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I’ve had gout in my right big toe for two weeks now. Although it was hurting less.
Then last night I had chicken chow mein for dinner and by the time I went to bed my left foot felt like someone smashed it with a sledgehammer. I couldn’t sleep all night and it’s still very painful now.
Has anyone had gout inflammation after eating chicken chow mein? I don’t know what else could have triggered it.
Add lots of veg for Gout-Friendly Chicken Chow Mein
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Hi I have been taking allopurinol for about 5 years now with no symptoms of gout .
Just recently I have been experiencing pain in my right foot around the ankle and side of the foot
Is it possible to have gout without the crystals forming causing the pain in the cartlidges that we all dread getting again .
I’m wondering if my 300mg dose needs increasing .
My joints are becoming increasingly stiff especially in my knees and I feel generally unwell
I do remember having similar pain in my foot during gout attacks
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Many thanks
Does gout make your feet as sore as running a marathon?
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Ouch Chris!
That ‘Ouch’ is for your pain, but also terrible memories of a similar situation I had with a friend.
Now, I am not saying this is your situation, but I’ve experienced it first hand, so it’s the first thing I think of. It’s a few years ago, but the memory remains raw.
My friend, in his 80s, was a wonderful man. Life and soul of our social club. Happy father and grandfather. Enjoying being a great-grandfather after a lifetime of hard work and happy retirement. I never realized he was a gout sufferer, as he never complained. Towards the end of his life, his gout got worse. It kept him at home when he didn’t want to be. When I heard it was gout, I thought I needed to offer some advice. I was appalled at his story as he told me how his doctor neglected to follow-up uric acid tests. An administrator had reduced his allopurinol dose on some ridiculous grounds. He thought he was doing everything right because he never failed to take his daily allopurinol.
I can’t remember the exact numbers, but I can remember that his allopurinol dose was too little to make uric acid safe. I’ll never forget his tears during that conversation.
So, I hope I’m not being melodramatic, Chris. But, this is important to me.
What is your uric acid level?
Do you get annual blood tests for uric acid, kidney function, and liver function?
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Thanks for your reply
Im not sure of my uric acid but the dr said it was ok .
I have blood tests every 6 months .
I went to the dr yesterday and she said the painim getting is not related to gout .
Im convinced it is as I had a similar pain during my gout attacks
I feel there is an awful lot drs don’t know about gout and there is more to it than just the crystals tearing into your soft cartridges .
She told me to take ibrophen as she thinks its probably just wear and tear .
Could it be the damage from the early gout attacks ?
I don’t know -
Chris, it is all down to your uric acid level. I would never settle for
OK. Uric acid is either safe or it isn’t.If it has been consistently lower than 5mg/dL for the five years you’ve been taking allopurinol then you are safe. Are you in the UK, Chris? If so, the scale will be different. You are looking for a max of 0.30mmol/L.
If your doctor is one of the tiny minority that understands that, then you should be seeing a radiologist/rheumatologist to investigate the real problem. Personally, my money is on bad uric acid control. That might be because I’m gout-fixated. Or, it might be because I’m right.
Easy to tell with the uric acid test result numbers.
Uric Acid Crystals
I feel there is an awful lot drs donโt know about gout and there is more to it than just the crystals tearing into your soft cartridges .
Uric acid crystals do NOT tear into anything. They are too small, and their shape is a red-herring. Gout pain is caused by an immune reaction.
Joint damage from gout is a different process. Our bodies are designed to wear out. We grow new cells all the time to grow and to repair the natural damage. In our joints, specialist cells grow to replace damaged bone, cartilage, tendon, etc. Like little babies, they grow to become important parts of our skeleton and connective tissues. Except, when uric acid crystals are around, those little babies die. Very sad ๐ฅ
Something should be done about it.
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If your doctor is one of the tiny minority that understands that, then you should be seeing a radiologist/rheumatologist to investigate the real problem. Personally, my money is on bad uric acid control. That might be because Iโm gout-fixated. Or, it might be because Iโm right.
I believe you are right Im convinced the pain is caused by the uric acid level
I will know in a couple of weeks when i have a blood test
Many thanks -
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Yes i had a uric acid blood test and it was high but the dr wouldn’t give me a higher dose of allopurinol .
So I started to take cherry extract capsules and it seems to be working so far all those aches seem to have gone away well for now anyway ๐ . -
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Hi Mike,
Am so sorry for your gout incident. Did you drink wine or beer with your chicken? These are the two main factors that raise uric acid in our blood and have to avoid them unfortunately. Drink only water and abundantly especially during summertime. Hope you will recover soon with medication prescribed by your family practitioner. -
Hey Mike,
Dude, Gout attacks suck. Those of us who have had them know this all too well. Let’s start off easy here. It sounds like you know what Gout is, and it sounds like you may have had an attack before. So let’s start here:
Have you ever had blood work done to measure exactly where your Uric Acid stands? If not, do so when possible. That way, you will know for sure if your Uric Acid is high or at least above what we call “the Danger Zone”.
Next, if it is high, do yourself a favor and go see a rheumotologist and BE SURE to bring your blood test results with you. Go over them. Especially the Uric Acid section. He/she may want to start you on medication right away (depending on how aggressive they are) or they may want to do some additional tests to check your liver and kidney functions.
Next, do you have a history of Gout in your family? Ask around. Many of your relatives (even your father) are usually not very forthcoming telling people they have Gout. The old stigma surrounding Gout (regal condition, it’s a “drunks” condition, etc.) will often lead people to not disclose they have it. Bottom line is roughly 85% of people who have Gout have received it through genetics. It may have been passed on to you through family history. Who knows? Ask around.
Lastly, kind of personal question…..are you overweight, or can you afford to lose “a few pounds?” With proper diet, hydration, and exercise these few things can help your overall lifestyle and maybe help control future Gout attacks. Notice I said “CAN HELP”. These things alone will NOT stop future attacks until you can control your Uric Acid fully. I speak from experience here. I did the diet, exercise, healthy eating, no alcohol, no red meat, herbs stuff for over a year. Dropped 14 pounds, and only dropped my Uric Acid from 7.8 to 7.6. Talk about a kick to the groin. It blew me away.
I got on Allopurinol in January with a sky high Uric Acid of 9.6. By July it was down to 4.8. I continue to exercise, eat right, hydrate, and enjoy a Gout Attack free life, so far. I still wake up every day wondering when my next attack may happen, but through this site, research and talking to others I’m hoping the next attack will never come. I know this is a long response, but don’t fall into the misinformation trap or the rumor mill. Do your homework and stick around this website. It will help you a lot.
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Gout and Chicken
Mike,
I am guessing that Chicken chow mein was a take-away? If so it is most likely the ascorbic acid (aka vitamin C) which is often used as a preservative. I have had similar problems with take-away food, gout comes on very rapidly say within the hour.
The technical explanation: The type-D isomer of Ascorbic acid cannot be used by the body as the natural type-L isomer can. The body considers it toxic and like all toxic foods causes the body to present a higher lever of uric acid to neutralize/bind these toxic molecules in the blood. Remember uric acid is the bodies most prevalent anti-oxidant, the more toxic foods you eat the higher your uric acid.
Best of luck,
Nick -
Gout and Beer Experiment
> “Did you drink wine or beer with your chicken”
Ah, this old chestnut again…
Perhaps I could indulge you with my story of the great Beer experiment of 2005 –
Back then I had only been suffering from gout for about ten years. Doctors, and in fact everyone I met who claimed to know anything about gout, kept repeating the same thing about beer which seemed to differ from my experience, so I set about an experiment…
For two weeks in 2005, I drank 5 pints per day of โAdnams Broadsideโ (for those not in the UK this is a 4.7% strong bitter), that’s 70 pints of beer all in the name of medical research.
The result – not only did all gout symptoms disappear during this period but uric acid reduced from 625umol/L (10.5mg/dL) to 350umol/L (5.8mg/dL).Unfortunately in the long-term drinking that quantity of alcohol would most likely lead to other medical conditions.
Nick Causton
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@mike-salls Mike,
You’ve had some great responses, but a bit of a mixed bag. I hope you can see an emerging theme here – listen to your own body, not the common messages about gout triggers.
How about some feedback on the responses so far.
More importantly, what do you want to do next about beating your gout? โ
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