Gout Pal Interactive

Here's an interesting story sent by one of my gout newsletter subscribers.

Dear GoutPal, 

I found your website great.

A few weeks ago I suffered my first gout attack, didn't know what hit me. I had myself convinced I had fractured my big toe without knowing - after 36 hours of pain I just had to see my doctor - he laughed at me - it's just gout he said.

And I laughed too when I recalled the traditional associations that gout conjures up ,certainly in this part of the world. As some of my friends told me - King Henry 8th of England was a famous sufferer and he was the ultimate in debauched living but that image doesn't fit well with me.

I try to live frugally , I eat well ,am not at all overweight,try to exercise regularly, I like my wine with my food,especially on family occasions.

For a number of years my blood tests have revealed I have reduced kidney capacity which results in reduced uric acid metabolism  and when my blood lactic acid rises it puts the uric acid excretion under pressure. I deduced this from info. I got on various sites on the web, including your own.

On Jan 1st last I made a new year's resolution and for a change this year I kept it - Santa had got me a bike before Christmas so this was my challenge - to get bicycle fit and stay fit.The target was to take part in the annual Wicklow 200 {http://www.wicklow200.ie} . And I am pretty much a novice in cycling terms but to be brief in preparation for this event it was necessary to spend some long hours in the saddle, pedalling constantly which generates lactic acid so I was like a time bomb, just a likely target for a gout attack but I was unaware of what was happening at the time. Two days after my first six hour session in the saddle, gout came in the middle of the night to haunt me. 

Your website gave me great comfort and I'm very grateful to you - I now drink more water daily and reduce alcohol a little - just keep it to special occasions and so far so good.  As an aside I did manage the 200 with no problems and look forward to same again next year when I'll be 61, hopefully.

I'm impressed with an achievement like this any time, but while battling with gout, this is amazing.