High Sufferer of Gout - 25 moderately fit an healthy!

by Greg Barnett
(England )

I had my first attack of gout at the age of 18. I have always put my initial increase of Uric acid down to excessive alcohol consumption and 6 cans of red bull a day (I know!).

But, my older brother also suffers badly as did my father (who now hasn't had gout for a long time) along with my grandad and so on and so on. Always putting it down to being irreditory, which obviously it is, but I have a really high pressured and stressful job - I don't drink alcohol whatsoever anymore.

Anyway, getting to my point I believe my initial attacks are caused by stress and when I have to get around on it, I get clumsy and aggravate it even more. At this exact moment in sitting with my right foot in a bowl of freezing water, the pain of the cold just slightly takes away the intense fever like heat in my foot! So ok, for now. Been on every form of gout medication (arcoxia, alpuranol, etc) and I'm on colchicine ATM (i know, bad) yet I've been on these for years and now come to learn they are a really bad drug to take! Cheers doc!

So. Anyone out there who has had "minor attacks" I urge you to radically change your diet, take stress classes and chill out! Because I wouldn't wish my worse enemy a bout of long term gout as the pain is phenomenal, let's just say my pain threshold is considerably higher nowadays!

If you know what causes yours, well done - cut it out. If you don't, welcome to my world! It's going to be a long road but hey it's 2012 and this needs to get sorted out now! For us all!

One other thing, can we try and get a campaign running to make people more aware of gout. Don't know about you, but all my employers don't deem it to be a decent excuse to be of work! When it takes 1.5 hours to get to the toilet, you deserve a day off!

Just thought if voice my side of things!

Good luck fellow sufferers