Uloric vs. Allopurinol (Page 1)

I am looking for help also. My husband has been on Allopurinol for about 3 years. About 3 weeks ago he had the worst Gout ever. The doctor changed his pill to Uloric. He now has gout every day all day. It goes from one ankle to the other, then to the elbow, back to the ankle, then in the knee, and this morning at 4:30 everything was terrible. Both ankles, elbow and knee. He takes the anti-inflamatory to help with the pain. If you read about Uloric it says you will have flare ups but this is terrible. Today he is not taking Uloric. Also he just had in the last week about 10 different blood test and his uric acid count was perfect, go figure. But something strange has changed his Iron count, it very low and the pill Uloric can make you be anemia. He is 80 years old and has never drank or smoked in his life, and also is on a diet and has lost 14 pounds, he is not that much overweight anyway but the doctor said he has to cut down. I think today I will be calling the doctor about a SED Rate Blood Test, of all the test he didn't take that one.

Hope he feels better soon. My dad had it and was taking 800mg of Ibuprofin which worked for him. Not sure he can take that but good luck

yes Uloric will help you. as you know elevated uric acid causes Gouty attacks. your body can absorb about 6.8 mg/dl of uric acid before it begins to become saturated. If your uric acid is above 6.8( in your case 9.2) you begin to deposit monosodium urate crystals usually in your extremeties because the temperature there is cooler which makes the absorbtion of uric acid drop down to around 6.2. Taking a medication like Uloric should get your Uric Aacid down below 6 mg/dl and to your dr's target goal of 5. This will be very helpfull for you, because even in between gout attacks if your uric acid is still above 6.8. your body is still producing crystals which in tunr can do major joint damage over the years. As for your foot that is called podagra and it usually starts in the left foot's big toe. this is again due to temperature and your left big toe being the furtherst area away from your core body temperature so it is easier to deposit crystals. Best of luck with Uloric! there are 2 does 40 and 80 which should pretty much manage your hyperuricemia!

I wanted to post about my husband today. He is feeling so much better. I talked with the people that make "Uloric" and they explained how this pill works. When you first start taking this pill you will have flare ups, and then when the pill has gotten rid of all the crystals you will be feeling better. It gets in the joints and takes the crystals out. He is still taking the anti-inflamitory pill faithfully everyday till he can see it starting to clear up.

25 years of Allopurinol 300 mg daily resulted in infrequent gout attacks (2-3/yr). U-acid most often <5.8 during that time, but last year a tendency for U-acid to remain >6.5 (threshold where I feel extreme discomfort and add colchicine to regimine (3 tabs in one hour produces diarrhea where I swear I could thread the eye of a needle, but dumps the pain). No adverse side affects with Allopurinol. Rheumatologist changed allopurinol to first 40 mg Uloric, follow up with increase to 80 mg Uloric daily. First metatarsal pain transitioned to overall ankle....perhaps diffusing tophi?? but at least a shoe or other foot covering is permissable. Initial concern was this new med is only being prescribed to further clinical trials or pad wallets by manufacturer. Years ago I thought cure might best be a chainsaw until spouse pointed out the gout would probably migrate to knee or other major joint.

I have tried Allopurinol and it caused such severe gout attacks I quit taking it! I had a bad attack a week ago and the doctor prescribed Uloric. I get my medications from Medco and have not yet received my Uloric! I will report back after I have taken it for a month or so. The only down side I can see is the cost. $10.00 for Allopurinol for a 90 day supply as opposed too $137.50 for a 90 day supply with my company drug plan. but if it works it''s worth the extra bucks...Don K.

When you start ANY drug that lowers uric acid, you INCREASE the risk of triggering a gout attack. Any competent physician should know this! Therefore it is necessary to simultaneously start an anti-inflammatory medication, usually for about six months.....to prevent the attack. These meds could be colchicine (unfortunately not available on the U.S. market as a generic....due to the idiocy of the FDA combined with the....in my opinion....antisocial behavior of a drug company named URL), an "NSAID" (OTC naproxen as an example....but not to be used, or used only with great care, in the elderly, people with hypertension, fluid retention and/or kidney disease), or even LOW-DOSE steroids, such as prednisone 2.5-5 mg daily (but this has serious and cumulative potential side effects). Incidently, generic colchicine, 0.6 mg, for about $43-48/100 pills As opposed to $5/pill for the brand name) is available from a nearby country.

When you start ANY drug that lowers uric acid, you INCREASE the risk of triggering a gout attack. Any competent physician should know this! Therefore it is necessary to simultaneously start an anti-inflammatory medication, usually for about six months.....to prevent the attack. These meds could be colchicine (unfortunately not available on the U.S. market as a generic....due to the idiocy of the FDA combined with the....in my opinion....antisocial behavior of a drug company named URL), an "NSAID" (OTC naproxen as an example....but not to be used, or used only with great care, in the elderly, people with hypertension, fluid retention and/or kidney disease), or even LOW-DOSE steroids, such as prednisone 2.5-5 mg daily (but this has serious and cumulative potential side effects). Incidently, generic colchicine, 0.6 mg, for about $43-48/100 pills As opposed to $5/pill for the brand name) is available from a nearby country.

Hello folks who is suffering gouts attack and you all need to control your eating and drinking beer. I was diagnosed have gout problem back in the''80 while I''m station in Germany and not Army Doctor and it''s an old German Doctor who told me that I have a gout problem. Long story short he told me not to drink beer because of HOP''s and not to eat medium rare meat specially steaks. The medication they prescibe if I have an attack is the Idocine eats the lining of our stomach and I have a bleeding ulcer. Last 2002 I was operated on Esophagus Cancer and 2005 operated on Bladder Cancer. Once in a while I''ve having attacked not on drinking, but eating high protein food and I been treating with Colchicine and when the inflammation is gone, I have to start taking the allopurinol and I don''t have any problem on Allopurinol and being a retired Army I get my medication inside the Army Hospital. Just reading the story on Uloric medication I think I am satisfy on my medication I am taking right now. Now I am turning 62 this year and thanks god I don''t have a severe gout attacked lately.
Good luck to all until next time, God Bless!

AlloP is tried and tested with no side effects for majority of users so I am sticking with it.

This remedy works for me and i am pain free ever since, no medication except, drinking half a shot of organic apple cider before meal. it does help a lot if you're worried about medication. study shows that apple cider venigar can lower the ph level in our body and same time a breaking down of the acid. it works for me and hope to you too...randy

I'm a frequent beer drinker and develop a gout attack on a fall and while injuring my right wrisk. The gout moved from my right wrist to my right knee to my right ankle and eventually on the most common joint my left toe. Colchicine has control the gout attacks on my toe and I have recently begone taking Uloric. I'm hoping the Uloric will lower the acid levels back to normal and can go back to living a normal life without the medications.

The first poster "dontang67" says didn't want to try allopurinol "because of the risks associated with this Rx". What risks are those? And why does the poster think that Uloric is any less risky, and is willing to try Uloric? I've had gout for 5 years, and have used allopurinol for the last year and a half. It's been very effective at keeping gout away. But I think it makes me tired. I take 300mg. Sometimes I cut back to 150mg a day by cutting the pill in half, and do that for a week, and I seem to feel less tired, but I start to get gout twinges in my joints, so I go back up to 300mg, and feel more tired again. I went to the doctor complaining about this fatigue, and the doctor gave me samples of Uloric to try, and a prescription for Uloric. I'm considering trying it, but am reading up on it first. It doesn't seem any more risk-free than allopurinol, in fact, I consider that it's riskier, because it's newer. I've seen two people mention how it cause rashes and itchy skin. Uloric's own site says something about possible liver damage in small number of people. Still, every drug has its risks, and allopurinol has risks too and I've been using it mostly fine. We'll see if Uloric doesn't cause fatigue in me, but I'm a little scared to try it, so am still just considering it.

I was on Allopurinol for a few months and developed a severe rash. This is a rare side effect (less than 2% of users) but I had to stop. I am about to try Uloric which also has a 2% chance of rash, hopefully not the same 2% of people.

Jeafra1 - Like your husband, I suffered from a major flare up initially (lasted about 10 days) upon starting Uloric. My doctor said the drug is extremely aggressive so they say the initial flares are worse than allipurinol (which I've tried and does not work over time). I hope your husband has stuck with the Uloric. My levels were at 8.5 when I started. I'm down to 4 six months later. I had a little bit of dizziness when I first got on drug but I just take it before bed and do not have any persisting problems. I'm just happy to be out of pain for the first time in 11 years. My feet also look normal again without the swelling.

Uloric is safer than allopurinol for your kidneys. Chances are, if you have gout, it is due to lack of uric acid clearance by the kidneys. This means your kidneys are already impaired at least mildly. Allopurinol is eliminated 95% in the urine and becomes toxic if you cant clear it. Uloric is a cleaner and more effective xanthine oxidase inhibitor and Only 49% is excreted through urine....I did all the research and am living proof it works. I feel nothing but relief since my doctor switched to Uloric from allopurinol! And, I found a way to save $20 off my copay at uloricsavings.com.
I say go for it!

I'm not sure how this works, I think I'm posting in the right box?? Anyway I just turned 33 and I've had gout since I was 17. It has of course gotten worse thru the years. I'm in very good shape (as good as I can be when gout alows me to move around), 6 ft 180 lbs. I run, rockclimb, snowboard, surf, hike, frequent the gym, cycle, etc etc. I don't sit still for very long if I can help it so I don't understand why this has gotten so bad. I don't have a bad diet, I do drink although that doesn't seem to be the main culprit at all, sometimes alleviating the pain. The attacks are very random and extremely painful to the point that I cannot move off of the couch. My knees have swollen to the size of cantelopes, my ankles swell so badly the skin peels when it subsides. I've had it in my lower back, shoulder, elbow, wrists, hands, both knees and ankles, of course my big toes and all throughout my feet. I have attacks AT LEAST 6 times a year. My pain tolerance is beyond human at this point (I ran a 200 mile relay race with gout in my left foot 3 wks ago). This isn't only affecting my joints, long lasting attacks imoblize me causing depression. At the time of this post I'm coming off a THREE MONTH long flare up (still can't straighten my left knee) that has been playing musical joints. As soon as one joint starts to feel better another flares up. I HATE drugs and esp drugs like allipurinol that have the potentiol to make me fat, bald, impotent with skin rashes and kidney dammage from what I've read on the side affects. Also, I have tophi deposits in various places on my body. My question, what are the risks with uloric and will it work for me??

Dude....my gout is a close relative of yours.....I am at my wits end...alliperinolyours has caused attack after attack.....they say it will stop soon and the crystal lumps are almost gone. My life sucks not being able to enjoy life active anymore. It best help soon.

wow three months I had a flare that lasted that long when I was in my twenties. Not so much now. I think I am starting a long one now. I have done the allopurenol, colchicene and now uloric. For about two years I was gout free no flare ups but here it come back. I eat right and do not drink but now my doctor said stay away from tomatoes and turkey. What the heck I guess I got to starvr now.

wow three months I had a flare that lasted that long when I was in my twenties. Not so much now. I think I am starting a long one now. I have done the allopurenol, colchicene and now uloric. For about two years I was gout free no flare ups but here it come back. I eat right and do not drink but now my doctor said stay away from tomatoes and turkey. What the heck I guess I got to starvr now.

One last thing, I had blood work done recently and my uric acid levels were at 11.3

Hello there:
If I were you I would avoid the pharmaceuticals in general. Its in your best interest to figure out what caused the gout to begin with.
I would start taking Apple Cider Vinegar every day. My dad takes it in shot form with a chaser--twice a day. He has gout flare ups 1/year now from 5 or 6. This and a squeezed lemon each day will do wonders for your pH.

Also as far as the cause is concerned: Seek out a Naturopathic Dr. in your area. Make sure they are from an accredited school--they will have some excellent herbal alternatives not toxic for your body. I am an ND student right now, i should know. . .

Best

Seems to me that there is not a dimes worth of difference in the two drugs--except that Allo P is available as generic and therefore less costly.

Sam Bigger

I am currently 52 and first started getting gout in my mid 20's. In my 20's, 30's and early 40's I was very active physically (hiking, running, et), Gout became progressively worse to the point that I went for a couple years with a sore foot every day. Needless to say my physical activity dried up when I could barely walk.

I have been on Allopurinol for about 10 years and it has worked for me very well (100mg once a day). Allopurinonal can make you tired, but I take it at bed time so the sleepiness actually worked to help me get to sleep.

I went off of Allopurinol last year because it has been linked to a different condition I have (Lichen Planus), but the Gout is coming back and getting worse... so I have gone back on it.

I haven't tried Uloric yet, but am curious to see how it fares and see if it might be a better long term solution for my condition.

So some history, first attack was in my ankle, lasted for weeks in 2003, no doc's had any idea what it was since there was no heat from the affected area. Went to a orthopedic doc and Xrays showed nothing, prescribed NSAID's ( indo ) , finally went away in a week. ... he finally said is was pseudogout after aspirating my joint.

over 12 years I had some minor joint pain but if I kept moving ( walking, swiming .. etc ) it would was not a big issue and was mainly in the form of either bursitis behind the heal or minor ankle pain in both and/or knee pain in my left knee.

3 years ago I started to get what 3 dermatologists thought was eczema, but a good oral surgeon found lesion in my mouth and took a biopsy and test's showed it was Lichen Planus.

This year I had a bad gout-esq flair in my right knee, took ibuprofen, rested, iced ... took 5 days with one day so bad I could not walk 10 feet wiht a cain.

5 months later I had a DVT in my right leg behind the same knee ( odd cause I walk to work 1.5 miles each ways and swim almost everyday )

3 days after going on heprin and warfarin I had my left knee flair, then 2 days later my right big toe joint and then 2 days later my left ankle and had to take Percocet to sleep 3 hours at a time ... worst pain ever ,,, even worse than the ARMY ..

My yearly lab results for uric acid had been 5-6 range ... now 8.3, now the question is why.

They had to give me colcrys 1.2,g and then 0.6 one hour later ... next day starting a run of prednisone, ( Medrol over a 6-day period). got me to 90% in my knee and toe .. ankle 100%

so ... now .. treating gout with 300mg Allopurinol/day and colcrys 0.6mg 2/day ... very important to take the colcrys in the first 1-6 months using Allopurinol because the uric acid crystals that have accumulated in the joints over years are going thought a proceess where the body is "processing them" when the blood levels drop to the point where one can mobilize and excrete it and will take some time to get rid it.

Colcrys was needed because warfarin and NASID's have bleeding complcations

I stopped taking colcrys after 2 days thought I had peripheral neuropathy, just slept on my arm funny, colcrys is a scary drug if you read the science behind it and I resisted taking it ... only as a last resort, (yep I saved the colcrys).

next 4 days had minor flairs in shoulders, knee's, ... etc. ... then BAM! ... left knee started to flair and the next day was getting bad I still waited next day was full blown gout flair .. took 1.6mg and 1 hour later 0.6mg colcrys .. waited 12 hours and next day took 0.6mg ... then every day after that went to 0.6mg 2/day
for a week tapering off to 0.6mg 1/day for 3 days and now none for 10 days, ( keeping 7 colcrys for the next bad flair I hope does not happen). "cured the flair in 2 days ... I wish I had taked it earler.

Now 2 months after the DVT and gout flairs my joints are getting less of the mini-flairs and no bad side affects from the Allopurinol


So ... what the moral to my story? ... I think there is something else causing the issues ( like lupus ) and I'm perusing all the tests I can afford and will provide this forum what my finding are