Gout Pal Interactive

Hi Larry,

Sorry to move your post, but it had lingered unapproved for too long to be relevant. If you login before posting, the message gets approved immediately. That way, the discussion keeps flowing.

Please feel free to login and join the previous discussion again, where there are now more messages. In particular, could you go into a bit more detail about “The symptoms that you describe now do not sound gout related,” as at least 2 of us feel they do describe gout. Before you do, I'd like to discuss the rest of your message here, as you raise some interesting points.

Pain on the bottom of the foot is not gout pain.  

Gout can affect any joint, and the foot has many. As gout progresses, more joints become affected until the whole foot is involved. I've experienced gout pain in the top, side and bottom of my foot. I've never had it in my big toe, but I have had it in the middle toes of one foot.

Pain on the underside of the toe is not gout related.  

It can be gout related for the same reasons that the entire foot can.

Gout will manifest itself in the joint of the big toe most frequently.  

In my survey of joints affected by gout, hundreds of gout sufferers determined that the big toe was second to the foot/ankle as the most affected joint.

[Yes, it can be aggravated by shoes as you mentioned, but it is more likely you are still suffering pain from the fracture.  

This is best discussed in the original topic.]

Pain from gout does not go away when walking.

In my experience, it does. I can repeat this whenever gout affects my feet, but find I rely more on painkillers for other joints. I am not certain why this is, but I believe the major effect comes from endorphins – the natural painkillers that the body releases. This is supported from my less repeated experience of pain returning if I walk beyond a couple of miles. I also experience a shorter period of gout pain after exercise than I do if I remain immobile – I put this  down to improved blood flow helping my immune system to lock up the uric acid crystals.

Of course, my explanations are not proved, and may be wrong, but my experience – and that of many others – is real. Gout is much more than a sore big toe.