Managing Gout

I've been feeling a few tingles in my left foot over recent days which is always a sign that something nasty is going to happen. That nasty is gout!

Gout is something I've suffered from on and off for around 8 years I think, I've not really kept track. The thing with gout is a sufferer may have multiple attacks in quick succession or possible just a single attack over a lifetime. Either way, it's not a very nice thing to have.

Gout is essentially a form of arthritis is not very pleasant in the slightest. Here's a picture of my gouty foot (left) taken during an attack back in 2014. I seem to recall this attack tacking around 6 weeks to resolve itself.

As you can see my left foot is a little bigger than my right, the attach occurred in my big toe and top of the foot. It can happen in any joint but the toe seems to be THE joint for many sufferers.

In 1683 Dr Thomas Sydenham, himself a sufferer of gout wrote the following about the condition.

"The victim goes to bed and sleeps in good health. About 2 o’clock in the morning, he is awakened by a severe pain in the great toe; more rarely in the heel, ankle or instep. This pain is like that of a dislocation, and yet the parts feel as if cold water were poured over them. Then follows chills and shiver and a little fever. The pain which at first moderate becomes more intense. With its intensity the chills and shivers increase. After a time this comes to a full height, accommodating itself to the bones and ligaments of the tarsus and metatarsus. Now it is a violent stretching and tearing of the ligaments– now it is a gnawing pain and now a pressure and tightening. So exquisite and lively meanwhile is the feeling of the part affected, that it cannot bear the weight of bedclothes nor the jar of a person walking in the room."

It's easy to dismiss the pain associated with gout but it is truly awful. It's caused by urate crystals forming in the joints due to the body not processing the product properly. Urate is the byproduct of the body processing purines; some foods are rich in purines so if the body can't process these then an attack is possible. My attacks often occur due to being dehydrated due to not drinking enough on days I run (or used to run).

Amazingly @cannot bear the weight of bedclothes" is very accurate indeed and was the experience I had first time around. It was summer so we only had a sheet on the bed and the weight on that sheet on my foot was unbearable. Needless to say one can forget trying to walk or place a show (or sock) on the foot.

When I feel an attack coming on I tend to drink lots (and lots) of water to help aid getting rid of the urate. I also drink a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice first thing in the morning. This is meant to help reduce the acidity within the body and help break down the crystals. I also try soaking my foot in water that's as hot as I can bear. All seem to help a little.