Gout Symptoms Survey
Are You Itching For Gout?
I wrote about gout and itching recently.
In fact this was in response to a message from a reader wondering if many gout sufferers experienced itching.
Perhaps I was bogged down with creating this interactive site.
I usually check through my sources, or google for information, before responding.
As soon as I looked, I found a few references to gout itching.
In particular, one source (http://www.jr2.ox.ac.uk/bandolier/booth/gout/goutintr.html) set me thinking. I’d been planning to review the bandolier information to check for useful snippets. Checking out the following paragraph about acute gout attacks gave me a few ideas:
A single peripheral joint is almost always involved in all initial episodes, and most often this is the metatarsalophalangeal joint between wrist and finger. Typically local irritation and aching proceeds to tissues becoming swollen, red, hot, shiny and extremely painful. The pain is often describes as the worst ever experienced. By 24 hours inflammation is maximal, and it then resolves slowly over a week or so, often with itching and flaking of overlying skin.
I’m a bit confused about the joint – I assume they mean the big toe joint, though I get attacks in the hand and fingers. Apart from this, it set me thinking about other people’s gout symptoms.
In keeping with my desire to find out how gout really affects ordinary people like us, I decided on a survey of gout symptoms.
Please fill in the form below. If your symptom is not listed, please add a comment below or send me a message via the Contact form.
Remember, this is not a completely scientific survey – it’s about how you feel. I’ve added slight and serious choices rather than any attempt at a scale of suffering. As a guide:
Slight means a symptom you have noticed might be connected with gout, but you cope with it reasonably well.
Serious means a symptom you are convinced is caused by gout, and it significantly reduces your quality of life.
The first question is about which gout symptoms you’ve experienced. The second question is about which joints were affected. Please tick as many boxes as you want.
If you think I’ve missed something from the survey, please let me know via the public comment box below, or privately via my contact page (button near top of each page). In fact, I’d love any comments or questions about gout symptoms.
I exclude tophi from this survey. I will do a separate survey on tophaceous gout soon.
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Please see these articles for explanations and more information:- Allopurinol A Misunderstood Lifesaver
- Allopurinol is more than just a gout beating drug - it is a lifesaver. But is your dose right, or is it making gout worse?
- Best Tophi Picture: Krystexxa Banishes Tophaceeous Gout
- The best tophi pictures are the ones that show them disappearing. See before & after photographs of a remarkable gout treatment.
- Gouty Privacy Policy Statement
- All good sites need a privacy policy. This is a gouty one. Nothing much about gout - it's just a privacy policy for a gout site.
- A Uric Acid Test Kit Keeps You In Control Of Your Gout
- A uric acid test kit is easy to use, and keeps you in control. Do not waste time and money. Get the best uric acid meter today.
- What Causes Uric Acid?
- Want to know what causes uric acid? The simple answer is purines, but where do purines come from? The biggest source is not food
- Latest Uric Acid Answers
- Here are all your uric acid answers. If the answer to your uric acid question is not here, it soon will be.
- Uric Acid Levels: Know Your Number
- All gout sufferers must know their uric acid levels. Learn how to arrange your uric acid blood test at home then fix your gout.
You can also search for related topics (gout OR uric acid):
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Comments
I am an active 50 yr old male, 6ft 3″ and 103kgs (226lbs)taking medication for high BP and Statins to control cholesterol levels. I rarely drink alcohol and do not smoke. My diet is usually low fat and less than 2000 calories a day.
I am just at the end of a severe Gout attack in my left foot. I went to bed without any pain 7 days ago, but woke up with a quite sore top of my left foot. Within 12 hours I was in absolute agony. Within 24 hours I could not bear anything near my foot and the pain radiated up my shin bone when I tried to flex my ankle joint. My left foot was very red & swollen and I gained little pain relief, even with Co-proxomol and Ibuprofen.
I was eventually prescribed Colchimax after 4 days. Within 24 hours of taking the 1st 3 tablets I could feel a slight improvement. After 48 hours and 6 tablets, the pain was bearable but I still could barely put weight on my foot. 72 hours and 8 tablets, symptoms starting to subside and swelling reduced. The Colchimax caused severe diorrehea but that was infinitely better than the excrutiating pain.
I had my last flare up of Gout 4 months ago which wasn’t quite so severe or long lasting and was treated only with NSAIDS. This was in the big toe joint mainly.
I feel the current episode was triggered by a combination of circumstances. 1. Feeling low. (cold sore virus erupted on on lip just before Gout attack)2. Most probably slightly de-hydrated. 3. Change of diet as on hoiliday meant an unusual amount of red wine consumed two days before Gout attack. 4.Recent loss of weight. (10 lbs in 3 months) 5. Being treated with Hypertension drugs (Ace inhibitors)
Looking back, I now think I may have had approx 5 attacks over the past 3 years, but haveonly recently realised what is going on. My blood test 4 months ago showed borderline Gout uric Acid levels. I have just had a sample taken today and will get the result in 2 days.
I have also noticed a white lump in the lip of my left ear which I previously thought might be a fatty deposit lump. I now think it might be a Tophi indicating a long term problem with Gout management? I will be discussing this with my Doctor in 2 days. I have also had sore thumb joints in the past and now think this could be a Gout related problem.
My main concern now is how to stop getting further Gout attacks as they are totally crippling when active. I am also concerned about long term damage to my joints and the implications of that.
Hope the above is of use to someone and I would welcome any comments.
Regards, Paul.
first, I’m glad to have come across your website – it is useful to see some practical explainations and info sharing that doesn’t pretend to carry
authority.
In the above survey I did not check itching as a symptom, because as the article you referenced mentions, I see it as a side-effect – a result of the
damage done by the inflamation to skin cells and thus the same itching one
has after a sunburn as the new skin pushes off the dead.
My diet is very predictable which is why I too have discounted the alcohol factor as a cause of my flare-ups. I eat the same foods and drink the same beer and yet can go 2 years between flare-ups. The first time I found orange juice was the common factor and I quit drinking it every morning. The gout went away. My more recent attacks (2 in the last 4 months) have been since I have begun eating tomato based sauces ( spaghetti, ravioli, soups, baked beans). I have not yet cut them out of my diet, but will by the end of spring.
I have not been under a doctors care for my gout since my second serious bout, and have found that Celebrex is the best and quickest pain reliever with Ibuprofen good, but not as good at shortening the period of inflamation as Celebrex.
Thank you for your comments Bruce.
I’d just like to remind everyone that the true measure of whether you are beating gout is not your lack of gout symptoms.
Most of the symptoms are due to very complex reactions related to the bodies immune system.
The only true measure of gout control is uric acid level in the blood. Even this can fluctuate through the day, and from day to day.
Get tested regularly, and make sure the level is falling to some point below 6mg/dL
I dont know if i have gout. But i am experiencing some of the symptoms since the last 3 weeks. My doc says my uric acid and esr are high(she is suspecting gout). I have slight pains in my ankles especially the left and sometimes my instep. It began with pains in both knees for about a week especially at nights then that stopped. Sometimes I feel a pain in my wrist that doesnt last long.
I would appreciate your comments.
P.S. very good site.
High uric acid and painful joints are classic symptoms of gout, however they are not conclusive proof.
To get conclusive prove you need to have fluid from the affected joint analyzed. This is a simple process called arthrocentesis. It is best performed by a rheumatologist, who can interpret the results and offer you the best advice for treatment. However many general practice doctors and emergency units can perform the test.
To find more about this, search for arthrocentesis using the search box on the right (if there is no search box, click a page or the title at the top of this page)
Over the course of 30 days I have been not myself and very under the weather. Its started with aches all over, muscle stifness etc. Then one morning I woke to find my right foot and ankle severly swollen and excruciatingly painful, not able to put weight upon it. It was like this for upto 4 days and I was just simply asked to take Ibuprofen. A few days before the onset of symptoms my lip flared up seemingly due to a reaction but lasted so shortly and was so un noticeable i didnt take notice.
Anyway back to the point. after the ankle swelling I was wakng up in high amounts of joint pain, mainly the hip and lower bacl. The ankle swelled again and I have slowly recovered. I have changed my diet, which was already good. I have been taking Ibuprofen and the only thing I am still suffereing with is a reddish, brusied and swollend foot refusing to go down whatsoever.
It’s quite unnerving and I have today had my blood tests for uric acid levels to check for gout. I cant think what else my symptoms add upto but im worried as my ankle seems stuck this way! I usually run daily and i have been unable to do so for over a month now, it’s getting me down a lot.
There doesnt seem to be any specific treatment for gout and ibuprofen is doing absolutely nothing! I need some well sourced help and similar experiences
No, Ted, you need a rheumatologist and an arthrocentesis of your ankle.
Gout cannot be confirmed with a blood test, and a blood test might not pick-up other conditions such as pseudo-gout or septic arthritis. Or if you’re really unlucky, you could have all 3.
Please can other suspected gout patients take note. If your doctor does not discuss arthrocentesis (analysis of joint fluid) with you when he or she suspects gout, then you are seeing the wrong doctor.
There are several specific treatments for gout, but a physician who isn’t clear about diagnosis can never be relied upon for treatment advice.
I have recently been diagnosed with Rheumatiod Artrhritis, but believe it is gout. After visiting my doctor for more frequent intense bouts of shoulder pain, he arranged blood tests and sent me to a Rheumatologist. Unfortunately, he went by the high Rheumatoid Factor and thought gout was unlikely as the uric acid level was 4.2 mg/dL. My symptoms are quite classic for the intial debilitating pain in my shoulder in 2004, not returning for two years, then becoming to frequent recently such that it disrupts my work. If some ten years earlier, I had realised the itchy white spots on my big toe, which then flaked and peeled, later moving to my knuckles, and the joint discomfort of thumb and wrist, where not unexplained strains, I probably may have controlled this earlier. My main worry is that my family on both sides have a history of gout, three of which have died suddenly of heart attacks with no previous diagnosed heart condition. The answer I have been searching for and cannot find, is what comes first? Is it the possibly the heart failure causing the high uric acid levels, or is the a result of the high uric acid levels?
I started putting this in my website straight away over the past two weeks, and many of my searches and references bring me back here. I do not want to reign on your parade, as I think if someone has the opportinity to compile real data form the real suffers instead of relying on the doctors without the full knowledge, they could help to improve diagnosis and treatment. So just to say, I’m happy to give as much imput as I can or as you like. Perhaps you might suggest how you would prefer me to reference your site?
Martin
I have seen reference to gout being fatal by effect on the heart.
Obviously one knows that there is no joint to inflame in heart tissue.
My thoughts were either it was a secondary effect of high SUA on the heart operations -or alternatively tophi / crystal deposits could damage the heart muscles directly causing a weak heart into excessive fibrillation, or similar maloperation.
I have been suffering from gout for many years and have tried all of the usual medications. I seemed to react to allipurinol so discontinued its use. I have tried diet changes, cherries, baking soda and much exercise, but I would have to admit that due to my love for animal protein my gout has turned into what has in the past, like the 1880′s 1911 references,been called retrocident or atonic gout where it appears to have entered into my internal organs. It appears to attack my stomach, gallbladder, liver, vegal nerve and diaphram. It has appeared in a tophious state in my ear lobes as well. I am quite certain of this as the pocket of gout will go from joint to other joint or gut area. When it leaves the gut I get immediate relief there, but it then deposits itself in a foot, ankle, heal or knee. I have been trying to research this medical condition and have found information published in 1885 by Dr. Granville, another reference is Dr. Robin Roose also published in 1885. In addition the encyclopedia Britanica 1911 also describes this condition. These references describe my symptoms with utmost accuracy. No other modern medical information found on the internet has come close. These older references seem to be indept studies and analysis which provide very valuable insight into the broader effects of uric acid excess on the human body. I believe that what has happened to to Martin Sanderson’s family is clearly supported in these older references as a/n. When gout hits the internal organs and nervous system it is very debilitating especially when your medical doctor just stairs at you with disbelief as if the pain is really all in your head. From what I have read I am beginning to believe that a lot of people suffer internally from some form of gout or excessive uric acid which is not being diagnoised as such, resulting in improper medications, According to these older references it can affect the internal organs, throat, vocal chords, eyes, brain, and nerves as well as joints, but not necessarily the joints. I would love to get some clairification of this seemingly accurate, but very old information regarding uric acid. I am presently trying chelation with cilanto and protein elimination, water, cherries, good diet, but have no energy to exercise. Indomethacin just seems to recirculate the toxic acid allowing it to lodge where ever it fits.
Must get rid of the uric acid or it will kill me.
Good luck to you all.
Colin Mac Donald
Hell, It sounds like a bad trip Donald!
What amazes me is the way medicine ignores the historic record so blindly.
The ‘hands on’ approach one used to see in old films when Docs arrived with a black bag and a wise look have gone.
Now it’s 5.8 mins(max) in the consultation and counting, with the pen poised over the script pad and a finger stabbing the PC k/bd looking for last results (Yep – lost as usual !)
The moment the script is filled a blank look passes over the Docs face as if to say-
Another one on his way!!
Any further queries seem to irritate, usually.
These old medical stories stare out of time- when ,like you suggest, no one even wants to think independently anymore or listen to history.
Good luck, anyway!
I am a 75 year old male who is diabetic and has kidney problems. About 2 years ago I suddenly got gout in the big toe/joint of my right ankle. I do not smoke or drink.
Due to my diabetes I am on insulin and tablets. I am told that Ibuprufen reacts to the tablets and should bot be taken. So far the only treatment I have found to be successful is Colchimax.
Colchimax is manufactured in France, and contains colchicine, tiemonium methylsulfate (to counteract diarrhea pains), and opium powder (which is probably why it is not available in many countries). Colchicine is the first choice for gout pain relief.
Although this is a good choice for pain relief, you also need to be on something to lower uric acid. Allopurinol is the most common, but there are several alternatives and new ones in the pipeline. Make sure you get a sufficient dose to lower uric acid below 6mg/dL.
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