Oh that's horrible! So sorry to hear that. Yes, these drugs can have nasty after effects. Need to keep an eye on them. I've finally overcome a minor flare on 40mg. Worried about jumping to 80mg as suggested earlier.

I wonder if the muscle cramps will not get out of control. I have two weeks to decide. Then I can either stay with 40mg, up dose to 80mg or go back to Allopurinol.

I just wanted to post today about my husband and all the people that are taking a new drug called Uloric. We call the company that makes the drug because my husband was taking 80MG and was getting so many gout attacks but this is how they explained it. While you are taking this drug it gets in and moves the crystals around till there are none left. He has been fine for about 1 month now. He is on a maintanence program. 40 MG of Uloric, the pain reliever Indomethacin 2 a day, a 1 colchicine, and lot of water. Keep the faith because we really were getting discussed and now I think the worst is over.

I'm a 25 year old male who was diagnosed with gout about 2 years ago. I just had a huge flare up last saturday. I endured the pain for a few days, then took ibuprofane and some black cherry/ regular cherry pills/extract. I just saw a doctor last friday and he gave me uloric and Limbrel. The gout attack was originally on my left foot. It was healing up prior to the doctor's visit. After taking a dose of Uloric, my right food immediately began to throb. It is now Monday morning and my right foot has flared up so bad that I'm unable to sleep. I know this is a side-effect of Uloric since it could potentially result in gout flare ups as it tries to extract/destroy or do hwatever to the crystals built up in my joint. Any other suggestions as to what I can do? I have missed an entire week of work, and with this recent flare up it looks like I'm done for another week....

I'm a 31-year-old female, and have been plagued with gout since my teens. Had a severe allergic reaction to Allopurinol in college (almost died) and since then have tried indomethacin for flare-ups (worked for a while, then had no effect), and colchicine for prevention (on it once daily). However, the only treatment that works when I have a flare-up these days is prednisone. Thankfully, I only have to be on it for about a week, but it works its magic. My doc just prescribed Uloric and while I am anxious about the side effects of flare-ups when you first start, I'm excited hearing all the good stories posted here. If it will clear our the old crystals that have built up in my joints, both hands and both feet, I'll feel reborn! The almost monthly/every two months flare-ups since my teens have caused serious tophi and made my feet grow from a 7 1/2 to a 9 1/2! Plus the daily stiffness in all joints and "old lady" hands at 31...well, wish me luck! And good luck to all of you out there giving it a try. About time they came out with something new...it only took 40 years!

I have posted before about my experience but I would like to update.
Please use caution with Uloric. I am not saying it is the reason but I have been on it three months and it is magic as far as uric acid numbers. But after a lifetime of good blood work (except for uric acid) my life has been turned upside down. My kidneys are failing. I have stage 3 failure. Still finding out how much longer I have but suffering many of side stage 3 side effects.
So please people use caution.

Experimenter - have you had your uric acid levels tested? if so, how did the uloric affect the results?

Find a Dr. that will prescribe you prednisone. Shouldn't be too difficult. It isn't something you want to be taking all the time, but if you need an attack to go away as fast as possible, you should try it. It works every time for me, usually within 12-18 hours. Just make sure you surround yourself with HEALTHY snacks that fill you up, like veggies, fruits, etc. because prednisone will make you eat like a bear!

Hello folks, I just "celebrated" my one year anniversary of a recurrent ankle "sprain" that was finally diagnosed as gout. Apparently I have had gout for at least 6-10 years, and how it finally exploded into my knee, elbow, fingers.

Long story short, I have been on Uloric for about 5 months, far better tolerance than Allopurinal. UA level has been under 6 since 2 weeks after starting Uloric. Yes, I had many many flares during the first 2 months of taking Uloric. Those attacks were minimized/ mitigated with Colchicine and Indomethacin. I find myself still needing to take a colchince every 7-8 days.

Now I have no pain at all in my elbow and fingers. I have some pain inside of my left knee joint (which showed tophi during joint aspiration) and I still have problem with my chronic ankle sprain with tophi (you can't see it from looking at my ankle). I am counting on my doctor, who assured me with longterm Uloric intake, those tophi will be dissolved and get re-absorbed.

I will get another lab test next month, the first 2 showed UA to be in target range of under 6mg/dl, and the next one will be testing my liver and kidney function. I know if the lab comes back with failing kidney like the other post, I am definitely going to seek alternatives. At $5 a pilll for the 40mg Uloric, it will only be worth it if I am not sacrificing my other organs. I am 47 yr. old and plan on staying here a while longer!
Anyway, I found this forum and hope I can learn as well as share my gout experience with you all. Best of health. Wen

I have had Gout for 23 years (first noticed it the year after I left USMC at 22, 45 now). I started taking Allupurinol when I was 30. I took it religiously but never had a uric Acid level below 7. In August, my Dr put me on Uloric. I took the 40 mg dose for two weeks and had a Uric Acid level of 7. I switched to the 80mg dose for two weeks and have a Uric Acid level of 5(woo hoo). I am continuing on at 80mg/day. I have had several attacks. I control them with Indomethecin; however, I am taking that more than ever in the past (due to attack frequency). I am hoping that the pain I am going through will lead to better joints/less pain in the future. I will report back as I get more data.

jjarvis72, that is kinda like where I am at. I am taking the Uloric faithfully, but still have to deal with the flares. I must admit my good days are better than before Uloric, and the bad days are not as bad.

I am having a flare today! Its always a downer when that happens. Painful enough to have a slight limp, but not so much that I have to lie down.

Gout sucks bad!!!

wwp512, those flairs sure have an impact on quality of life after a while. I don't think a day goes by anymore where i don't have some kind of joint pain. Ankles and Knees are so full of Uric Acid crystals there is no short term solution there. I am really hoping the pain will be worth the gain. At 45 I should be contemplating something crazy like a marathon. I have trouble walking from the car to the curb. It is not where i imagined myself at this point. So, I will stop complaining. I am glad to hear you are seeing a small improvement. I am not sure i see that yet but it isn't any worse. I hope to hear that others are doing well and seeing signs of reversal in symptoms.

Gout sucks bad...I agree!!!