GoutPal Interactive

Post edited 12:18 pm – May 23, 2009 by vegetarianGuy

I am on Arctic Medical's website but not sure about the lancet bit. Does their lancets 30G (100) box have everything in it to draw blood or do I need a holder/pen type of device to hold the lanceot?

http://arcticmedical.co.uk/con…..ancets.png

P.S- I have your GPAM8 code on the ready.

P.S II- Thanks for all the help and patience for my 1million questions.

vegetarianGuy said:

Do you think I should stop taking Berocca?

Gout pal what do you make of my reading spiking to 490s during the pain and lowering to 420s as the pain has eased. Should it not be other way round? Urea near the joint so reading lower during pain?

I am not body builder or anything like that I don't take any protein shakes or suppliments either to get big.

Yes I will see a Rheumatologist. Are they the absolute specialists for Gout or is there a chance that they are not too bright?

Are Arctic Medical's urea readings reasonably accurate?

I was worried about too much iron, but it is not in Berocca, so you should be OK.

Uric acid readings do fluctuate, so I would not read too much into it from 3 readings. The tendency for uric acid in the blood to go down when crystals form is common, but not absolute. By the way uric acid [C₅H₄N₄O₃] is not the same as urea [CO(NH₂)_2]

I'll stop looking out for you on Worlds Strongest Man

I can't attest to individual brightness, but yes – rheumatologists are the gout specialists. They also deal with other inflammatory diseases, so should be in the best position to distinguish gout from other diseases.

The uric acid meters have been shown to be very accurate compared to full size lab machines. The only problem is getting the test right. Only two simple reminders:

1. Wash and dry hands before use.
2. Make sure the drop of blood is large enough to fill the circle on the test strip.

vegetarianGuy said:

My doc did say that as I dont have major swelling getting fluid out of my toe joint won't be a simple thing. Any views on that? Will it be super painful?

Based on sucking up info from all over the web it seems Peas, Cashew nuts, beans and lentils are a no no for me.

As you know, I am not a doctor, but I simply cannot see how inflammation makes joint aspiration easier. Synovial fluid occurs naturally in the joint – it is not the result of gout, but something everyone has. (forgive me if there is some disease that causes people to lose synovial fluid – as a layman, I assume everyone has it). In my experience, the procedure is painless – I was still waiting for it to happen when the doctor had finished.

I believe that this should be done by a rheumatologist, but I appreciate the difficulty of this if your doctor will not refer you. I can think of 3 options, and I hope others will chip in (but please remember this is a UK situation where seeing an administrator is at least one thousand times easier than seeing a specialist):

• Ring NHS Direct for advice (I have never tried this)
• Join BUPA or similar private health scheme (I have never tried this)
• Feign agony and job-threatening inability to walk at the nearest hospital (I wasn't faking)

The danger of “sucking up info from all over the web” is similar to drinking from the toilet bowl when parched. Yes, you will quench your thirst, but you also risk sucking up the shit.

Perhaps I should make my warnings clearer in “Foods High in Uric Acid – a Surprising Myth.”

As uric acid results from purine breakdown, many have assumed that all purines are equal. Yet vegetable purines are no longer seen as serious as a source of gout. Unfortunately, other than statistical reviews, there is little hard analysis of the real effects of digesting particular foods.

The only way to test this is to take a reading just before, then 2 hours after, a meal. To find a true correlation, the “meal” would need to be one single food item, and it would need to be repeatable. Perhaps it is no wonder that studies like these never get done. I might try it myself – a bowl of lentils for lunch everyday could be just what I need

Ok got an appointment and am seeing the Rheumatologist tomorrow.  I hope he does the joint fluid test

Post edited 4:17 pm – May 27, 2009 by vegetarianGuy

GoutPal said:

I'd love to know his opinion on your risk for gout based on your recent uric acid test results.

Me too You will be the first to know GoutPal. Today I got some other blood test results. I will take them with me to the Rheumatologist tomorrow. Do these numbers say anything to you?

Vit B12 171 pmol/l  (normal level 150-700)

Folic Acid 41 nmol/l (normal level 7-40)

Iron 180 ug/l (normal level 20-300)

Iron is not on the high side so that must be good from Gout pov. Folic acid is high though.

CC_Alaska said:

Well…there's another way to diagnose it: Tuff it out this time and if it's Gout; IT WILL RETURN….probably about a year or so from now when you have completely forgotten about the first incident. Sorry…thats my tongue in cheek humor.

So CC_Alaska had it right then!

Post edited 10:16 am – May 30, 2009 by vegetarianGuy

I just can't leave you guys alone Got my Artic kit today. Kind of addicted to pricking my fingers now. Made 10 pricks in all, 4 for actual testing and 6 as test runs (sticking with level 5 prick). No more tests for today unless I start on my feet.

My results of the 4 actual tests between 11 and 11.15am. All done properly with thoroughly washed and dried hands. Blood drop fully covered the test area in all 4 tests.

test1- 309/5.1

test2-298/5

test3- 375/6.3

test4- 375/6.3

 In the last two tests I overflooded it with 2+ drops. The last two readings must be accurate then.

375/6.3 is looking good I must say from 490 I apparently had.

I would attribute the range (7.8-8.2) to expected testing error. I would interpret them as essentially the same reading, 8.0, with an error of +- 3%. That's quite good for a home test.

Big difference after a meal though, eh. (What was the meal? high purine? meaty?)

Brings up an interesting point though. Since we generally have out blood drawn in a doctor's office on an empty stomach (to get a reliable triglyceride and LDL cholesterol level) we might all be walking around with uric acid considerable above what our lab tests say.

VegGuy…you must be rich because those strips are a couple bucks apiece, right?

I am amazed that a meal like the one you had would raise your uric acid even an iota.

Anyways, my point about uric acid testing on an empty stomach is a good one. After all, the solubility of uric acid is not affected by a package insert, it remains what it is. THus there's no advantage to knowing that part of the day, with an empty stomach, your uric acid will remain in solution if post-prandially you will have serum that is highly supersaturated with UA just looking for a joint to hammer. Probably some testing at both times is an excellent idea.

Hmmm, just under a pound apiece…that's a LITTLE cheaper than I thought they were.

I'm sure most, but probably not all, sufferers of Gout would like to follow a dietary cure rouite if they could.

Due to the fact that levels of UA in the blood are so variable and triggers so individualised this becomes something of an unobtainable 'Holy Grail'- and to default to the  drug cure is all too easy, especially if pushed by your Doc!

I would have thought 3% was a good accuracy for home testing given the equipment spec of 6x that- so so long as you do the tests under similar time and conditions then to look for a 20% overall reduction in UA over time, would be readily attainable- if you are prepared to stick to a tough diet totally for long enough.

 My 2c – no expert!