i know what you mean aboout holding back. according to the heartrate formula for my age, 60% of 182 is a heart rate of 109. that's nothing. 70% is 127. i usually hit that while warming up.

i'm starting to think that exercise and weight loss are my biggest triggers. when i was eating rich foods and drinking alot of beer but not exercising, i would have few attacks. then i would feel bad and starting an exercise program and restrict calories and boom: feet started to hurt. I would work out in the 150's, about 85% and eat a high protein (often high purrine)/ low carb diet. so i was getting it from all angles; ketones from the weight loss, lactic acid from the workouts, and purrines from the diet. the problem is that i still need to lose another 20 pounds but that will come at the expense of more attacks. i've got to stay on the bs for awhile.

i'm thinking i may push it way up to 80-82% on some days. on those days i will take extra measures to keep my ph in the upper 7's to 8 and refrain from eating anything with purines. if i know i'm goint to be eating badly or drinking a few beers, i'll work out at 70%, and still take bs before and after.

what's funny is that you can't really discuss this with your doctor because all they want to do is prescribe meds and change your diet.

Your experiences sound a lot like mine. When I look back on most of my attacks, most occurred during prolonged attempts to get myself back in shape. I'd drastically alter my diet and train like I was trying to make the Olympics. For most of my life I was very fit for an average joe. When I'd go on the health kick, one of my staples was sardines; I love them anyway and always thought they were good for you. The attack I had last March and April were following weeks of intense rollerblading and some days of sardine only meals. In fact, after the attack started I consumed 5 cans of sardines in 2 or 3 days. I didn't know what the pain was so I took ibuprofen, for which you're supposed to have something in the stomach. The easiest thing to eat was a can of sardines. I was making the gout worse without knowing it. Doh!!

Like you I have been a poster child for gout in the past - heavy exercise, unbalanced diet, too many soda pops, highly acidizing foods.

My greatest concern now is that the gout will keep happening even without the heavy exercise; the one I'm going through now was not induced by exercise, and am hoping it was the diet cola excess on a daily basis and too many New Belgium beers (very rich).

I agree with you about the doctors. The latest nitwit told me diet didn't have anything to do with gout. I don't know who's a bigger jerk - him for bilking me of >$400 or me for paying it.

I'll be interested in knowing how your experiments go. I wish you luck. It sounds like you've got a good plan.

I've been trying to balance my foods - lots of watermelon, cantaloupe, lemon juice in water, celery, carrots, and fruits to offset the beef and chicken. I really noticed a big difference from the baking soda.

There is so much conflicting information out there, it's hard to figure out just what to do. But I don't think you should eliminate purine containing foods altogether. Instead try to balance them out with alkalizing foods. Just my two cents worth.

great ideas, i agree with all of them. have you tried cherry juice? also, what about apple cider vinegar. i've been supplementing baking soda with a drink of cherry juice concentrate, acv, and lemon juice in water. my ph goes to 8 after having it. i've been doing that an hour or so after a meal while still taking baking soda at night and in the am. i still think baking soda works best. tons of people are believers that cherry juice is not only great during an attack, but also on a daily basis to prevent attacks. I am committed to drinking it twice a day. i think it and baking soda are essential. acv is great for all of the other benefits (choleterol, blood pressure, digestion,reflux, diabetes prevention).

It sounds like you're way ahead of the game compared to me when I first learned of my gout. Wish I had known all these options 9 years ago during the mysterious attacks.

Yeah, when I'm in the throes of a vicious attack I try the cherry juice. I haven't noticed that it alleviates the pain, just do it because so many people swear by it. Like you, the baking soda does me good. I intend to try the acv when this attack ends and I can tone down the baking soda. I'm a little concerned with going in the other direction - too alkaline.

What kind of pH strips do you use. I've got two different kinds, AquaCheck and AlkaMax, but they are tough to read definitively. Have you read anything about the best, easiest to read pH strips?

enzymedica is what i use only because they were the only ones i found. drug stores didn't have them so i went to whole foods. they only measure up to 7.5 so i don't know how high they go. if you are eating acidic foods i would think it would be impossible to be too alkaline. does your ph ever drop throughout the day or night?

The AlkaMax goes up to 9.0 and down to 5.0, I found it at a place called Sunflower Market. I found the AquaCheck at a pool/hot tub supply store - they range from 6.2 to 8.4.

Yeah, I notice the pH has been fluctuating a lot, but has only dropped into the 6 range once I think since starting BS a week ago.

You are probably right about not having to worry about going too alkaline, but the way things have gone recently I'm afraid of Murphy's Law kicking in.

I've go to go, it's been good getting your input. I'll check back on this thread to see how things are going for you. Please keep us informed - good or bad. Best of luck, and hope you beat it.

just worked out for 40 minutes but 127 was my max heartrate. when doen, my ph was still 7.5 without having taken anything to raise it since i woke up 3 hours earlier. seems like a good sign. in acccordance with the article you attached. i will save my high intensity workouts plus weights for 2 days a week and well spaced out.

Thanks for the update. Keep up the good work.

the forum consored one of my posts where i discussed cherry juice. i don't know if that was due to my attaching an article or because the fda is cracking down on people making claims about the health benefits of cherries. i will say this, in addition to being an allegedly strong anti-inflammatory, cherries also lower your uric acid levels according to some people.

richgout,

i worked out 5 times this week and only once was of my previous intensity. that, coupled with 2 to 3 tblsp of bs a day has led to a week without much of the sensations in my feet (burning, twinges, etc) i even had a few drinks last night and quite a bit of meat all week. while i don't feel secure in this lapse of sensation, it does temporarily support my notion that intense exercise is my #1 trigger.

Water is the absolute best medium for exercising for people who find it difficult and painful to exercise on land. And I agree, the absolute best water workout system available is the AQUA-exerciser Water Workout System by AQUA Fitness International.

the picture is starting to get clearer for me. yesterday was my semi-intense workout day which mainly consisted of weightlifting and plyo-resistance cardio for about 30 minutes (i've had to tone it down). I've tried to keep my heart rate down to 130-135 at the highest and slow down between sets. that part really sucks because it hard to really exhaust my muscles and energy. anyway, i took bs just before bed at 11 pm or so and woke up around 3:45 am with a ph of about 6, 1.5 lower than days when my workout is very mild. so, when i work out intensely, i need to plan on waking up during the night to check my ph and take another doese of bs or acv so the crystals don't settle or get exposed (not sure whether i still have crystals or what since i never had tophi).

Hey guys,

Haven't been on here for a while. Like I said before, I have been monitoring myself since January to get a clearer understanding what exactly is triggering my gout attacks. Now I have something interesting to share with you exercise freaks.

Firstly, I am off Allopurinol for nearly a month now despite my Rheumatologist's recommendation to use for life as urate level is within normal range. I know a lot of people advocate taking Febuxostat/Allopurinol for extensive periods to control urate level, but it just doesn't work for me and as far as I know, it isn't that effective for others either.

I continue to use BS to control my gout as in previous years but now record my ph as well to adjust the dose accordingly.

I have tried using Montmorency cherries for 3 months alongside the Allopurinol and temporarily stopping the BS whilst going about my normal training routine. I find I had to use BS quickly again because I risk getting an attack with my foot twinging in a similar fashion before a typical attack.

My opinion only - I think all these expensive cherry supplements, quercetin etc is a waste of money and does nothing significant outside of dodgy clinical trials for gout sufferers. I could be wrong though!

As you know I do weight training, BJJ and Kickboxing 5 times a week. What I have found is that the intensity of all these activities that produce a low ph in my body can just be controlled with BS intake alone without medication at all and does not result in gout attacks.

As an experiment, I decided to do MMA ground training of low intensity but bending my left toe excessively. This is the potent trigger in me! That's it. It does not matter the intensity, just bending the damn thing and putting pressure on it does it.

What can we learn from this? What is necessary I think is to find out the exact trigger in yourself and try to avoid it.

I personally believe that any of you guys that only get attacks in your foot (like me) may reconsider exercises involving putting excessive pressure on the toe because even taking all the remedy that works previously will not stop triggering the gout to resurface.

I think I can probably live a gout-free life for a long time to come but who knows? One thing for sure is I can never be an MMA fighter. Anyway, I hope all you guys can figure out your own trigger and stay away from deadly gout attacks too!

Wow, surfing the net, so glad i found this group. I was diagnosed with gout about 4 years ago. 36 yrs old and it sucks. Just recently I decided to go back to allopurinol cause I cant seem to get a handle on flares. I get one a month. I am active on bjj, have been out for the longest. I had to give up weight training and cardio, but I want to hold on to bjj. I read your comments about drinking baking soda, first time I hear this, can you tell me more, how much?, how often? were you buy it? I have very limited knowledge on this kinds of otc help. But i think I have more knowledge than that of my dr. Thank you.. will stay in contact.

Here's another thing that your doctor has not yet learned - that your gout is probably caused by your sleep apnea. Overcome your sleep apnea and you'll cure your gout. You'll also greatly reduce your risk for future development of many much more serious life threatening diseases.

painfree:

when you guys r talking about BS, is it the regular powder baking soda you put on the fridge? Do you mix it with any drink? what is the ratio BS:drink? how often do you drink it?? What does it do?

Just was wondering how you measure you uric acid levels. also would like more information on Baking soda. I am on blood pressure pills Came down with gout after going on a fruit and veg diet. Lost too much weight to fast 6'4 235lbs. Play lots of tennis,racketball handball hiking biking. But all on hold right now. Starting to think that these are sports of the past. Hope not. Laying in bed now with no hope in site. Started Allpurnal last week 100mg. Tried avc cherry juice. Seems like when it feels better I will walk on hit or hit tennis balls with my daughter then it flares up again. Not it is all over the foot. Doctor is saying for me to be on the pill for a month and then come back and take blood tests to see if my levels have gone down. In the meantime stay away from my sports. Is that the answer for month to lay around in bed?

Help please

Like the earlier posts i would like to know about the Basking soda, how much to take, how to take etc. I am leading an active life style since 2 years after spending 6 years in the fear of developing Gout. In the mean while i gave up drinking completely, eat very less meat and compensate it with seafood, cherries berries etc. It was under good control, also i am taking allopurinol everyday 100 mg. But recently i have had 2 mild attacks when i thought i was doing everything right. I suspect its triggered by injury, i do racketball (3 or 4 days), running 3 miles (2 days) etc. I had a small unnoticeable injury in the left foot and thats it i got a flare up. Thats when i drink like close to 3 litres of water a day. My other guess for the attack is if you lose more than 1 LB weight under a week. Your experience / opinions will help me.

All i can say is stop!!!!! YOU MUST LEARN TO STOP!!!! Your body is not a machine its a learning process forever.. If your uric acid is too high and got some soreness on joints after you work out you should stop!! and take it as injury.... Divert your attention on how to lower your uric acid.... Avoid proteins... All proteins... uric acids are the break downs of proteins believe me or not... for your information bodybuilding is a very strenuous workout, you are actually tearing muscles from heavy workout and those teared muscles needs nutrients like protein and carbohydrates including water.. Yes WATER!!!! they are stack there for repair and stays in your body for so long that is why you have decrease in excretion and uric acid will stay long to your body and find some deposit on your joints.THERE IS WAY OUT FOR URIC ACID ITS ONLY IN YOUR KIDNEY, URETER, BLADDER, URETHRA AND URINE!!!!!!! THAT IS FOR SURE.. YES THATS THE ONLY WAY OUT!!!... If you are really a sporty guy and love challenges.. i challenge you to stop and cure your self for six months FOLLOW THE DOCTORS ORDER AND TAKE YOUR MEDICATION!!!!. do some exercise but not that intense and strenuous until your body is back again to normal... For sure after that you know what your doing... EVERYTHING IS BALANCE!!!!! DONT BE HARD HEADED......!!!!!!

Glad I fount this discussion...my gout seems to be triggered by strenuous exercise as well. I found some published research at http://www.jbc.org/content/110/1/107.full. pdf which I thought might be helpful. It states that STRENUOUS exercise diminishes the excretion of uric acid and leads to high UA levels in the blood, yet mild exercise has no effect on UA blood levels. Here is what seems to help me...Cherry juice and Mona Vie. I have just started baking soda because I did a super crazy plyometrics workout, very little water and had alcohol the next day...needless to say I am paying for it now. So I am giving baking soda a try to get me out of this flare up. Going forward, I am going to moderate my training intensity, drink more water and continue drinking cherry juice and Mona Vie and eliminate alcohol completely