Gout Pal Interactive

You asked GoutPal about medication for gout.

The key thing to remember is that all gout medication falls into two groups:

• Pain Relief
• Urate Lowering Therapy

I have given full information about all common Gout Remedies
for Pain Relief">gout pain treatments and all common urate lowering therapies at GoutPal.com.

The most important of all medication for gout is treatment to lower uric acid. The most common, and currently most effective, urate lowering therapy is allopurinol. It is important that you study all the information about allopurinol on GoutPal.com.

When you start taking urate lowering medication, it is vital that you keep taking it every day. It does not matter if you are having a gout attack or not. Stopping the uric acid lowering treatment will not help the pain of that attack. If you stop taking it, you will increase the chances of more pain in future.

You need pain relief medication until the urate lowering therapy has done it’s job and all uric acid crystals have gone from your body. There is a wide choice available, and you should discuss different ones with your doctor. Do not put up with taking colchicine if it makes you sick. There are many alternatives, and you should be able to find one or two that suit you.

This post answers a short gout question in the gout cures section. If you need any more information about medication for gout please see my Gout Questions page.

A recent comment from a reader about stubborn gout pain has set me thinking. I started writing a short comment reply, but as I thought about the problem, I realized that this subject deserves it’s own article.

Tom wrote about his stubborn gout pain:

I have used prescription NSAIDS (Ibuprofen,Indicin, etc.) to sucessfully treat a gout attack that affected my toes, ankles and knees.

Second and subsequent gout attacks did not respond to NSAIDS and I tried fresh cherries, dried cherries and cherry juice concentrate. The Cherries worked at first and then failed to give relief.

Next, I tried Colchicine and that worked - with gastric upset side-effects.

I’ve also noticed a difference in pain treatment response to different attacks. The pain is caused by a complicated immune response that scientists are only just beginning to understand.

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White horse courtesy of morguefile

What do horses have to do with gout?
Not much, unless you tend to overindulge in The White Horse pub, but there is a link.

The nice thing about having a gout news page, is that you often spot interesting news items. My attention was drawn to “Research Into Why Common Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Harm Intestines”.

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs, commonly called NSAIDs, play a significant role in managing acute gout (see acute gout management chart), but they cause stomach problems for many. As you may know, I seem to tolerate NSAIDs pretty well, but who knows if I am at risk, but have not yet had any side-effects. Many other gout sufferers are not so lucky

I nearly turned away when I read that this was research by Kansas State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine and that the research would benefit horses and other animals that require NSAIDs for ailments related to their athletic activities. Animals and athletics - not much interest for me then, until I spotted a quote from the research leader:

“We treat horses the same way we treat humans, and horses get the same side effects,” Lillich said.

So, although uric acid metabolism in horses is different from humans, they still suffer the same pain from inflammation that gout patients do. NSAIDs for pain relief have the same effects on horses as they do on gout sufferers. So any benefits from this research will help us gouty folk as well. And there are some benefits…

Lillich said the research he is doing at K-State will lead to better treatment for patients requiring nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

“What we’re trying to do is get better at drug design,” Lillich said. “… Manufacturers will be able to make a drug with fewer harmful side effects.”

Great news for gout sufferers everywhere. And horses.

Every gout sufferer is concerned about food, but before you start a gout diet, make sure that it is built on sound principles. Gout diets, like any form of gout treatment, need to recognize and improve three distinct phases: stop gout triggers, reduce gout pain and lower uric acid. Let me explain how a good gout diet relates to the three basic phases of gout management.

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