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Controlling Gout

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surfgout

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 06 Apr 2008
Posts: 3
Controlling Gout
Posted: 04-06-08 16:35pm

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...
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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.
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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...
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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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