Gout Pal Interactive

These symptoms are almost exactly the same as mine.

Gout is pain and swelling from uric acid crystals in the body tissues. Normally, these crystals start forming in the joints, but how do they know which joint to choose?

Well they can't choose, but to an extent, we choose for them. Factors that affect where they form include blood flow, restricted circulation, and temperature. You can see that for most people, the big toe will come pretty high on this list, and so that is where they often strike first.

For me, I first noticed it in my ankle, but I may have had less severe attacks in other joints earlier that I just put down to a slight strain. Subsequent attacks have spread to just about every joint in my body. Some causes that I can identify are:-

• Feet and ankles from driving (take regular breaks and drink water)
• Knees from sitting all day at a desk (take regular breaks and drink water)
• Feet, hands and elbows from being uncovered at night (keep joints covered and drink water)
• Feet from tight shoes (wear loose fitting, flexible shoes and drink water)

The best solution is to get uric acid reduced, and there's plenty of advice around here for how to do that. Try searching for “reduce uric acid” or “lower uric acid” in the Gout Search box on the right.

By the way, yours and my symptoms are only typical for extremely intelligent and very good looking people. Others may have quite different symptoms.

I don't believe it - are we related?

I get cramps too, mainly in my right calf.

I have not been able to find any link between cramp and gout in scientific literature. It may simply be coincidence, or something like less walking due to gout problems = more likely to suffer cramps.

I'm getting very good at sensing the start of a calf cramp. When it happens, I try to curl my toes up and foot upwards towards my kneecap. If necessary, I can help this by standing a couple of feet away from a wall and leaning forward, keeping my foot flat on the floor. I also avoid cramps by not pointing my foot down in the opposite direction, for instance when putting shoes on.

According to advice I found on the Internet somewhere (sorry, can't remember where), this type of muscle cramp can be avoided long-term by regular exercises that stretch the affected muscle.

That's about as much as I know about cramps - anyone got any more information?

Good news that the gout pain is getting less.

The hardest part of understanding gout is to realize that curing it long-term is completely different to pain.

Uric acid crystals have been building up all the time you had gout. They take time to get rid of, but once they are gone, the gout pain will go completely.

Until they do, you will get occasional gout pain, and pain relief meds will help. There is a massive choice, but it's up to you and your doctor to decide which is best for you. The pain relief is completely separate from allopurinol. Allopurinol does not act on pain - it reduces uric acid which is the cause of the pain. If you don't want more medication, try some of the tips on my gout pain relief page. Ice works for many people, but when you are not using ice, be sure to keep your joints warm.

Back to the allopurinol. It is vital that you have regular uric acid blood tests to make sure the dosage is high enough to dissolve your uric acid crystals. Please get tested as soon as you can, and keep a note of the numbers. It will go up and down until you stabilize, but you must keep it below 6mg/dL. If you can heep it below 5mg/dL, the crystals will dissolve quicker, but there is no need to go lower than this - we all need some uric acid, just not too much.