest

I am embarking exactly the same course as yourself and concerned......

I will keep you posted.

After fighting it with colchicine and anti-inflammatories then your post worries me.

How are you nowadays?

3

I too have gout. Just seen the specialist doctor who wants to increase my Allopurinol to 300mg with Coclchicine, only problem for me is Colchicine gives me diorrhea. At my advancing years that is something I most certainly do not want.

4

Hiya

I started on allopurinol yesterday as i have been having acute attacks of gout over the last few weeks .... The doctor has prescribed 100mgs a day but if i get gout during the next two weeks i have to start taking 200 mgs daily.... Last night i went to bed at 8pm because i felt so tired and slept for 13 hrs... I got up at 9am today and was asleep again by midday for 3 hrs... I havent had any twinges of gout yet but i have started itching all over... I am taking a colchicine nightly just in case gout appears... I cannot take anti inflammotories as i have angina... Its turned into a complete nightmare... I have suffered gout for 8 yrs now but could keep it relatively under control with Naproxen but since taking colchicine all it does is make me nauseas and gives me diarrhea... 

5

Hi Georgina,

I have been on Allopurinol 300 for two years approx. Everything seemed O/K except like you I sleep sometime for 10 hours plus. This summer we went to the Dordogne for a holiday, the hotel served unlimited wine F.O.C. unfortunately, I drank too much, which wasn't all that much.

But, it has triggered off quite a dose of gout.I've been trying for over 3 weeks to contain it.

I am now semi vegitarian eating no red meats shell fish etc. so I am waiting to see whats next..

I hope that your treatment works out for you.

James

6

Hi James

Unfortunately i have had to give up on allopurinol it was making me nauseas my skin was itching all the time and i had a rash so at the moment i am being a slave to food no alcohol shellfish or red meats and taking colchicine as and when i need it and i am taking apple cider vinegar tablets and sour cherry capsules which seem to be helping... Hope your gout settles down soon..

Georgina

7

Hi Georgina,

I'm sorry Allopurinol isn't working for you. Apart for the heavy sleeping, it has been O/K so far.

I see you are taking vinegar, does that not add to the acid in your body?

I am drinking pure Cherry Juice from a farm in the South of England.

It hasn't worked miracles yet, fingers crossed.

I hope things work out well for you.

8

I have taken Allopurinol for about fifteen years, I too have side effects such as dry flaking skin patches, reflux, (more tablets to quell that). Also I have been on a course of Colchicine with another tablet, forgotten the name, both of which gave me diorrhea so bad it became almost impossible to leave the house or even venture into the garden. Recently my regular Allopurinol tablets were changed for another brand, the dry skin began to be replaced by healthy non-flaking skin and scalp irritation began to clear-up but that was short lived as I am back on the regular brand now. Well, it was good while it lasted. I have never tried so called natural remedies and am unlikely to now as my gout attacks have reduced from a three-four weekly occurence to having had only two attacks this year, both quite mild. I take great care of my diet eating anything I like but, seriously but only in moderation, Steak, twice a year, Christmas and birthday, half glass of wine Sundays, half measure of Plymouth Gin as a treat once a week etc: but then I am also diabetic.

9

Hi I've been on 300mg allopurinol for a couple of years with a good result. Then I decided to drop it down to 200mg. Unfortunatelt this didn't work for me, so back up to 300mg again.

I think Allopurinol takes time to work, that's what I found when first using it, and when restarting at 300mg.

I am now controlling my diet more rigorously and hoping for the best.

Good Luck

10

SYFY sorry to hear about your problem. I had gout also and was put on Allopurinol. I believe the gout was gone in 3 days, but I didn't know what was going on. I was swelling up in my foot top and ankel, my fingers to my elbow. Well now I know that the swelling was from the Allopurinol, I must be allergic to it or something. I have tried to make my body more alcaline Vs acidic. 30 days of suffering thinking it was the gout, but it was the reaction to the Allopurinol for the last 27 days. I was getting really depressed from all the pain also. 

  My advice is to drink tart cherry juice, a cup a day. I cut out all shell fish ( shrimp, oysters, crabs, etc. )  Make some alkaline water, cut a lemon in 1/8 ths don't squeeze the lemon just put it in a jug of 64 oz. and let it set for 8 hours.  Drink a cup of that every day or so. I cut back on all beef and pork for 30 days, and ate mostly salads and fruits and vegetables. I did eat 6 or 8 oz of chicken in a salad or sandwich one meal every 1/3 day. I started eating cereal again, hadn't had milk in years. Now I use 1% milkfat. with some corn flakes or rasin bran every morning. 

Drink plenty of water to keep hydrated. I drink ~ 1 gal./ day. Be creative with your veggies, I like salads from Chick Filet, salad works, my own especially with apples and nuts. Coleslaw is another favorite along with broccoli salad. Look up on Google gout diets, uric acid charts and foods. My pain was severe so I stuck to the diet pretty close, yes I cheated a couple of times. I cut out all soda and fruit drinks with High Fructgose Corn Syrup - HFCS, Gator aid, and Energy drinks and caffine.

The blood test came back with 14.34 uric acid count before starting the diet.

The blood test came back with 4 uric acid count after the diet and 6 is considered normal. There was 4 weeks and 2 days between blood tests.

   I did lots of smoothies with bannana, blueberries, pineapple, and apples, grapes. Be careful too much fruit will clean you out, but you are probably staying home any way, I did. Check out Web MD and Diets for Gout foods to avoid. Sometimes info. will conflict between sites, but you'll get the idea for what to avoid in your diet.

11

There are some really good comments on here.

I have suffered from gout (I believe it was gout) a few times over the years. I had few bad attacks before I realised what it was. Very painful, and impossible to walk. Had blood tests at doctors but they never said it was gout, but the uric acid level was quite high. They gave me pain killers Naproxen which didn't do anything, I still limped for 2 months. The attacks were a pain in my big toe, I have had on both sides but not at the same time. It came on during the night which is what many say, thats due to the increase in body temperature. I too have researched a lot about it, because I like my drink and beef!

First of all I got Colchicum from a herbal shop. Now whenever I get a funny warm feeling in my big toe or foot (which is probably 6 times a year), to fight it off I take Colchicum and Anti inflammatories. This has fought off the actual painful attack but still left me with a stiff toe meaning I limp for about 3 weeks and then suddenly is eases and I am OK.

This is with no change in diet, still plenty of booze and beef.

So I then decided to go further. I cut out beer during the week, only a couple at weekends. But I still eat plenty of beef and drink alcohol. In order to do this I made a few changes. I take Barley Grass Tablets and Alfalfa Tablets. I have a Beroca a day. I drink plenty of water, 4 pints a day. I drink a glass of Concentrated Cherry Juice, and a mouthfull of Cider Apple Vinegar a day, when I remember. Less often I take a glass of water and Bicarbonate of Soda in the evening if I have had beer, but this can upset the stomach. I walk about 13,000 steps a day (12km), this was hard to get into, but I love it now I have a Fitbit walk monitor, and have friends online that I can compete against. It is very motivating.

By doing all this I have gone down in weight, feel better, drink alcohol the same (apart from less beer), eat beef as much as I like, and actually don't worry about high purine foods or drinks. So I'm happy for the time being. I will post the next time I get an attack, because it is so hit an miss with gout. It takes everyone differently.

Perhaps my gout is very mild, because I have never really had swelling or redness. So my ideas may not work for others, but at least you could take some snippets and see if it works for you!

Have a great day; and YES I feel sorry for anyone that gets this terrible illness.

12

Diagnosed in January 2014 with Tendinitis (calcific) in right shoulder.

Diagnosed in September 2014 with Tendinitis (calcific) in left elbow.

The only thing that gets rid of inflammation quickly is corticosteroid injection by Orthopaedic surgeon, for right shoulder it took 2.5 weeks to recover enough to start with physio, for left elbow one week. If I don't get corticosteroid injection, the inflammation takes more than a month to disappear - which in turn delays recovery and the longer the inflammation the more damage may take place to the joint.

Orthopaedic surgeon said the Tendinitis (calcific) could be linked to gout.

To reduce acidity in body, you can try several off the shelf products from a pharmacy such as Homeopathic Alkaline Base Powder or Alkaline Powder. If you take any of the 2 powders, you need to increase water intake to 2 - 3 litres per day. You can also try 5ml of Citro-Soda in half a glass of water, on an empty stomach (A granular effervescent urinary alkaliniser and gastric antacid - sodium bicarbonate 1716 mg).

13

First of all before you think it could be a form of gout get blood tested. You can tell if it's acidic / neutral / alkaline.  Tell your family doctor you would like to be tested for gout. If it's gout your probably acidic. And I was allergic to the med. Allopurinol, so I'm depending on the gout diet to keep me pain free. And so far it's been working. I took Prednisone pills to reduce the swelling of my feet, ankels, knees, hips, and elbow to fingers in right arm. Which I'm not sure if it was the gout ( which I had for the first week ) or the allergic reaction to the Allopurinol that made me swell up so bad. Now the swelling is gone and I'm not on any meds. I do watch my diet ( gout diet ) and cutting back on all soda and high fructose corn syrup drinks and foods. I avoid all shell fish, beef is no more than 2x/week, and pork no more than once/week. At first it was hard but as I did the diet the fruits and vegetables started tasting better and better. Salads with chicken strips or bits is one of my favorites now.

   I think Tendinitis is from over using your sholder and elbow. Have you been lifting heavy loads or over working your body? I used the Ace bandage with velcrow for my tennis elbow with great results and used the other arm until I healed up. Good luck and if you do have gout look up the gout diet. And I do use tart cherry juice every other day or so to help and lots of water as it flushes out the acid. I try to use natural foods instead of meds. for less side affects when possible.

14

Had blood tested, was neutral.

Had uric acid kidney stones in the past.

Now diagnosed with calcific tendinitis in shoulder and elbow.

Calcific tendinitis is normally caused by high uric acid.

Guess I will need to see a rheumatologist for meds to control Gout.

You mentioned you were taking Prednisone and Allopurinol. Are you still taking them ? If not what foods do you take ?

Essential:

------------

Plenty water (2 - 3 litres per day),

Lemon juice,

Sour Black Cherries,

citro-soda (1 teaspoon with 1/2 cup water), citro-soda is sodium

bicarbonate (1716 mg)

May also help:

------------------

bananas,

apples,

pineapples

15

Sounds familiar I also had gout, it started in my big toe. Then I took Allopurinol, and after 3 days my ankels swollen and my knees swollen then my hips, next my right arm from my elbow to my finger tips were very swollen. I was like that for the next 4 weeks, getting very depressed and in pain. So I went to another doctor. I was given a steroid Prednisone. And told to quit taking the Allopurinol or any other medicine I might need for a week. The swelling went away in 3 days I was good as new. Went back to the doctor and he told me to start back on the Allopurinol. After 1 day I was swollen up everywhere that I was before. So I quit all the Allopurinol and I'm back to normal.

    I have been on the gout diet pretty strict for 4 weeks with no meds. I just learned from the internet what to eat or avoid. Knowing that I have to be more alkaline than acidic, I quit all soda and high fructose corn syrup which is in lots of fruit drinks. Quit caffine like coffee and tea, I do caffine free green tea though. I basically ate no meat 2 out of 3 days and when I ate some meat it was chicken in a salad. I drank tart cherry juice 8 oz/ day. And some alkaline water which you can make yourself easily. No alcohol or shell fish, beef or pork. Ate lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Believe it or not they started tasting better afer a couple of weeks. Cole slaw and fish were on my menu lots also.

   After the 4 weeks I still don't do much beef or pork, but I do 3 or 4 times a week, only in smaller amounts about half the size of my hand not counting fingers. I'm not on any meds. at the present time. Didn't lose any weight until the 6 week and I lost 6 lbs. all at once, and I seem to be staying there. But I will soon be walking again. I use to walk about 3.2 miles around the neighborhood. I only quit walking because I injured my foot. The steroids made me real hungry and I had weird dreams but I was only on them for 2 weeks. First week double dose, second week single dose, then I was done with them. So good luck I know the pain is bad. So take it seriously. If it gets worse there may be more complications with your health. I'd google gout and find out everything you can about it. So far I'm gout free now my acid count is now at 4. It was orininally 13.4 when I first got the gout this time ( had a few bouts with it a few years back ). 6 is the neutral number here between acidic and alkaline. I will get tested again in Dec. hopefully I've learned what to eat to keep my body more alkaline VS acidic. Hope this helps you.

  

16

I don't take any meds. now, all is controled by diet. Took Prednisone for 2 weeks because of swelling of joints from Allopurinol. Google the gout diet and gout diet made easy and How to make alkaline water at home. And there are many more like Web MD, 14 foods that cause gout, etc. I saved many to a folder so I can go back and read them again and again. 1 tsp. of  bacon soda and water is a quick fix but it will raise your Blood Pressure, I wouldn't do it more than 2 times, be careful if you have high bp.

   I stay away from beef, pork, shellfish, soda, high fructose corn syrup which is in lots of foods and drinks like fruit juices, caffine, eat lots of salads, fruits and vegetables. I did this for 1 month and my uric acid level came way down. Use the internet to learn about gout there is a ton of information out there. Good luck and the fruits and vegetables are the answer they taste better after you have them for a while. Coleslaw is one of my favorites , snack on vegs. and you'll lose weight too. I'm sure you heard of an apple a day, try it.

17

I too had a bad reaction to Allopurinol. I'd been on it about a month and started to itch at the same time we went away for a week in Spain. 

I'm one of those people who can lie around in the sun without too much protection after the first few days and already had a decent summer tan but the sensitivity brought on by the Allopurinol left me with an uncomfortable heat rash that broke the skin in the middle of my chest. I knew then that this stuff has severe side effects and on my return home the Doctor put me on Febuoxstat.

The difference in price is something like £5 as opposed to £30 per month so it's not a first choice medicine and I understand is relatively new. Although marginaly better I still felt dry, if not itchy so came off meds altogether.

18

"Orthopaedic surgeon said the Tendinitis (calcific) could be linked to gout."

Did they say more about this? Can Tendinitis develop after gout? Or before?

And what would be the differences in symptoms of gout and Tendinitis?

lol

19

Hi i am in allopurinol since 2004 when im diagnosed in gout. Then after 2 weeks i am in colchicine together with 100mg allopurinol. It quite ok. But in 2007 my doctor increased it to 200mg with colchicine,and thats the time i had a bad skin problem, Psoriasis come out, then i fly here in canada i stop the allopurinol and took diclofenac sodium only for pain. And my skin problem is back to normal, after a year my gout is geeting worst so my family dr prescribe me again of allopurinol after 2 weeks myskin problem is back,he change to uloric and is not working with me. Now my gout is getting worst like everyday i had an attack. Only colchicine and diclofenac sodium im taking right i am affaid to allopurinol and uloric. I am trying the aple cider vinegar in just 2 days. Let see what gonna happen.

20

You poor thing.  Please try celery seed capusles (I take 3 a day spread out (Swansions brand) and similarly 200mg Vit C.  I havent had an attack since. I also take Cherry active but would always get the odd attack on this alone.  Try it - its £6...