Thursday, January 13, 2011

The Gout

I can’t remember the last time I posted about my struggles with gout, but it has been on my mind quite a bit as I am in the midst of my 3rd episode in two weeks. I have struggled with joint issues for nearly a decade and became aware that it was gout about 2 years ago. I had been controlling it with indomethacin for acute attacks, but started an allopurinol regiment on December 20th, 2010.


Allopurinol works to control gout by reducing uric acid levels in the body. Mine tested well above the normal range of 4.0 to 8.0 mg/dl. Unfortunately as a person begins a regiment, they will be prone to gout flare-ups as uric acid is “flushed” from the system.

I am anxiously awaiting my monthly check of uric acid levels and hope to be in the normal range and gout free in a couple of months. However that is probably overstating and I will be satisfied with a reduction in my uric acid levels and fewer gout episodes.

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