Gout Diet Blog

can anyone tell me a way of reducing the pain without tablets ihave had the gout in big toe for 2 weeks now and my foot looks likea balloon and it wont stop killing me ,cant sleep or walk very easywith it or get a shoe on ,im at my wits end aahhhhhhhhhhhh ?

When I first started researching gout triggering foods and drinks, astrong link was made between tyramine and gout. I have not beenable to find those links again, and I seldom hear anything abouttyramine related to gout anymore. If you look at the foods anddrinks that are high in tyramine, they are the same as those listedfor purines (not being a chemist, I do not know if tyramine isperhaps a purine?). This makes sense, as both are concentrated infermented drinks and any aged protein food.

Here is what I have found in regard to my “triggers”:

1. Fermented drinks, rule of thumb: The darker the beverage, thehigher the tyramine, particularly in beers and wines. A darkEnglish ale has TONS more tyramine than a light lager. A heavy darkred wine has TONS more tyramine than a light white wine. Agedcheeses have TONS more tyramine than processed cheeses. Being onewho used to LOVE dark beers, red wines, and all cheeses- I can vouchfor the validity of this rule of thumb, at least in my case. Mymost hellish gout attacks have come after ingesting even smallamounts of red wine, aged cheese, or dark beer- every time all thetime. I do partake in light lagers, processed cheeses, and whitewines on occasion with little or no problem. Distilled spirits onlytrigger attacks if I drink enough to get dehydrated.

2. Canned/ potted meats: AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE!! Any kind ofcanned meat contains copious amounts of tyramine. I willoccasionally eat tuna, but that’s it. Pates, devilled ham, driedbeef, sardines, anchovies, Spam, etc. guarantee me an attack.

3. Organ meats (liver, gizzards, etc.): These are hard offenders,but the tyramine levels vary with the freshness of the meat. Beingone of the few people who love liver & onions, I learned this lessonthe hard way, too.

There are a great many more foods that are high in tyramine (theseare just the ones that really affected me), and I have included alink here to a site that gives a pretty good description of such:

http://www.mycustompack.com/healthnotes/Diet/Tyramine_Free_Diet.htm

I have been on Allo for 27 days (get new ‘Script in 2 hrs).I have had 2 attacks (40% strength) and numerous twinges inmy bad areas (toe, arch, achilles, knee, finger and elbow). Allmanageable, at last. I can put the attacks down to too much beer(about 4 pints). Very miserable.

My views after nearly a month: I can handle the side-effects - lesspain, being able to walk, getting life back. I can now, with someconfidence, plan a walking trip 4 weeks ahead without the fearthat I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed, let alone walk 10milesthrough part of the Peaks.

I understand people who want to take a natural route. I tried aChinese remedy that cost about 25 per month (x6 months andabout 8/9 attacks). Cider vinegar is a good general one, and oneI might continue. BUT, the only thing I have tried that haslessened the pain is Allopurinol.

I am no advocate of medication for life, but medication to have alife is a different matter. I have changed my diet dramatically overthe past 5 years, but the attacks got worse. I read up on newtechniques and ‘the latest wonder cure-all’ and persued anumber of them. That still led me to this point, and i feel that thepain and the damage my body has taken is quite enough, thankyou. If I am copping out by taking a medication promoted by, andparaphrasing, the ‘bullies and vendors of Allo’ then my thanksand best wishes go to Arnold, Walter et al.

That’s all for now. I’m off for a quick walk round the lake with mybible and back in time to see my GP (as Lou Reed once sang”I’m waiting for my MAN”.

A year ago after persistent low-level gout attacks and a serum uricacid level of 7.8, I started a once-a-day dose of 300 mg ofAllopurinol. My attacks subsided and then disappeared after about 6weeks of treatment. Now, my serum level is 4.6. I would like to reducemy Allopurinol dosage to a maintenance level, since I have theimpression that excess Allopurinol does no good and is justmetabolized away.

My question is whether an every other day dose of 300 mg would beeffective or do I need to maintain a consistent level of Allopurinolin my blood stream and should split the dose and take 150 mg daily?

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Your kind and thoughtful postingsare what originally convinced me to face my gout and start treatment.

I get a flare up of gout about once a year. My ankle gets swollen andthe pain is incredible, I can barely walk at times. When I do walk ,it is in an akward position and in the past, beacause of this I havehad problems with me knee.

My only source of relief is the anti imflamatory Toradol. Today Itried soaking my ankle in epsom salt and hot water. To my surpise,the swelling went down a bit and the pain subsided.

I think if a Urate in urine test is feasible it might be very helpful. For a litmus-type test I guess you would have to find a compound that reacts with urate and turns color when it does. Also it would need to turn different shades of that color depending on the urate level. I would think something like the glucometer that diabetics use to test glucose in the blood, that gives a more accurate number reading of the level, would be more ideal. (Are you familiar with glucometers and how they work? Diabetics can check 4 or more times a day with relative ease and not too much expense. The glucometers get smaller, quicker, need less blood all the time.)And urine is much easier to get than blood! Actually a uric acid in the blood test could probably be devised

I’ve been suffering more than usual recently - two flare ups inthree weeks. A relative has just offered Celery Seed as a means ofrelief. Anyone tried this or have an opinion?

My doctor doesn’t advise Allopurinol because I don’t get goutfrequently enough (recent weeks not withstanding). By the way, Irecently overdosed on Ibuprofen - took 800 mg in one go by mistake.But the inflammation was totally gone in two hours. I appreciatethat this isn’t a good idea, though.

I’m not a big macho guy never have been but I never thought of myself as wimpy, after reading all the horror storys I my gout seemsminor to some of you I have had only 1 (maybe 2 ) attacks and thatwas triggered(?) by my knee surgery the doctor drained it and I wenton my merry way. My uric acid levels were “slightly” (his word)elevated. When do I look at medicating for this? Right now diet andexercise are what he has me on> The problem is what do I eat thereare some definite “stay away from’s” but there seems to be manydifferent opinions where do I go for fact’s?Also, it’s funny how many people I know that have my same situation,gout and diabetes that I never knew about, is there a coralationbetween the two (besides lifestyle)?

I have had gout about 8 years, being diagnosed in my late 30’s about 1 yearafter a severe heat exhuastion episode.

Allopurinal w/colchicine for flare-ups is THE treatment as far as I can tell. (Doc. says if it doesn’t respond to colchicine it ain’t gout…it sure worked forme)

Since this ailment is at least vaguely related to kidney function, I wonder–I have occasional pain in lower left center of my lower abdomen ( where an ovarywould be on a woman) could this be related to gout ? as in a blocked ureter orsomething? Also I have occasional testicular pain/swelling— this probablyISN’t related– I had a vasectomy a couple years ago as well.

Anybody had any experience with non-joint related pains traced back to gout? Oris middle age just generally catching up with me?

Just came off an attack.Stayed off pain killers as long as I could.Ias many others believe pain killers inhibit your body’s naturalhealing power. It was in record time,A bad attack that went into bothankles . I feel if I hadnt had injured the other favoring my goutyfoot,it probably would have stayed dormant ,I followed the goutdiet at health911.comI have been told there is no connection between my childs autism andmy gout .My childs autism is caused by a heavy metal body burdenand /or gluten/casein .She has a buildup of candida,bad bacteria instomach that feed on yeast.Gluten winds up turning into a protienthat acts like an opiate on the brain.My daughter and myself (Through hair analysis) both show a heavymetal body burden.I have a GP treat me ,I also see her enviromentaldoctor(DAN Doctor,,,Defeat Autism Now)She see a pediatrition too. HerDAN dr had me do a yeast eradication diet. I believe 5 factors(maybemore) triggerd my gout attack .Although this is not a factor(IN MYGOUT) ,I will say this for the group.I wasnt on alloprinol and/orcolchicine to regulate my gout.F-1 Injured my ankle playing frisbeeF-2 Drinking beerF-3 dehydrationF-4 My Diet ,,I was eating many meats,proteins ,, nobreads ,sugars or yeast.Low carb diet,salads and limited veggies.sugary veggies not allowed .Beer was my cheater vice(low carbmichelob with yeast)I shouldnt have had it ,,and paid dearly for it .F-5 Not regulating my uric acid production/and or inflamation with myusual herbs and supplements .Antioxidants, chanca ,grapeseed,bilberry,hawthowne and many others. I had a questionablereading on blood work.DAN Doc wanted to rule out the herbs .We dontknow yet.

I reduced the attack to 5 days following gout recommedations athealth911.com.Took most herbs there mainly the inflammatory ones.Badattack one ankle then to the other as I worked it out .I started totake multi -flora spectrum religiously(DAN Dr. has me and daughter on)this is a refridgerator kept version of acidophylus(checkspelling).This bacteria is the same in yogurt.Helps withcandida/yeast buildup in stomach.I didnt have quercetin(abioflavinoid said to inhibit the enzyme xanthine oxidase whichproduces uric acid)I will look into it and take it .It sounds almostlike allopurinol,without the silvery taste.I did drink a tea ofhydrangea,chanca,alfalfa.Chanca and hydrangea for crystal breakersand alfalfa for inflammation.