Allopurinol for Gout

[markbe]

Hi Glassman, when I was checked for uric acid I was always normal but I had terrible gout attacks,
So uric acid levels and gout for me are not connected.
Everybody has different 'triggers' for me alcohol wise it is only certain types of red wine.
Recently I had had no attacks for years so I reduced the allo' to 200mgs no problem for a year
then bang it came back big time, cause Bean Sprouts!!! Now back on 300mgs and no effing bean sprouts.
Get yourself clear then up your dose.
It is useful to write down what you eat every day so when you get court out you will have an idea
what to steer clear of.

Mark.

[exgtt]

JumboBeef said:

I used to get a couple of attacks each month. Then I started to make sure I drank a lot of water daily and now I get maybe only one or two attacks a year (and they are generally minor).......

Edited by JumboBeef on Friday 10th December 15:21 for stupid spelling

Edited by JumboBeef on Friday 10th December 15:21

+1

Used to get attacks twice a year from the age of 24, sodium declofenac used as and when. 18 months ago took up cycling to work and drinking a min of 3 litres of water a day (more like 5 litres most days) and force myself to drink my daily quota, when it's hard like after a boozy night, or when i'm ill etc and havent had an attack in that time. Wake up, have the yellow piss first thing, then it's my mission to get that piss clear ASAP. Not changed any of my diet and ive been REALLY BAD this christmas with the booze/shell fish/red meat etc etc. Appologies if i'm teaching you to suck eggs (i obviously dont know anything about your day to day life style and if you already are keeping ontop of your water intake etc etc then appologies) but such a simple change i made has kept my gout at bay, and i'm on no drugs from the doc.

• edit**

I literelly drink water in these amounts everyday. If i have a boozy night and have neglected the water the follwing 2-3 days i can feel it twinging in my big toe. Gotta be disiplined, its like gout is a beast in my body waiting for me to slip up!

Edited by exgtt on Wednesday 11th January 23:23

[anonymous-user]

Glasssman - are you sure your dosage is correct? Did the Dr take blood to measure the effects of your dosage after a few weeks? I had to go from 100mg to 200mg to get a level that was right for me.

[Glassman]

I'm booked in for an MOT tomorrow, so will discuss all this (and my acid reflux problem) with him then.

This could all be down to December debauchery

[anonymous-user]

Glassman said:

I'm booked in for an MOT tomorrow, so will discuss all this (and my acid reflux problem) with him then.

This could all be down to December debauchery

TBH I drank for the UK over Christmas and never got a twinge (crosses fingers and toes)

[hollydog]

I had gout come on after losing weight . Took me 9 years to find out what causes it at find out what foods kick it off . I stay away from shell fish and some most fish . processed foods . cut right down on my red meat intake .Mushrooms .If i go out for a nice rare steak in pay for it the next day . my gout attacks my guides as well and goes up into my knees .

[sjc]

exgtt said:

JumboBeef said:

I used to get a couple of attacks each month. Then I started to make sure I drank a lot of water daily and now I get maybe only one or two attacks a year (and they are generally minor).......

Edited by JumboBeef on Friday 10th December 15:21 for stupid spelling

Edited by JumboBeef on Friday 10th December 15:21

+1

Used to get attacks twice a year from the age of 24, sodium declofenac used as and when. 18 months ago took up cycling to work and drinking a min of 3 litres of water a day (more like 5 litres most days) and force myself to drink my daily quota, when it's hard like after a boozy night, or when i'm ill etc and havent had an attack in that time. Wake up, have the yellow piss first thing, then it's my mission to get that piss clear ASAP. Not changed any of my diet and ive been REALLY BAD this christmas with the booze/shell fish/red meat etc etc. Appologies if i'm teaching you to suck eggs (i obviously dont know anything about your day to day life style and if you already are keeping ontop of your water intake etc etc then appologies) but such a simple change i made has kept my gout at bay, and i'm on no drugs from the doc.

• edit**

I literelly drink water in these amounts everyday. If i have a boozy night and have neglected the water the follwing 2-3 days i can feel it twinging in my big toe. Gotta be disiplined, its like gout is a beast in my body waiting for me to slip up!

Edited by exgtt on Wednesday 11th January 23:23

To a letter exactly my experience as well.Got diagnosed at 35 after going mega silly with alcohol and shellfish on honeymoon and stag weekend etc,and was given Allopurinol and Indemethacin. When the wife read the side effects of Allopurinol one of them was impotency, so the wife said I can suffer until I made her fking pregnant! In the meanwhile the Indemethacin ( strong anti-inflammatory) was constantly tearing the lining from my stomach, giving me constant gut ache. I gave both tablets up,avoided red wine, shellfish and offal meats for a long while and religously drink loads of water, and have been attack free for around 5 years. Any hint of a twinge from the toe/elbow ( especially after a heavy night)and its bang on the Nurofen liquid capsules and even more water to flush through.I've been attack free for over 5 years now I reckon, and all the naughty food are back in my diet in moderation.
Glassman, what you may find is constant attacks can resort in damage to the joint, and arthritus sets in, and that can feel like a mild attack.
Either way, I can't tell you how important loads of water is.

[tammyhiles]

I got terrible gout and played ice hockey when it first appeared. I'd be out of the lineup for weeks. The Doc had me on various medicines... none worked. I read about allopurinol on a web search, suggested it to him. Only time I feel the gout coming is when I forget my daily dose. It been 10 years of success with no side effects.

Mod note: No need for the link.

Edited by Bill on Thursday 24th January 13:36

[Jobbo]

Interesting to read my own posts above on this thread - I'd forgotten about it.

During late 2011/early 2012 I had a few long, bad attacks of gout. Took a while to sort out blood tests, start taking 100mg allopurinol, more blood tests after I'd been doing so for a few months etc but by autumn 2012 I was on 300mg. And my crunchy toe (which was crunchy even when not having proper attacks) now feels its previous self again.

The main hassle is going to get prescriptions; my doc only allows me 4 weeks' worth at a time, which seems very mean, even though she gave me a sheaf of 6 prescriptions so I didn't need to order repeat prescriptions every month.

[anonymous-user]

Jobbo said:

Interesting to read my own posts above on this thread - I'd forgotten about it.

During late 2011/early 2012 I had a few long, bad attacks of gout. Took a while to sort out blood tests, start taking 100mg allopurinol, more blood tests after I'd been doing so for a few months etc but by autumn 2012 I was on 300mg. And my crunchy toe (which was crunchy even when not having proper attacks) now feels its previous self again.

The main hassle is going to get prescriptions; my doc only allows me 4 weeks' worth at a time, which seems very mean, even though she gave me a sheaf of 6 prescriptions so I didn't need to order repeat prescriptions every month.

It's rather crazy that there is no standardisation for this. My Dr was great and said each prescription would cover 2 months worth to save me money

[Jobbo]

garyhun said:

It's rather crazy that there is no standardisation for this. My Dr was great and said each prescription would cover 2 months worth to save me money

Thanks for posting - I'm going to ask for 8 weeks' supply per prescription. When I asked the pharmacist whether I could get all 6 prescriptions at once and do it under the pre-payment scheme, they said no

[Glassman]

garyhun said:

It's rather crazy that there is no standardisation for this. My Dr was great and said each prescription would cover 2 months worth to save me money

Interesting point; I get 48 tabs per prescription. It's a bit annoying that I also have a repeat prescription scenario for Omeprazole. Payment is per meds, so 'sticking them on one prescription' carries no benefit.

[Paul Dishman]

Jobbo said:

Thanks for posting - I'm going to ask for 8 weeks' supply per prescription. When I asked the pharmacist whether I could get all 6 prescriptions at once and do it under the pre-payment scheme, they said no

Thats because if your medication is changed and you have to return the unused tablets to the pharmacy they get binned. Multiply that by all the people who have repeat prescriptions and its a colossal waste of money and resources.

[Paul Dishman]

Jobbo said:

The main hassle is going to get prescriptions; my doc only allows me 4 weeks' worth at a time, which seems very mean, even though she gave me a sheaf of 6 prescriptions so I didn't need to order repeat prescriptions every month.

Docs are only supposed to authorise a maximum of 4 weeks supply per prescription if they use the repeat medication scheme

[Jobbo]

Paul Dishman said:

Docs are only supposed to authorise a maximum of 4 weeks supply per prescription if they use the repeat medication scheme

Cheers - does the repeat medication scheme just refer to follow-up prescriptions without consultation? I was prescribed 4 weeks' supply in a consultation, not on repeat, but because of the inconvenience I was given 6 prescriptions each for 4 weeks, which sounds like the worst of all worlds for me!

[LordGrover]

FWIW I've suffered gout periodically over the last ten years or so, primarily around big toe left foot. Apart from ibuprofen when it gets really bad I've had no other medication. IME exercise, walking especially is the best 'treatment'. I feel like it's impossible to put any weight on my foot when I first wake with an attack, and initially it's VERY painful to get started. Once I'm moving though it eases and usually allays the pain successfully. If the swelling and redness remain I'll pop ibuprofen for a few days to reduce the inflammation.
Works for me, but maybe I'm just lucky.

[Jobbo]

I'm not sure I'd want to use your method, Grover - potentially you're going to cause long term damage by exercising the inflamed joint. Preventing inflammation in the first place has got to be a better option.

[anonymous-user]

If you can get by with ibuprofen then you are a lucky bugger who suffers from a very mild gout attack

[Paul Dishman]

Jobbo said:

Paul Dishman said:

Docs are only supposed to authorise a maximum of 4 weeks supply per prescription if they use the repeat medication scheme

Cheers - does the repeat medication scheme just refer to follow-up prescriptions without consultation? I was prescribed 4 weeks' supply in a consultation, not on repeat, but because of the inconvenience I was given 6 prescriptions each for 4 weeks, which sounds like the worst of all worlds for me!

You've got 6 months worth of prescriptions without having to request repeats from the GP, saving both of you time. You ought to see if its worth your while getting a pre-payment certificate which is a season ticket to pay for your prescriptions

[Jobbo]

Paul Dishman said:

You've got 6 months worth of prescriptions without having to request repeats from the GP, saving both of you time. You ought to see if its worth your while getting a pre-payment certificate which is a season ticket to pay for your prescriptions

I can request repeats from the GP online, so it's no less hassle - still got to go along in person to the pharmacy attached to the surgery, sign and pay £7.65 every 4 weeks.

Pre-payment doesn't give me any saving because I don't have any other regular prescriptions.