I am a very healthy, very active 56 year old woman. Last Friday, I was at a salon getting my hair done. I noticed that my rt. ankle started to hurt and over the next hour became unbearable. I had not injured my ankle in anyway. By the time I left, I could not bear weight on my rt. foot and had difficulty driving home becasue the pain was so intense. The top of my foot/ankle became red and tender. I went to urgent care as I could not tolerate the pain and was worried I had a blood clot or something. I was diagnosied with Pseudogout and given a shot for the pain and anti-inflamatory drugs and told to make an appointment with my doctor. I went home and elevated my foot and slept. The next day it was a bit stiff but the pain was gone. Have any of you experienced this?
Stace, I'm sorry to hear that you have had that experience. Yes, it is similar to how I experienced my first gout attack about 15 years ago when I was your age. Be well.
How often do you have these attacks?
The next attack after that was several years later. At that point, I started taking regular doses of cherry juice concentrate as a preventative. I stopped the cherry juice after a few years, and was gout-free until a year ago. Then, the attacks started again. It is a daily menace. I use apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and stinging nettle leaf tea to stay ahead of it now.
I'm a male but I've had the same thing. I thought it was odd that I don't remember hurting my foot in any way. So I thought it must be my shoes hurting my toe and top of my foot. I didn't know it was gout until a couple of years later when it came back again and worse than before. I have it under control now and not on any meds.
Did lots of research, until I knew what was going on to control the pain and swelling. Easiest thing I could have done was see a diatician but I didn't know at the time. That would have gotten me on the right track as far as what to eat and drink. Instead I went to 3 different doctors and lots of money later figured it out from info on the internet. Stopped eating beef for 2 months as well as shell fish and any type of sausage of hot dogs. Cut out HFCS which is in many foods, way more than I ever suspected. Eat lots of fruits, vegetables, and water. Look up alkaline foods VS acidic, to make yourself more alkaline. Mostly I eat fish and checken now and only occationally beef. My blood pressure and cholesterol have come way down. So far it is working for me now about 11 months with out an attack. Good luck take care of your self before you get kidney stones they really hurt. And the fruits are my candy now, mostly but I still get some occationally.