Does anyone else here have gout?

Dragon, if you have stopped drinking you have cut out a lot of calories that go to belly fat right there. I had a friend who went on a special fad diet that did have some good points. For that diet she used balsamic vinegar for salad dressing. Mixed it with olive oil and a few drops of liquid Stevia. None of this is cheap but it goes a long way. Stevia is a great sweetener and is not artificial.

I tried oil and vinegar once and could not even get myself to pour it on my salad. The thought of eating oil disgusts me so much I feel nauseous. But I did not know that Stevia is not artificial and it's good to know--everything I've read says to avoid artificial sweeteners and I've thrown all mine away so I will get some Stevia. Thank you!

Please don't apologize, you have every right to whine, and I didn't view it as such either, and if you can't let off steam here and offload, where can you? You have always been so supportive of me, If I could pray and wish the pain away for you I would. My neighbour swears by celery, have you tried/like celery? Apparently it's supposed to help against inflammation.

Yes, it usually manifests in the toe or foot but it can be in any joint--the knees, the hands, elbows, etc. In my case it is in my left hip and knee. It's actually called, in my case, gouty arthritis. Those uric acid crystals have been building for years, diagnosed as plain old arthritis, so it might be a chronic condition I have to live with. I've studied it this past week and cut out meats, studied which foods have low purine (that make uric acid) and I'm drinking cherry juice, cranberry juice, taking bromelain, cod liver oil extract, vitamin C and a bunch of other measures. So far, not much progress but I guess it will take time to dissolve and the inflammation go down. I'm so tired, I don't sleep long until it wakes me up. I'm so miserable I wish I could just die and get it over with. Sorry to whine, it's just getting to me today.

Thank you Wolfie, prayers do make a difference and that means a lot to me. I have been eating a lot of celery and looking for celery seed as that's supposed to help. Eating cherries, blueberries, taking cod liver oil capsules and other natural stuff like bilberry that is supposed to help. I know if I give it time and keep to a strict diet that the crystal will eventually dissolve and I'll feel better. I just have to make it till then. It's good to know I have the support of friends to motivate me!

Someone on here said she got the cherry juice concentrate and it relaxed her so much it made her sleepy. You could get the ones dipped in dark chocolate. . . defeats the weight loss purpose, I guess. Try making salad dressings with your apple cider vinegar.

That's a good idea, mixing vinegar with salad dressing. I'll try it when I start eating more salads this summer. The problem is that artificial sweeteners aggravate gout so that means high calories, regular dressings. I guess I'll have to be very careful about how much I use--no more liberal portions of 15-45 calories per tablespoon dressing!

I have heard that and it is on my list of things to get. I did not think of dried cherries and that's a big help--I don't like cherries, they are so sour, and dried cherries will taste a lot better. Another thing is apple cider vinegar. I drank some last night and thought I would barf everything I'd eaten!! Today I tried it with honey and baking soda and it was actually quite good. You know, they recommend weight loss if you're overweight and I need to lose some weight. But man, with all the carbs and fruits that's a lot of calories!! Especially when I can't walk it off--it's beyond painful to even move around my house. I guess I will have to watch the portions and measure out half portions, being careful to get at least 1400 calories a day so my body doesn't think it's starving and start hoarding fat and eating muscle. I do know that at least I will be the picture of health and my heart will be in better shape with a vegetarian diet!

I didn't look at the x-rays, which shows you how bad it was then. I'm usually all over all the tests and images but I just wanted something for it, some kind of relief. I'll ask him next time I talk to him. I have little doubt that it's gout because up until a few months ago I was a regular drinker. Two or three a day doesn't seem like much but when I read about how gout works and what affects it, I'm astonished I didn't develop this before. People definitely don't realize how much damage it can do, I know I didn't. Glad you found a good doc! I was just wishing the day before I saw this one that I could find someone like the one I had in Arizona and I think I just did. It makes everything so much better and recovery faster when you have someone who treats you as an adult and tells you everything plainly and doesn't hold back.

btw, it sounds a lot like bursitis. which my old doctor said i have. does the crystals show as a lump?

Diabetes is horrible, from what I've heard--the complications are far worse than with gout or most other diseases so I hope you have it under control. I was speaking to a screener in a medical study a couple of days ago and mentioned that I'd drastically altered my diet. She said a friend of her has diabetes and the doctor was talking to her about what she could eat and he said, "if you put it in your mouth and it tastes good, spit it out!" I laughed but when I thought about it later I was sad thinking of all the restrictions of a diabetic diet. I didn't feel so bad about mine, then. I'm better as long as I pay attention and take my generic Motrin on a strict schedule. The anti-inflammatory I was prescribed twice a day needs a little boost or I have a lot of misery. I'm angry that my previous doctor's staff misdiagnosed me but nothing in my lifestyle indicated gout, nor did my family's medical history. Thanks for asking about me! I'm doing better and my weight is dropping slowly, too, which is an extra benefit, if you could say a disease has benefits!

dear friend, when I was diagnosed in 2006, newly married at that time, I was devastated first but my diabetes is only slight and I have it under control with taking meds and recently, walking more. So I dont need to be so afraid of the complications. I have changed my meds too to stuff which works much better after 7 years on the same old meds so I am a happy camper and my doctor is astonished cause the morning glucose drops to where it should be. Great you are doing better.

I have not ever met that doctor. From the first they assigned me a PA to take care of me. I rarely used the services than a year ago my "arthritis" got really bad and the PA recommended more movement, weight loss, and Motrin. When it became unbearable she said the same thing, no tests or anything. Based on my weight and my age she assumed it was arthritis and I really resent that. She prescribed something for the pain and when that did not work I called in. It took them 3 days and 4 calls from me to call me back! Naturally, I changed doctors and thank God I got one that cared to take the time to properly diagnose me. I think older people suffer from prejudice from medical personnel. If our hair is grey they assume arthritis or some other age related malady. If we are overweight they think they have found the cause of whatever is wrong with us. I'm angry about this and when I sent in payment for their last charge I included a note saying I would never be back or recommend them because they misdiagnosed me due to laziness or ignorance or both. On the check I wrote in the note section "for sub-standard medical services". It took awhile but I'm not in agony 24/7 anymore and the pain is down to being bearable. I hope it continues to improve. I've made some pretty drastic changes to my diet and daily routine and am still researching the condition. Thanks for the good wishes! As you can probably tell, I'm still really, really mad about the substandard treatment I received that was probably because of my age.

Thanks for the good wishes! I was a party animal 20-30 years ago and it just proves how foolish we are when we're young and don't look forward to our later years.

Well, I've only been on the meds for a week and I'm waiting 10 days to give them a chance to work. This new doc seems like a dream come true. He spent 40 minutes with me. The other one, I never met. It was always hurried PAs that took care of me. I don't mind PAs, they are fine for normal stuff, but diagnosing me with arthritis when it was something else--without tests or anything--prevented early treatment and now it may be chronic. If I'm still feeling this awful next week, I'll call. Actually, I feel 50% better than I did when I went to him but I don't like being in pain. It's settled down to a roar--I'm not crying anymore, which really pleases both myself and my dogs. I, too, was surprised at all the foods high in purines and I'm surprised that more people don't have gout! Crap, even oatmeal is forbidden!! I was eating that for a few days since nearly every medical site I investigated said to eat whole grains. So this morning I went for GrapeNuts. It's in a container just like the brown rice. Guess what I poured into the bowl?!

Thanks. Yes, he has me on meds to dissolve the crystals and a strong one that I discontinue today for pain--it can't be taken for very long. I was surprised at the list of foods, the ones I could not eat were longer than those I can! But I take a multivitamin and will learn to love tofu and soy protein. Pain is a powerful motivator and I'm much more willing to sacrifice most foods in order to be rid of it!