Gout Again

[Welshcatlady]

I hope it's OK to post this on here as it has nothing to do with Fibromyalgia really, but I just need to let off some steam. I have a gout flare up on my right foot big toe again and it bloody well hurts, on top of my usual Fibromyalgia pains!

My own fault, I know, spent Christmas at an All-inclusive hotel in Lanzarote, and drunk a lot more alcohol than usual, and since coming home haven't been drinking anywhere near enough water!

I usually drink quite a lot of water, I keep a glass or bottle of it by my side all day and night, but in the winter I don't get thirsty and forget it's there!

On the upside, a trip to the pharmacy this morning resulted in a prescription for some meds that usually help, so fingers crossed. Isn't it wonderful that you are able to visit the pharmacy for some ailments that would normally need a doctor's appointment? The pharmacist also advised me to speak to my GP because these flares up are becoming more frequent.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and I wish you all a happy and as pain free as possible new year. x

[Hazel_Angelstar Administrator FMA UK Staff]

Hubby gets a medication that her takes daily for gout - he now rarely gets a flare up (and if he does, there's another med he gets)

[Welshcatlady in reply to Hazel_Angelstar]

Yes that is why the pharmacist recommended that I speak to my GP, so that I can have the preventative medication. The pharmacist can only prescribe the ones he gave me. Does your hubby get any side effects from the gout tablets?

[Hazel_Angelstar Administrator FMA UK Staff in reply to Welshcatlady]

No side effects that I know of x

[Welshcatlady in reply to Hazel_Angelstar]

Thank you. x

[honeybug]

Hi Wcl 🤗🌿🌿🌸🦋

I’m so very sorry about your gout. I’ve never had it myself but have known others with it and how badly they suffer. You have my deepest sympathy for suffering this in addition to to your FM pain.

Life isn’t easy at best and when one overindulges in celebration it tends to to take its toll.

Have you ever thought about using a water flavor enhancer in your favorite flavor??? I use Mio Berry Pomegranate. I’ve tried other s but this is my favorite so far. It makes it easier to drink water when it seems difficult.

Sending gentle hugs and lots of support love.

Love and prayers,

EJ 🤗❤️🥰🙏🕊️🌿🌸🦋

[Welshcatlady in reply to honeybug]

Thank you for your kind words, I usually use a no added sugar squash to flavour my water, just the tiniest amount when I get fed up of water on it's own. Thankfully the gout is a little better today, so hopefully going in the right direction! Gentle hugs to you too. x

[honeybug in reply to Welshcatlady]

speedy recovery my friend. 🤗🙏

[Welshcatlady in reply to honeybug]

Thank you 🤗👍

[honeybug in reply to Welshcatlady]

🤗🙏🕊️

[Evonne02]

Hi Welshcatlady, It's OK to ask on here, I'd think so as they're all forms of arthritis apparently. You're not going to be ousted or have any of us be upset with you. We're all here to support and learn from each other and as far as I'm concerned your more than welcome. Especially from such a beautiful part of the UK.

I'm not sure about your gout but you'd think a routine appointment requested by your gp would help. It doesn't happen anymore, so I certainly understand that.

Have you tried looking into some herbal remedies for your gout flare-ups? Or maybe toe protectors or suppression ankle stocking. I wear the tights for my oedema. They're knee high but called tights. Book a gp appointment and ask or look up/join support groups like versusarthritis.org You can also call them, join groups, or send a message to them. The groups are really good and very supportive. You can also get information leaflets sent to you in the post if you wish. You can join 2 groups on there. One for gout and the other for fibromyalgia. They have events each year to raise money for the charity but I can't move anywhere near as I used to & participants seem to really look firward to it.

You can also join Facebook groups as a stand alone option, or the versusarthritis Facebook page.

I wish I could help more but I don't know anything about gout and can only go by the description of your pain.

Just some info regarding the drinking of water. Utilise straws during the day and you'll find in a short space of time that you don't need it for throughout the night, bedtime or 1st thing in the morning. You can get around 500 on Ebay for £8 or less with free p&p. I wash mine after each use and still have them years later. I got the colourful set to pep me up and gave half away to a mix of around 10 people.

I used to know someone with gout who left alcohol for special occasions. I didn't ask questions as she had no problems. She said she changed to long alcoholic drinks with a fizzy chaser in it. She would then either get a juice, cup of tea, or drink some water in-between alcoholic drinks.

The pharmacist is right to advise you on seeing your gp. Something may have changed with your gout and it needs investigating asap.

Thank you so much. I hope you had a fabulous Christmas and wish you all the best for 2025. Please let us know how you get on 😍

[Welshcatlady in reply to Evonne02]

Thank you for your kind words, and tips regarding joining groups etc. and about drinking straws. Yes I will be phoning the surgery this week, but will wait to see if these tablets work first - if they don't I will have to speak to the GP about more meds to clear this flare up, and if they do work then I need to speak to him about the preventive medication. As for the alcohol, I did overindulge over Christmas as we were on holiday in Lanzarote in an all inclusive hotel. I was having a few drinks in the afternoon and then a few more after dinner every day, so that's the probable cause of this flare up.

Christmas was lovely thank you, hope yours was a good one too! And I wish you a happy new year to.

[Jac2530 in reply to Welshcatlady]

Hello, I am so sorry for the pain you must of been in over the Xmas period. Gout is so so painful, you cannot even bear to have a sheet or anything touching it, I see husband suffer so much, he has arthritis in his knees, so when he has his flare ups it seems to be in his knees. He even gone to hospital & they drained it, they swabbed his knee with iodine, then I saw the size of the needle they was going to stick in to his knee to draw it out, I had to leave room as I knew it was going to be so painful, with gout ya can't bear a sheet to touch it not alone a big fat needle, I could hear him scream as I was walking out. They didn't numb or put him to sleep to do it.. poor b***er (edited by admin) ...Anyway you need to go to doctor to get some Colchicine to treat your gout flare ups, & it Allopurinol you take when you are not having a flare up,as a prevention to gout. Avoid liver . But cherrys are good & been proven to keep your acids down. Good luck to you in the future, and happy New year to you and anyone reading this article. X

[Welshcatlady in reply to Jac2530]

Oh your poor husband, I think I would faint if someone tried to put a needle in my toe when the gout is flaring up. I am taking Colchicine at the moment, I had some left over from my last episode, so started on them and then went to the Pharmacy to get some more, our Pharmacist is able to prescribe them. I will try to see or speak to my GP this week about getting Allopurinol. I printed off a leaflet from UK Gout Society about the foods to avoid and what ones are good. I shall have to buy more cherries!

Hope you have a happy new year too. x

[Dizzytwo]

Hi there. I hope your new year starts to get better very soon. My next door neighbour suffers with gout. Unfortunately when he drinks too much alcohol ( which is not often) he is in agony with his gout. So it does sound like the few extra drinks may be the culprit Glad your meds are kicking in and your starting to feel a little better xx

Best wish

Momo

[Welshcatlady in reply to Dizzytwo]

Thank you Momo, yes I think it was the alcohol, but I've just been reading some fact sheets from UK Gout Society and there are a number of things that could trigger it, and being overweight doesn't help either. I put on a lot of weight over Christmas, so now I must try harder to lose it all again! And as you know, exercise isn't always an option with Fibro. Hope you had a good Christmas and wishing you a happy new year that isn't too painful for you. x

[Dizzytwo in reply to Welshcatlady]

Please don't mention putting on weight. I'm in the obese class. Got to seriously tackle it this year xx

[Welshcatlady in reply to Dizzytwo]

So am I, obese, and I must make the effort but my husband likes sweets and chocolate, so if they are in the flat I tend to binge on them. I have no willpower at all. And if I think about eating sensibly then I go over the top and just eat and eat! lol.

[Smilesalot]

Hugs Welshcatlady 🙂,I've got gout in my big toe and Fibro flare at the moment so you have my sincerest sympathy hun🤗

I've never had meds for it as I promised my Dr I would control my eating and water drinking. I'm pd off that I've got it as I haven't had any alcohol for months.

Anyway hun sending my best wishes and hugs Dawn 😍

[Welshcatlady in reply to Smilesalot]

Oh gentle hugs coming your way, to have a gout and Fibro flare at the same time is dreadful for you. I've just been reading some leaflets from UK Gout Society regarding diet and treatments, they are really interesting, there are some foods mentioned that I had no idea they could cause gout. Here's a link to their website and you will find the link to the leaflets on there. ukgoutsociety.org/

Hope you are feeling better soon. x

[Smilesalot in reply to Welshcatlady]

Thank you so much. I will also pass it on to Jon. My friend and carer. He gets it bad. He says he's been getting twindges? Of it .he takes allapurinol which helps prevent it.but that depends on how much he drinks lol. I've been dozing most of the day . Couldn't sleep due to pain.

I'm at the dentist on Tuesday eep 😯.

Sending you extra hugs and love 🤗Dawn

[Welshcatlady in reply to Smilesalot]

Oh I'm sorry you couldn't sleep due to the pain, it's just awful laying there and not sleeping especially with the pain. I hope the leaflets will be of help, maybe he will know what's there, but it's good to read to jog the memory.

You say Jon has twinges, I sometimes get what I think is gout coming on, but then it doesn't develop into gout, I think it's the Fibromyalgia playing tricks again!

Hope you get on OK at the dentist, I dread going, that's because of a bad experience when I was about 11 or 12, had to have a tooth out with that dreaded mask on my face.

Hope you sleep well tonight. Hugs x

[Buboo]

HiI got gout ..very painful..It turned out that my blood pressure was responsible as it is also a diuretic. My gp didn't have a clue..told me to stop my meds for a short while and see if it went away..within a week it all subsided. Changed to a different bp medicine and haven't had a repeat since.

If u r getting them a lot it may be worth checking meds for side effects..it could be that a med u r on is making things worse.

X

[Welshcatlady]

I will check them out, thanks for mentioning it to me. x

[Scotland49]

Ah, Gout. Very painful, I'm sure. X

[Yassytina FMA UK Volunteer]

Well done going too Lanzarote and being pampered over Christmas with the all inclusive, sorry too read about the gout it sounds really painful. I know what you mean about the drinking easier too drink water in the warmer months. I’ve been getting some crushed cubes and drinking some lovely flavoured tonic waters, I have a habit of filling up a small bottle pour in some juice and add lemonade and that does not hang about as so refreshing. Yes the Pharmacy 1st system I’ve found very helpful as I had 2 bouts of UTI s and both started on a weekend,☹️they were able too give me 3 days worth of antiboctics too tie me over and all I did was show them the home kit I had done with results and tell them my symptoms. Happy New year too you xx

[Welshcatlady in reply to Yassytina]

Thank you, today is the first day without any symptoms of Gout, so I have made an appointment with GP so they will hopefully prescribe Allopurinol which hopefully will stop the Gout flare ups. 🙏

I usually add some 'no added sugar' squash to the water, but I think I'll do the same as you and drink some flavoured tonic waters too. I've been drinking lots of water since the beginning of this flare up, only problem is I'm going for a pee a lot, including in the night! Still, if it helps I can put up with that!

Sorry that you've had some UTI's, not at all nice, I used to get them a lot, but luckily I don't seem to get them anymore. 🤞 It's great that you were able to get some antibiotics at the pharmacy. Happy new year to you too. x

[Nipper11]

I understand you pain and wanted to share with you that you should get an overview from your GP. I only had Gout twice in my life and they told Me that I had to take medication 💊 to prevent it for life. I asked if I could stop taking this medication and advised No. Therefore i am confused you haven’t been told the same thing. You need blood tests to identify the levels in your blood. Check with your GP to confirm the further treatments linked to Gout.

Drinking water and other fluids will help you but not stop this Condition . Support your immune system with lifestyle changes and a good diet of food packed with vitamins.

Good luck and take care xx

[Welshcatlady in reply to Nipper11]

Hi Nipper, thanks for your advice. ❤️ I have made an appointment with my GP at the end of January, earliest I could get, because I don't think I need to be seen immediately. This last bout was I think my 4th, although the 1st one was about 6 years ago, my 2nd was in early 2022, my previous was May this year and I went to the pharmacy and was prescribed some tablets, I had some tablets left from May and took those but they didn't help so had some more from the pharmacy and was advised to see my GP. 👍

[Nipper11 in reply to Welshcatlady]

Very glad you are booked into see your GP. If you have frequent attacks or high levels of uric acid in your blood, you may need to take uric acid-lowering medicine. This is the part yout GP will want to check. My levels were high and could be harmful to my kidney so had no option to take them forever.

No problem with that better to prevent .

Your doctor will be able to answer all questions linked to your health /gout/,medication.

Stay safe and good luck. Xxx

[Welshcatlady in reply to Nipper11]

Thank you x 👍

[pinot]

Aww I'm so sorry to hear your gout is flaring up and hope you feel better soon.. I too have gout in my feet and hands apparently hands are the most common place for women to have gout. I dontvrecieve medication for it but over the last few months the gout has been flairing badly I think I ought to go back to my GP. And I very seldom drink alcohol and haven't indulged over the festive period..can I ask you what medication and treatment you get for gout please. Ty so much for listening and I truly wish you much healing 💖🕯🙏

[Welshcatlady in reply to pinot]

Hi, thank you, the gout has gone away for now! I got some Colchicine tablets prescribed by the pharmacist, which did eventually work for now, they are to take when you have actually got gout. He recommended that I have an appointment with the GP to get some tablets that you take all the time that will, hopefully stop you getting a gout flare up again. These are called Allopurinol and you must take them all the time, I believe that you will have blood tests every so often to check the Uric Acid level in your blood. I have made an appointment with my GP at the end of January.

[pinot in reply to Welshcatlady]

Hi ty so much for your helpful reply i will make appointment with gp and see what he/she has to say. I hope today finds you much more comfortable as we both know there's never a day without pain but if it's less painful for you that's a good thing please take care. Much gentle hugs to you xxx

[Welshcatlady in reply to pinot]

Thank you, I hope you have a reasonably good day too. I hope your GP will give you the answers you need and is able to prescribe something that will help with the gout. xxx