I Need Help With My Gout

I am sorry you have gout. My answers to your questions are:

1) with proper management, you can reduce the frequency and the severity of gout attacks and have a normal life.

2) although gout attacks are very painful they will eventually subside. Therefore some doctors don't seem to make a big deal out of it, especially if they are not the ones who are hurting.

3) beer can trigger and aggravate gout attacks. The best is to stop drinking alcohol beverage completely, especially during the gout attack. However, when gout is in remission, probably it's safe to have a few beer a few times a week.

4) if the doctor's diagnosis is correct, your gout attack should subside like previous attacks. But if the pain worsens and if you have fever, you should see a doctor asap.

More gout info can be found at http://www.Icuredmygout.Org . Wish you the best of your luck.

My experience and personal research (sorry jyy2, I can't credit you) shows that an alkaline balance in the blood due to ingestion of baking soda (arm & hammer) reduces the effects of gout to an extent that I can eat and drink whatever I want. That includes beer and liquor. No wine as it just gives me headaches.


Jyy2 is dead on the rest. I use now about 2 teaspoons of baking soda a day and have noted vast reductions in tophi.


I just like that I am back to my old habits as foul as they may be. Bro, your life aint over.

Prolonged intake of high doses of alcohol and baking soda can have negative impact on the health beyond gout. It is better to take them in moderation.

Taking 2 tsp of bs a day can reduce the blood ua level by about 1 mg/dl. Therefore it can reduce the size of tophi. However, 2 tsp of bs contains 2.4 grams of sodium (100 % of daily value) and can cause high level of the blood sodium (hypernatremia) unless you go on salt-free diet. It seems, a better way to lower the blood ua level and to reduce the size of tophi is to take allopurinol, probenecid or sulphinpyrazone, which can lower the blood ua level by about 2~3.5 mg/dl. Worth talking to the doc about it.

I have been reading these posts for some time. I am 53 and first suffered gout when I was 40. Evert year up until about 2 yeas ago I would get an attack once or twice a year. I would indocid and hobble about for 3,4 days until the attack subsided. In other words I would manage it.

The October 2005, a month before my wife and I were due to fly to Europe for a holiday, I got a crippling attack that lasted 4 weeks and subsided just enough for us to fly off in relative comfort. I got a relapse in London and when I got home and the the attck was well and truly over I had some tests taken to get to the bottom of it. Not only was my UA high so was my cholesterol.
So, simply, I knew what I had to do - knock off the beer an get into shape. At the same time my quack put me on pills that I would have to take for the rest of my life.

I don't accept that I HAVE to take any medication for the rest of my life but I started to take them anyway. I started to diet and exercise and lost 15Kg in about 12 weeks to get down to 71Kg - apparently my ideal weight.
Also I started taking BS in water from day 1 (I don't mind the taste at all). After about 6 weeks I stopped taking the medication but continued with the BS.
At the end of the 12 weeks I went back to the quack - my UA and Cholesterol were right back to normal. To this day some 15 months later I still have not had an attack. I have experiences 3 or 4 twinges in that time that have not developed into an attacK.
For several years I have had a large enflamed tophus on the big toe of my left foot.
This has now completely disappeared.
I consider that I am now cured from gout. I have slightlyslipped back into my old ways - put on 6Kg and drinking plenty of beer. I am exercising again and determined to lose this weight and I will. I love my beer though but am convinced that I can both drink beer and have a gout free future -
thanks to the selfless efforts of JYY2.

Thank You!!

This sounds exactly like me -- I average 3-4 attacks a year. But recently experienced 2 in succession in which the attack was longer than usual. I am thinking about starting the BS regimen and am gathering information.

So you started this 15 months ago. And you're completely off your gout medication?

ianmac84
Yes, I have been taking BS in water for about for about 16months and stopped all gout medication about 13 months ago. The last twinge that I felt would have to be about 9 months ago.
These days I probably only take BS 2 or 3 mornings a week.

I would like to think that this is a definite cure, and compared to conventional treatments, I think it is.
You have nothing to lose by giving it a go.

Good Luck