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I have the gear for the cold. I moved to Germany from interior Alaska. -5C feels downright tropical to me!
As I've mentioned before, my big toe joints are messed up and I may have to undergo surgery to get them cleaned out. My knees, on the other hand, although undergoing a lot of bad attacks lately, are still relatively free of damage from gout. I may undergo Orthonkin treatments in both knees soon to help with cartilage regeneration, though. Most of that damage is due to playing football and rugby and basketball and being a long and triple jumper in track and field. Oh, and skiing and biking and hiking and………
I agree, though. The turnaround has never been this quick for me. I couldn't believe it when I woke this morning, still having some pain, but feeling so much better than just eight hours earlier. I have to attribute some of this to the allopurinol treatment and the less severe attacks I've been undergoing. Yes, they are still bad – very bad in some cases, but nowhere near what they have been in the past. I'm not crawling to the kitchen or the bathroom, pulling myself along with my elbows because I can't even stand up or put any weight on my feet. Limping and dragging a leg behind me is a marked improvement compared to some of my more memorable attacks from not so long ago!
Trier is beautiful. I have a good friend who lives in Duddeldorf which is about 45 minutes from Trier. We made a trip to Luxembourg and then stopped in Trier for a day last summer. I really enjoyed it!
My wife actually got her Masters degree at UNM. There are some beautiful parts of that state, but I'm not sure if I could hack some of the people for too long – especially for 14 years!
I'm currently living in Parsberg, a small town between Regensburg and Nurnberg just off of the A3. It's a great little town and the area offers up a lot of interesting things for us to do. We really like it!
hansinnm said:
NateA said:
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Yes, it sucks living in Germany, the land of sausage and beer, and having to abstain from a couple of things that the Germans actually get right, …
Well, thank you Nate. I knew, we got a couple of things actually right. I wished I was back in your shoes again.
I love it here, man. Where are you at now? Are you from Deutschland? We're finally getting a real winter this year! I just wish I could sit down to a nice Jaegger Schnitzel mit pommes dinner along with downing a couple of liters of zoigl brew while watching the snow fall! I know that this won't apply to some people as high BP is caused by a variety of reasons. Before embarking on my serious journey to kick gout's ass, I was diagnosed with hypertension. Nothing astronomical, but definitely high for someone of my age (35) and who was pretty physically active. I was in the 'high' category (145/85 on avg. I believe). When I got serious about my gout and became more aware of the steps I needed to take, I made a conscious choice to seriously alter my diet and stop any intake of alcohol. I wouldn't call myself a vegetarian now by any means, but I have completely stopped eating any meat other than the occasional salmon or mahi mahi. I have had no alcohol now since August. Overall, this has been very beneficial for me as a whole. I still live with almost constant gout attacks as my body purges the excess UA that has built up over 15 years, but my BP has dramatically decreased. I went in to the clinic today to refill my perscription of Allopurinol, was in pretty bad pain from multiple attacks I'm currently suffering through, but my BP, even with the pain which usually elevates my BP in to the 150 zone, was surprisingly normal. I directly attribute this to my diet and lack of alcohol.
Yes, it sucks living in Germany, the land of sausage and beer, and having to obstain from a couple of things that the Germans actually get right, but I manage. 😉
trev, I did discuss this with my doctor and he was under the opinion, and able to convince me, that getting rid of the built up urate deposits as quickly as possible would be more beneficial in the end. He was able to convince me by saying that the attacks I would get from the high dosage of Allopurinol wouldn't be any worse and would probably be less sever than what I was already suffering through. I was at a point where I had HORRIBLE attacks every few weeks. One attack would subside in one joint and another attack would quickly start in another joint. So far, the doc has been correct. The attacks, although still happening frequently, have been less severe. The attacks are still very painful but are nowhere near as crippling as they were just four or five months ago. I'm trying to stay positive and take this as a good sign! 🙂
Good information. Thank you for sharing. I've asked most of those questions over time and received similar answers. One thing I was told, however, was that since I've been dealing with gout for the past 15 years is that a lot of joint damage has occured in the large joints of both big toes. This was seen in a round of x-rays I had taken four months ago. The doctor told me they could perform a fairly simple surgery to clean them out and alleviate the pain and help with mobility. I may have a go at this when my attacks subside.
I've been on a high dosage of allopurinol (600mg) for the past three months and a 300mg dosage for a month and a half before that. I've been living with multiple and constant attacks since taking the allopurinol and it has not been easy. I've had a couple of very severe attacks in both knees and right now both big toes, my right pointer finger and my left knee are very, very sore and gouty. My UA level is down to 3.4, though. God I hope this ends soon. Good luck to you!
I was thinking about asking my doctor about trying this out. From what I've been told, the drug is pretty expensive in the US. I'm not sure how much it would be in Germany. I'll see if I can't find out and report back.
“I think, if I can offer any advice, it would be to not take the first attack lightly and work very closely with your doctor to monitor attacks so they can prescribe the best course of action.”
I wish I would have known and considered this 15 years ago. I've found that there are still quite a few docs who aren't versed on the latest findings of gout or who just have not dealt with it much in their practice. It's a frustrating road when you're pretty sure you have gout but the doctors are telling you otherwise.
I'm about in the same boat as you now. Taking allopurinol, 600mg/day, to get rid of the years of built up uric acid. It's been a very painful process over the past four months and I'm sure the next few will be pretty bad too. Good luck with your treatment and keep us updated. I'm curious to see how long it takes others to reach a level of 'normality' after starting the allopurinol regime, especially after suffering from gout for a few years prior.
Good luck!
zip – it's not jumper's knee. I'm quite familiar with that ailment! After a couple of days, the pain did move up in to my knee joint proper. This was obviously gout pain too. It was very odd. My orthopedist has mentioned on a few ocassions that uric acid crystals can be deposited in what he calls soft joint tissue and I think this was the case here.
I did have an MRI on the knee last January and I did have a small tear in my patellar tendon. It seems that the gout likes to manifest itself in a lot of locations where I've had previous injuries in the past. Probably the case here. It was just a new area for an attack and it took me by surprise I guess.
Clayover ~ My gout problems started when I was 21. I am now going on 36. When I got my first attack, I was a very healthy and active person, eating little meat and drinking little alcohol. I also don't have any family members that suffer from gout, so the hereditary thing can be taken out of the equation too. It wasn't until two years that I learned I was born with only one kidney. I don't know how that escaped doctors all this time, but it did. This is probably a contributing factor to me being stricken with this disease. I make sure to have my kidney functions tested each time I get my Uric Acid levels tested. So far, my kidney is fine and there have been no abnormal results from any of the tests.
I just started a strict regiment of Allopurinol about four months ago. Since I've suffered with gout for some time, it's taking a while for the Allopurinol to get rid of the excess uric acid crystals in my joints. It's been a painful process, but I'm staying positive and looking forward to the day when things get under control and I can resume a normal life.
By the way – I frequently get attacks in my knees and it SUCKS! Best of luck to you!
Thanks guys.
I DO envy those that only get attacks in the big toe! Those were the salad days, man. I just hope those that are starting to battle with this affliction are able to nip it in the bud using the advice they find here. Be proactive, not reactive. Where was this knowledge fifteen years ago??
It seems lately that my knees and Achilles area have been a favorite spot for the attacks to happen. Right now, though, I’ve got it in a brand-new place – it’s not in the knee joint per se, but I have a tremendous amount of pain just below my knee, where the little bump is on the front of the leg. It’s actually not as bad as having it in the knee. At least I can somewhat bend my leg. It really doesn’t matter, though. My damn foot is so swollen right now that I can barely walk anyway. These are the times when I could use a beer or twenty………..
JohnnyBrew – I'm in a very similar situation as you. I have been off work for the past three weeks taking leave-without-pay with the paperwork for temp disability going through review. My doctor wanted to put me on temp disability a lot earlier, but I refused until my condition became so bad that I could barely drive.
I've been on allopurinol for over 4 months now and have been taking 600mg/day recently. Two months ago I cut meat, except for the occassional fish, from my diet and haven't had an alcoholic drink during this span either. Yet, here I sit, completely miserable and disabled, not even able to make it up the stairs in my house. I have to bee back to work on the 4th of January, but I don't even now if I'll be able to put a shoe on by then. My manager and her manager are totally supportive of me taking the time that I need. It's my company that I work for that is putting up the roadblock. I don't even know if my disability will be approved, but I'll let you know when I find out.
Oh, and the colchicine has never worked for me and has only caused horrible bouts of diarrhea and gastrointestinal discomfort. I tried it again a month ago at the bequest of my doctor and it did nothing to alleviate the attack in my knee. Getting cortisone injections seems to work better but still doesn't do much.
Best of luck to you.
Nate
It's been a while since I've posted, but I thought I would update everyone on the latest.
I finally got a positive diagnosis stating that I am suffering from gout six weeks ago. After six knee drains, taken at various times during differing acute attacks over the past few months, crystals were detected in the fluid sample. The first five drainings took place at my local orthopedists office. The fluid samples were being sent off to Nurnberg for analysis. The last draining took place at a clinic that had an on-site lab. I was told by the specialist on this last occassion that the samples are very fragile and can be easily damaged when shipped. If anyone else is having problems getting a confirmed diagnosis when it's obvious gout is the problem, check to make sure that the lab tests are being done on-site.
Anyway, I'm getting my uric levels checked every two weeks. Every time they are between 4 and 6. My allopurinol dosage was bumped up to 600mg/day 6 weeks ago from the 300mg/day I was taking. Still, I am suffering through horrendous attacks. I have now been taking 300+ mg/day of allopurinol for over 4 months, I have cut all meat and alcohol out of my diet for the last 8 weeks and I'm still suffering. These aren't just attacks targeting one big toe at a time either. I'm having mulitple joints attacked at the same time and the pain at times is absolutely excruciating.
I have spent the last three weeks on leave-without-pay (disability pending) to try and rest. Things were going okay for the first three weeks – a twinger here, a twinge there but nothing serious. Two days ago, however, I woke up with a fully inflamed toe on my right foot and a badly swollen and red ankle on my left. Now my knee has jumped on the bandwagon and is killing me. I'm f'ing miserable.
I know there is no sure-fire cure and nobody can really say anything to help. Just thought I'd share.
I have also been working on a book the past three weeks detailing my bouts with various injuries and gout over the past 15 years. It has actually been quite therapeutic to write it all down. For those of us that have been suffering from this malady for a while, we know that gout just doesn't cause physical pain. It's also extremely mentally draining, affecting all facets of life. I have no idea what I'll do with the manuscript when I'm done, but at least it has helped and made me realize just how much gout has affected my life the past decade and a half.
I hope everyone's Christmas was good (Santa brought me a gout attack…). Have a happy new year – and stay away from the grog!
It felt soooo good to get home from work and take my damn shoes off!
Thanks for the reply GoutPal. I knew there would be some joint discomfort while getting rid of the built-up uric acid crystals in my joints, but I wasn't expecting this. I think this is going to ruin a rare three-day weekend for me. It's unbelievable how much one little toe can hurt. Not that the people on this forum don't already know this…… And to think, this is a 'minor' attack.
