Diagnosed With Gout For the First Time, Pls Help! Posted: 04-21-06 07:31am
I have a few questions about gout , pls
advise & comment, thanks!
I have just been diagnosed with gout
yesterday, after experiencing excruciating
pain on my left ankle for roughly over a
month on/off. I am a male 34. Sensed
something is not right, went to the
doctor's office, requested for uric acid
test, and results confirmed that the level
has exceeded the reference range. From
the lab report, I noticed that the range
is at 200-440 umol/l, mine is 470
unfortunately. Doc prescribed a 2 mth
serving of apo-allopurinol (200 mg) to be
taken once a day.
1) given my uric acid level (at 470), how
serious is my gout problem in your
opinion?
2) I have seen a few postings here about
trying to avoid taking allopurinol and
attempting to take some other measures.
Are there strong side effects with taking
this drug? Any well-known facts about
this drugs that I need to be aware?
3) my doc was unable to conclusively tell
why this is happening, all I am hearing is
that it could be genetic, or it could be
my diet. However, none of my family
member has this problem, I hardly drink
any beer at all although my meat
consumption is probably above avg compared
to other food like veg or fruits. Can
someone comment on any other possible
causes? Reason I am asking is that I am
concern if there might be other problems
(potentially more serious) in me that
could be causing the high uric acid level
and perhaps more diagnosis is needed?
(e.G. Kidney problem?)
any advice/comments appreciated!
Thanks!
- new gout sufferer :(
|
painfree
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Nov 2004 Posts: 77 Location: ,
Thanks: 3
Thanked:0
Posted: 04-21-06 08:02am
Hi dune
make sure that you don't have sleep apnea,
which is the repeated cessation of
breathing for many seconds at a time while
you are sleeping. The resulting reduction
in oxygen has two effects which can lead
to gout. First, the cells overproduce
uric acid. Second, the percentage of
carbon dioxide in the blood increases,
which makes the blood more acidic so that
the precipitation of uric acid in the form
of monosodium urate crystals is more
likely. A gout attack results when these
crystals become deposited in a joint.
Sleep apnea, which is very common, is a
potentially serious problem that can lead
to cardiovascular problems, diabetes, high
blood pressure, and even sudden death.
Unfortunately, most doctors do not screen
for sleep apnea, so it is a woefully
underdiagnosed condition. And almost no
doctors are aware of the gout connection,
in spite of the fact that it has been
published in medical journal literature.
You may have to be very insistent to find
out if you have that condition. If you
do, then curing your sleep apnea will very
likely cure your gout, as it did for me.
Good luck.
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dune
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Canada
Posted: 04-22-06 06:43am
I'll comment further on #2 myself.
- stomach upset
- diarrhea
- drowsiness
:(
|
dune
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 21 Apr 2006 Posts: 3 Location: Canada
Re: Diagnosed With Gout For the First Time, Pls Help! Posted: 04-22-06 08:26am
dune
wrote:
i have a few questions about
gout , pls advise & comment, thanks!
I have just been diagnosed with gout
yesterday, after experiencing excruciating
pain on my left ankle for roughly over a
month on/off. I am a male 34. Sensed
something is not right, went to the
doctor's office, requested for uric acid
test, and results confirmed that the level
has exceeded the reference range. From
the lab report, I noticed that the range
is at 200-440 umol/l, mine is 470
unfortunately. Doc prescribed a 2 mth
serving of apo-allopurinol (200 mg) to be
taken once a day.
1) given my uric acid level (at 470), how
serious is my gout problem in your
opinion?
2) I have seen a few postings here about
trying to avoid taking allopurinol and
attempting to take some other measures.
Are there strong side effects with taking
this drug? Any well-known facts about
this drugs that I need to be aware?
3) my doc was unable to conclusively tell
why this is happening, all I am hearing is
that it could be genetic, or it could be
my diet. However, none of my family
member has this problem, I hardly drink
any beer at all although my meat
consumption is probably above avg compared
to other food like veg or fruits. Can
someone comment on any other possible
causes? Reason I am asking is that I am
concern if there might be other problems
(potentially more serious) in me that
could be causing the high uric acid level
and perhaps more diagnosis is needed?
(e.G. Kidney problem?)
any advice/comments appreciated!
Thanks!
- new gout sufferer
:(
commenting further on my question #1. I
believe the conversion from umol/l to
mg/dl is 0.0168, and therefore based on
the lab report I saw, the reference range
used here would be 3.36 - 7.392 mg/dl
while the actual reading of my uric acid
level in mg/dl is 7.896.
|
jr1321
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Grand Blanc Michigan
Posted: 05-04-06 09:09am
Dune,
i hope your gout is feeling better. The
one thing that painfree did not mention is
that sleep apnea, and gout tend to be two
legs of a three legged table - the third
leg is weight, I was extremely 100+ lbs
overweight when I first had gout and alot
of people that have gout are overweight
(although not all) I lost the weight and
both the sleep apnea and the gout went
away. Although ironically at the time of
this posting I am here because I am having
my first flare up in 3 years!!! Trying to
figure out what triggered it. Good luck!!
|
painfree
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Nov 2004 Posts: 77 Location: ,
Thanks: 3
Thanked:0
Posted: 05-04-06 17:57pm
Jr is right that overweight people are
much more likely to develop both sleep
apnea and gout. But I guess I am one of
the exceptions that makes the rule. I
have never been overweight. Thin people
can develop these conditions too.
