Gout/Allopurinol

[Frenchman]

Hi All

Quick question - for the past six months I have been plagued by gout in my right knee and both feet and toes and am fed up of hobbling around ! I have had the odd attack in the past (pre diabetes) but this now seems to be nearly constant.

I'm seeing the Doc on Tuesday and will ask him if I can start taking Allopurinol. From some cursory research on the net though it seems this may be a problem - I have controlled high blood pressure and of course type 2.

Has anyone any experience of this ? I also take 80mg of Simvastatin and have read this can sometimes can cause joint pain - might this be a factor ?

Thanks in advance !

 

[Synonym]

Hi Frenchman

Sorry to hear that you have gout - that is just soooo painful. My husband suffers from this and was prescribed alopurinol, but it didn't help; the doctor said that it is not a painkiller.

We got a bottle of 'Gout Formula' from a herbalist and it took a fortnight to properly kick in but now my husband has NO pain at all and, as you can imagine, is very thankful!! It contains Nettle, Cleavers, Ginger, Celery, Burdock and Buckwheat so all is completely natural and is made by Health Aid. He started on the maximum dose twice daily but now takes it only once a day as a maintenance dose.

If you look on the Health Aid website ww.healthaid.co.uk and in the 'search this site' box on the top right of the home page type the word gout. It comes up with the aforesaid ingredients and the product number is 804550 and you can order it from the site at £6.49.

Hope this works as well for you as it does for my husband!

 

[Frenchman]

Wow, thanks for the tip - many thanks for the suggestion Synonym I'll give it a go.

Nothing to lose and it can't carry on as it is ! I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Nooby]

Hi Frenchman

Sorry to hear that you have gout - that is just soooo painful. My husband suffers from this and was prescribed alopurinol, but it didn't help; the doctor said that it is not a painkiller.

What do you mean it did not help? Off course it helps if you take it correctly....correct dosage and check corresponding blood uric acid levels. Allopurinol/Uloric type of drugs are the only proven things that WORK!!!!

Allopurionl addresses the root cause of Gout ie. high uric acid levels in the blood. Your herbal medicine will do nothing about that! Do your husband a favour and get him on proper treatment. His body is probably laying uric acid crystals in his joints and soft tissue. It's a ticking time bomb which might take years to explode but explode it will! Do you really want severe joint damage, cardiac problems etc for him?

Gout treatment = maintaining blood uric acid levels below 6mg/dl. Diet won't do that if you are a confirmed Gouty. 2/3rd of uric acid in the blood is produced by the body and has nothing to do with diet.

 

[lovinglife]

Hi Frenchman - sorry about the gout I have never suffered but know it can be excruciatingly painful

I know nothing about high blood pressure and the tablets people take to help with that so this may be a total shot in the dark

My mum has taken blood pressure tablets for a number of years - about three years ago she had a nasty bout of gout in her toes on her left foot - the doctor said it was a side effect of that particular bp drug even though she had been on it for a few years - he changed it to something else and the gout cleared up and to press has never come back - sorry I don't know the name of the drug (it may be the simvastatin but you could ask your GP if what you are on has this side effect - like I say a shot in the dark but it could be possible

 

[Synonym]

Hi Frenchman

Sorry to hear that you have gout - that is just soooo painful. My husband suffers from this and was prescribed alopurinol, but it didn't help; the doctor said that it is not a painkiller.

What do you mean it did not help? Off course it helps if you take it correctly....correct dosage and check corresponding blood uric acid levels. Allopurinol/Uloric type of drugs are the only proven things that WORK!!!!

Allopurionl addresses the root cause of Gout ie. high uric acid levels in the blood. Your herbal medicine will do nothing about that! Do your husband a favour and get him on proper treatment. His body is probably laying uric acid crystals in his joints and soft tissue. It's a ticking time bomb which might take years to explode but explode it will! Do you really want severe joint damage, cardiac problems etc for him?

Gout treatment = maintaining blood uric acid levels below 6mg/dl. Diet won't do that if you are a confirmed Gouty. 2/3rd of uric acid in the blood is produced by the body and has nothing to do with diet.

Hi Nooby

Thanks for your concern but my husband makes his own decisions and he is very happy not to have any more pain and no swelling. I reiterate that the allopurinol did absolutely nothing and my husband prefers to use the formula which works. The blood tests show that uric acid levels are good and normal and, just as important, his doctor is equally pleased by the results. 8)

 

[Nooby]

Hi Nooby

Thanks for your concern but my husband makes his own decisions and he is very happy not to have any more pain and no swelling. I reiterate that the allopurinol did absolutely nothing and my husband prefers to use the formula which works. The blood tests show that uric acid levels are good and normal and, just as important, his doctor is equally pleased by the results. 8)

I will take your Allopurinol did not do anything with a very BIG pinch of salt Allopurinol can do lot of good and bad things (in minority cases) but "nothing" is not one of them.

Not that you should care what a Nooby (Gout patient who is in control of his Gout thanks to allopurinol) says online but if you want please give me the following info-

1- How long was Allopurinol taken and MOST importantly at what dosage? How many mg?
2- Roughly how old is your husband?
3- Was it confirmed Gout? ie. was his joint fluid tested for uric acid crystals?
More than 70% of patients get misdiagnosed for Gout. Docs and general public are so ignorant about Gout that it is simply shocking.
4- What were his blood uric acid readings before starting Allopurinol? How many readings were taken? Were they taken during a Gout attack or during non attack time?
5- What are his reading now after your "miracle" cure? :wink:
6- You do know that taking Allopurinol in lot of cases increases the number of Gout attacks initially as part of cleaning the already existing uric acid crystal deposits? The number of these Allopurinol induced attacks depends on how much uric acid crystals have been built up over years of non treatment.
7- What were you expecting Allopurinol to do? Take the pain of the attack away? Allopurinol deals with the cause of the attack and not the symptom aka pain. Although in the long term once it gets rids of the urea crystal deposits and stop new ones from being formed then you won't get any more attacks. Which is why allopurinol initially is take with drugs like Colchicine.

For others out there who might be reading this and suffering from Gout. Listen up carefully! There are only two types of Gout patients-

1) Those who take Allopurinol/Uloric/Probenecid type of drugs and

2) Those who have not started taking it yet because they think they are in control

Note- There is a third type (under 10%) who get Gout due to other problems....like failing kidney, cancer treatment etc but those are not what I would class as classic Gout patients.

 

[Nooby]

Hi All

Quick question - for the past six months I have been plagued by gout in my right knee and both feet and toes and am fed up of hobbling around ! I have had the odd attack in the past (pre diabetes) but this now seems to be nearly constant.

Thanks in advance !

I can't answer the other part of your question as I don't have high blood pressure but I can explain to you what is happening with you if you indeed have Gout. For Gout specific info related to your case I would highly recommend the following site run by fellow Gout sufferers. Not pushing any miracle cures just facts-
gout-pal.com/gout-pal-forum/

Frenchman basically as you might know already you have high uric acid in your blood. This is either caused by your body producing too much or your body not being able to get rid of it.

The end result is that over many years uric acid crystals starts getting formed in your blood due to it being over saturated with high blood uric acid. These crystals get deposited in your joints, tendons and soft tissues. Your WBC attacks these crystals and end up getting slaughtered themselves. Result is inflammation and extreme pain. Body sends in more WBC and the process repeats itself. Body just does not know how to deal with these crystals. The body coats it with protein to kind of keep it locked away. Meanwhile as your blood uric acid levels are high the cycle keeps continuing. Initially the attacks can be months and years apart.

As the attacks can be wide apart people think that they are doing fine while in truth the problem is only gathering force.

The build up of uric acid crystals is devastating for the joints if the blood uric acid numbers are not brought under control ie. under 6mg/dl consistently. Below 6mg/dl level new crystals cannot form and old ones can very slowly start dissolving. Meds like Allopurinol bring the blood uric acid readings down which results in the protein covering of the existing urea crystals being pealed back. This results in a existing uric acid crystals coming in contact with WBS again. Which is why people get more attacks when they start Aloppurinol. It's part of the well understood process.
People think allopurinol is not working and causing more attacks and foolishly they stop taking it. Also lot of docs are so clueless that they give wrong dosage of Allopurinol without seeing which dosage is actually working. Normally depending on individual Allopurionol dosage can vary from 300mg (most common) to 900mg per day (people with really high blood uric acid numbers).

Allopurinol or similar drugs have to be taken lifelong as the moment you stop--->blood uric acid levels will go back up and uric acid crystal will start forming again.

Also remember high blood uric acid levels = high chance of cardiac problems.

Build up of uric acid crystals over many years. Remember the deposits I told you that the body does not know how to deal with-

Graphic pictures removed from post. If the OP wishes to link to them with a warning that is permissible.

Moderator 2

 

[Synonym]

Hello again Nooby

I am all too aware that chemical medicines are a fairly recent invention and much of the pharmaceutical industry have thrown a great deal of money at trying to rubbish perfectly good natural medicine and have tried to limit access to anything which may not line their own pockets. Many people have bought into this mis-information.

I hardly think that any useful purpose would be served by answering any of your questions. I am also concerned not to increase your blood pressure any further and will allow you to have the last word if you so desire. :wink:

 

[Nooby]

Hello again Nooby

I am all too aware that chemical medicines are a fairly recent invention and much of the pharmaceutical industry have thrown a great deal of money at trying to rubbish perfectly good natural medicine and have tried to limit access to anything which may not line their own pockets. Many people have bought into this mis-information.

Right :roll: While that might be true in some cases it is hardly the case with Allopurinol. A years worth of Allopurinol (taken everyday) in US would set you back $11-$20. Hardly a money maker unlike the newer Uloric drug.

If a natural remedy works science confirms that by tests and it becomes part of medical science. Everything else is just hocus pocus like Homoeopathy.

I guess you must be aware that humans are living longer in modern times too. Some people just like learning the hard way so be my guest. See how you feel in 10 years from now.

I hardly think that any useful purpose would be served by answering any of your questions.

Thought so. People like you are dime a dozen online and in the real world.

I am also concerned not to increase your blood pressure any further and will allow you to have the last word if you so desire. :wink:

It was never about me having the last world. What will I gain or lose if your husband gets problems in the future? Gout will have the last word not me or you :lol:

 

[Lemmywinks]

Synonym wrote:
Hi Nooby

Thanks for your concern but my husband makes his own decisions and he is very happy not to have any more pain and no swelling. I reiterate that the allopurinol did absolutely nothing and my husband prefers to use the formula which works. The blood tests show that uric acid levels are good and normal and, just as important, his doctor is equally pleased by the results.

...
Hi Nooby, I'm new on here but must comment on your post. I have been on 300mg of Allopurinol for about 30 years now and it's a life saver. It is a long term medication, you cannot take it and immediately your gout goes, for instance 15 years ago my doctor suggested I drop the dose to 100mg and within two weeks I could not put my foot down. I went back onto 300 mg per day and a week later I was fine again and have been ever since. These cocky medicines may work once but for permanent relief there is only Allopurinol. :roll:

 

[Giblet]

hi there. I have to confirm Noobys post. I have been taking allopurinol for 12 years. I have high blood pressure and Diabetes. I have no side effects, but over a period of 4 months and a change of dose it cleared my gout completely. It's important to remember the damage that the uric acid does without you knowing, not just to joints but to arteries too. I get my uric acid levels checked regularly and now only take 100mg having modified my diet to remove things like red wine , anchovies and too much red meat. hope this helps

 

[bowell]

I also have taken  Allopurinol  for a number of years and it works for me
and had NO side effects from the Allopurinol

Simvastatin thats NO good for me I had bad side effects put me in hospital :?

My uric acid  levels are also checked every three months along with my BG


for info NHS Video
[youtube]qZy3FjkVaSQ[/youtube]