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I am a newbie. Sorry for the long history but you need that to give me the advise I need.
If I remember correctly, the first time was in 1993. It came out of nowhere and I assumed the pain came from some trauma that I could not remember. However, it was so painful I went to the emergency room. Luckily the staff there correctly diagnosed the problem and a couple of days on indomethacin and I was “cured”. I would have occasional episodes once or twice a year since. Sometimes two years would pass without incident. 2 to 3 days of Indomethacin and it went away. In 2004 I had a major incident while on vacation in Arizona. Back to the emergency room but the attending doctor only prescribed percoset for the pain and told to continue taking Indomethacin. By the time I flew back home, I was on crutches. My doctor prescribed colchacine and I never thought I would welcome diarrhea, but there you go.
The last incident lasted almost 3 weeks. Indomethacin kept it at bay but I was in pain 24×7. Even colchacine failed me this time although after reading this forum, I was not aggressive enough with it. My doctor sent me to a Rheumatologist. He tapped my foot. Ouch!
That said, I am 52, weigh 173, I work out 5 days/week. I'm on a high protein, low carb and low fat diet to maintain my weight. I took my first 300mg tablet of allopurinol today. I hate having to do this and my UA level was only 6.9.
I do not want to take another pill for the rest of my life. I'm already doing that for blood pressure. I don't mind dealing with a one-off incident of gout once every year or so if I can get away with it. Of course this last incident may have changed things.My concerns: Do you get sick more often since you started on Allopurinol?
My UA test only showed 6.9. Is that high enough to warrant starting on Allopurinol? Can I try drinking more water or something else before submitting to another pill to take for the rest of my life?Hey TT ! You've been on crutches with gout!!
If you tolerate AlloP well- then be prepared to take it for a long time, like forever- as you will revert back unless you introduce other severe lifestyle changes/meds to compensate.
Once established on the med, you will get used to the balancing effect your body desperately needs for urate reduction. This will risk some attacks in the next few months- as you mobilize those pesky urate stores you must surely have gained , by now!
There are the usual ways to manage this, but they should lessen in severity and length, in time.
Bear in mind, your SUA readings will vary -and be lowered by the recent attack, so your situation may not be so marginal as you suppose.
toetrauma,
You've had enoough attacks to assume that you most likely need to take the pill every day. Without the allopurinol your attacks are likely to become more frequent and more severe.
One uric acid reading is not enough to have a lot of meaning, but it IS high enough for concern. Have SUA readings done every time you see a doctor for anything.
If, after a year on allopurinol you are getting readings of 3 or 4, then you can consider lowering the dosage if you wish. A lot depends on how much urate you have stored in your body's many hiding places.
But generally speaking, allopurinol is forever…even more so than love. It is the ultimate “til death do us part.”
I hope you have no more attacks…I was that lucky. But if you do, be more aggressive with the colchicine.
I think most of us have read that Allopurinol reduces one's ability to combat germs and hence more infections are possible. Then, there is always the risk that certain antibiotics can interact with the drug causing skin irritations. I did have a bacterial infection while on allopurinol and the pharmacist said to avoid taking the antibiotic and allopurinol at the same time.
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