Gout Pal Interactive

When gout is this serious, herbal remedies might provide some temporary relief, but they are not going to solve your problem.

Yes, you can measure uric acid yourself (see uric acid monitoring). I believe this is a good idea for many reasons. Mainly, it is good to see if actions that you are taking to lower uric acid are working. Hoowever, you must be very careful when interpreting the results.

When you have had gout for a few years, you have a large store of uric acid crystals, in your case this is obvious from the tophi.

When you reduce uric acid, the tophi start to dissolve, which will raise your blood uric acid levels again. This cycle repeats until you eventually get rid of the tophi - which will take many months. It is well worth the wait, because this is the only way you can get rid of gout and stop tophi damaging your joints.

I cannot personally help with a specialist in San Fransisco Bay area, but my recent page on how to find a rheumatologist may help.