Hello, I am a 36 year old male that was
diagnosed with gout 3 years ago. My first
attack in the big toe joint put me out of
work for 5 days. It was brutal. My Uric
Acid levels from the blood test were not
that high so I ended up having the
procedure where the doctor uses a needle
to extract joint fluid to get a 100%
confirmation on the diagnosis. He saw
crystals in the fluid: I have gout. By the
way, turns out my great-grandfather had
gout also...
I began researching how to control gout. I
made the massive changes in diet and quit
drinking for a year (anything to avoid
that pain again). My doctor informed me I
could pop a pill every day for the rest of
my life to help control the disease but
that just did not sit right. At 33 it was
hard to picture taking a pill everyday for
the next 40 or 50 years.
I still had flare-ups of gout. Luckily,
nothing as harsh as the first attack but
very uncomfortable/painful. I would take
ibuprofen to manage the swelling and pain.
Again, I worried about the longtime
affects on my body...
Then, a friend told me about Bikram Yoga.
This is the type of yoga that takes place
in a very hot room and you sweat, a lot. I
am not the 'new age' type and some of the
spiritual side is a bit far out. BUT, I
have not had a full fledged gout attack in
over 1.5 years. I try to go to Bikram Yoga
2-3 times per week. In fact, there have
been times when I felt the gout coming on
and would only need 1 to 2 bikram yoga
sessions to completely stop the attack.
I recommend everyone out there who has
Gout try out this Bikram Yoga. It has
worked for me and I hope it can help you
out too. I just signed up for this forum
so if anyone has a question let me know...
|
stanl
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 24 Location: San Francisco, CA USA
Is it the yoga or the sweating? Posted: 04-06-08 20:33pm
Do you think it's the sweating or the yoga
exercises that are helping you keep gout
in check? I would think it's the
sweating.
Various toxins, uric acid among them, are
excreted not just through urine but also
through perspiration. Since we generally
don't sweat that much, I would think the
urine path is usually much more effective.
However, if you engage in a sweat-inducing
activity or spend time in a hot/humid
environment, then you can get rid of a
significant amount of liquid (and
presumably a significant amount of UA).
Instead of Bikram yoga I've been going 2
or 3 times a week to a gym where they have
a dry sauna, a steam room and a whirlpool
spa. I have weighed myself: a half hour of
sweating "like a pig" in these facilities
drops my weight (currently I'm about 170)
about 1.0 or 1.5 pounds. It's all sweat
and when I drink water afterwards I regain
the weight loss (don't want to be
dehydrated -- can bring on a gout
attack!). I still don't know how much uric
acid leaves through the sweat but *maybe*
sweating is helpful.
Also, I have done other things to try to
prevent a gout attack (lose weight, change
diet, use supplements, etc.). So far, so
good. I have not had an attack for a
couple of months now (way too short of a
time period to make any valid conclusions,
I know).
Still, the idea of uric acid excreting
through perspiration makes a lot of sense.
Unfortunately I have seen very little
information on the Web about this.
|
surfgout
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Apr 2008 Posts: 3
probably both Posted: 04-08-08 15:25pm
Hey Stanl....I think the sweating plays a
major role. Again, I too do not have any
medical proof. All I know is I am
controlling the gout attacks. Again, it
has been 1.5 years since I have had a
full-scale attack. The one
common-denominator to that time frame has
been Bikram Yoga (hot yoga)....
I am sure that exercise and diet play a
general role in the body's ability to
resist gout attacks.
However, in Bikram Yoga there are many
positions that focus on the toe-joints.
They get stretched, worked and
flushed...this has to help as the premise
of gout is the formation of 'crystals' in
the joint.
Bikram Yoga is designed to 'flush the
system' through a series of stretching
positions...
As I said when I started this thread. I
just want people to know this is an
option. So far it has worked for me and it
might work for you too...
|
stanl
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 24 Dec 2007 Posts: 24 Location: San Francisco, CA USA
Posted: 04-08-08 15:56pm
Interesting about Bikram Yoga.
I've been doing regular yoga for a couple
of years now, but got clipped by gout in
December anyway. I increased the use of
sweat rooms only a couple of months ago.
So far so good, but it's only been a
couple of months.
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