Hi, hardhittinz,
i have the following fyi:
1) ask your doc to:
a) take you off hydrochlorothiazide. It can raise the blood ua level and is known to cause gout.
B) see if it is ok to replace toprol xl with losartan (cozaar). Losartan (cozaar) can lower both the blood pressure and the ua level.
C) give you a 24-hour urine uric acid test to measure how much ua you excrete a day. Using the results from the blood and the urine tests you can estimate how much ua you are producing and excreting which is very useful in the management of hyperuricemia.
D) start ua lowering therapy using allopurinol, benemid, etc. They can lower the blood ua by 1~2.5 mg/dl in a few weeks. Start with a low dosage with colchicine or an nsaid, and adjust the dosage up every 2~4 weeks. Otherwise, they will trigger gout attacks.
2) work on your bmi. Extra weight produces extra ua. But don't loss weight too quickly, which can trigger gout attacks.
3) avoid large serving of high purine diet. Avoid atkin's diet which is known to cause gout. See section 2 of
http://www.Icuredmygout.Org for things that you can do to help your gout.
4) see a rheumatologist if your condition does not improve.
Good luck
