Doctors!
I went to a podiatristyesterday & he’s pretty sure I have a stress fracture which justdidn’t show up in the first x-ray that they took at the bone & jointclinic. I willl have another x-rray today to see if it shows up. Ifnot, then it’s most likely tendonitis, which will be treated the sameway as a fracture. I will be in a boot cast for 6-8 weeks.
I had a feeling all along that it wasn’t gout & in the the back of mymind I kept thinking it felt like something broken. The first doc.said I would know how I broke it if it was. The new doc. said a lotof people don’t know when they have a stress fracture. Anyway, I’mglad I followed my instincts & got a 2nd opinion instead of goingthru a bone scan & who knows what else. I’m ticked at doc. #1!! He’sa bone & joint specialist for crying out loud!! I could’ve beenhalfway heeled by now. Oh well, I’m glad it’s not gout. And at leasstI’ve become educated on gout if I or someone I know ever gets it.
Columbus Luthe on October 1st, 2007
My wife went through EXACTLY what you have described so far a couple of years ago, and hopefully you can glean some insight into your problem through my sharing of what she/ we went through: She had swelling, inflammation, and pain in her right foot- generally in and above the toe knuckles. Her small town GP (this was before we got married and I made an urbanite out of her- hee hee) told her she had a stress fracture that was too small to show up on X-ray or scans, and he put her in a walking cast for six weeks. When she got the cast off, the pain and swelling came right back (It never went away actually- just got some “rest” in the cast). I thought FOR SURE she had gout- her foot had all the symptoms. When she moved to the “big city” and married me, we sought out a reputable podiatrist. He examined her foot, and immediately diagnosed her with a neuroma (a cyst formed in a nerve between the metatarsals (?) of her third and fourth toes- it was pushing her toes apart). Apparently, these are quite common and they seldom show up in X-rays. They scheduled outpatient surgery and the whole thing took about an hour. Recovery was about six weeks, and other than a scar she is just fine now. Here is a link you may find helpful:Â
http://www.podiatrynetwork.com/r_neuroma.cfm
Sabina Shamel on October 2nd, 2007
Exact numbers are not really available, there are some and you canlook them up ifg you wish but……
Do you know someone who is over the age of 50, who is male and hasgout?
I know eight people in that category besides myself and gout is mostoften associated with males at or near their 5th decade of life.
Do you know someone between 20 and 30, who is male, and who has gout.I know of a few from this forum but have never met anyone. It is veryrare to have gout in your thirties.
Do any of you know a woman in her 50’s with gout, that is more rarethan a male in his thirties. It happens but not often. Women usuallyget gout about 10 years after they go through menopause or in theirlate 60 and early seventies.
I am skeptical that there are women in their thirties that havecrystals diagnosed gout. My rumatologist says he has heard of onecase but has not seen one himself.
Lurlene Rauh on October 3rd, 2007
Well, I am 34 and have gout. Probably have had it since 29 or 30undiagnosed. I do not have a family history of gout so I am justplain unlucky. I am 6′6″ and 280 so this has probably helped goutalong with the constant weightlifting, protein intake and bingedrinking throughout my twenties. Started allo two weeks ago andhopefully this allows me to continue weight lifting and have proteinintake conducive to anabolism.
Jonas Laramore on October 3rd, 2007
Add another to the 30’s/pre 30’s. I think I had my first attack when Iwas 29. Now 32.
Columbus Luthe on October 3rd, 2007
As of today I am 39 years old and I have had chronic gout for a solid decade. Two of my nephews have gout, 37yo and 34 yo, and have had it since their late 20’s as well. Two of my brothers have gout, 49yo and 59yo- not sure how long they have suffered. My dad and his two brothers have suffered from gout for as long as I can remember (not to mention almost all male ancestors in that bloodline). I don’t know any women with gout.
Terrance Molock on October 3rd, 2007
I come from a LARGE family..as well as a LARGE family on myparents side.I was the ONLY person that ANYONE in this circle EVERKNEW that had gout.
Personally..meaning people I see..I don’t know anyone with gout. Through email/internet..I KNOW TOO MANY!!
2 years ago my 17 y/o nephew had an attack.
ALL the women in my rhuematologists family have gout(accordingto him).NONE of the men?? (yet???)..in a completely unrelatedconversation..my mother has played bridge with a woman in her mid tolate 30’s..for years and years..turns out that she IS the sister ofthe rheumatologist..and in conversation said that same thing..thather and and the other women have gout and are on allopurinol.
They are of Polynesian ancestry(HIGHEST incidence of gout)
I agree that gout is rarest in pre-menopausal women.I have comeacross a few women in their late 20’s/30’s on the internet/throughemail that said they have had positive i/d of this..I don’t know..Ididn’t/haven’t had regular contact..don’t know why they would lie.
Communicated with several males late teens early twenties.
Many late 20’s to mid 30’s.I had it YEARS before I was 30.
LOTS! from mid 30’s to mid 40’s
I think mid 40’s to early 50’s..if you haven’t got it bythen..I’m not sure you ever will.
The “first” attack thing of men in their mid to late 50’s..isALL too often..NOT the first attack..the previous ones were blamed onother things..injuries/athletic/overuse etc.,
Columbus Luthe on October 4th, 2007
I dismissed what was obviously in retrospect gout as being injuries/ inflammation caused by my excessive martial arts training- for a few years I threw 1000 kicks into a heavy bag every other day, alternating punching the other days. You expect aches and pains when you train like that- but I probably have had gout much longer than I think. it wasn’t until it got seriously debilitating that I really took notice and sought answers.
Camellia Netti on October 4th, 2007
Did the same thing. Played football (proper - soccer) three timesa week + training and thought I was just messing up myankle/foot/instep.
A question: Does trauma to a joint/area increase the risk ofgout? When I was 12 I was shot in the foot at a Scout camp. If ithappened to my son now I would be sueing somebody’s assbig-style, but my parent’s idea was to let the Scouts’ organisationsort it out.
I had a .22 pellet lodged in my ankle joint and had a 3hr Op toremove it. Left me with a big Y-shaped scar and reduced tendonmovement, as the surgeons had to cut and re-stich. Anyway,whenever I got pain in this area I thought it was down to this. Sodid my first GP. Then the ‘attacks’ became more frequent up untilmy last one which was 5wks ago.
Coming up to a week on the Allo and all seems well. I still haveproblems with ankle when I walk with purpose, but I am puttingthis down to the fact that I lost 12wks mobility this year and myankle is just not strong enough at present (y’know, you walk infunny ways when you hobble and get those secondary strainsand pulls). Also, is it likely that the last big attack has done realpermanent damage as my foot doesn’t feel ‘right’?
Your views, as ever, would be appreciated.
Columbus Luthe on October 4th, 2007
In my case, YES gout does favor previously injured joints. My doctor confirmed this, and also made the point that injured joints tend to get arthritic anyway with or without gout. I have broken or dislocated practically every joint in my body, some several times over. The ones that were injured the worst got gout first, then the rest got it in descending order.
Olin Hardges on October 5th, 2007
Thanks!! I’ve never heard of a neuroma. It’s good to be educatedabout any possiblity. I’ll keep that in mind if a fracture doesn’tshow up on the x-ray.