Two weeks of measuring my uric acid

It has been two weeks since I started publishing the uric acid readings that I take every day on my blog. It is hard to believe it is two weeks since I unboxed it. So what have I learned?

HARD TO MAKE UA READINGS

The UASure is actually quite easy to handle - but getting the right amount of blood in the right spot is quite tricky. It does not matter if you smear a lot of blood on the strip, it has to get in the little opening. Too little blood will lead to too low UA readings. It takes a lot more practice than I had assumed, and it is harder than I expected to prick your fingers in a way that gives enough blood but still closes up quickly and does not present a risk of infection. It is not noticeable yet, but the skin on the fingertips will gradually get tougher and harder to puncture.
I tried to do it on my left hand, but it turned out to be much harder to apply the blood to the measuring area in the right way than I expected from the fingers on the left.

STRIPS RUN OUT FAST

The strips run out much faster than I expected. They are packaged in a way that you have to be careful only to take one strip. But the biggest waste is the first time you use it, since it is hard to het enough blood in the right place before it dries. You have to try and try and that uses up test strips. And not to forget lancets. The ones which come with the tester are effective but primitive. There must be a better method. I will investigate a bit.

THE READINGS ARE HIGHER THAN EXPECTED

When I started measuring my uric acid values, I expected the UA concentration to be much lower than it turned out to be. The latest reading is 8.7 mg/dL. That is not so far from the first reading, and while it is not disasteously high, it is too high for comfort. Even if I have not had an attack in two years, it is not comfortable to know one could happen any time.
That is why I collected what I have learned in my little book, "Gout Simply Explained", which tries to explain several years of research and experimentation on myself in an easy to understand way.
Interestingly, my rolling average is 7.47 mg/dL, so there have been days when my UA levels have been much lower. I am trying to see if there is anything that I can connect to what I ate and drank the previous day, as I take the readings in the morning before breakfast. Which probably means they are even higher during the day. But it also means I am well positioned to see if any of the known natural remedies can lower my UA values below 6.8 mg/dL.

WHAT IF YOU ARE ABOVE 6.8?

The concentration in the blood where uric acid forms monosodium urate crystals is 6.8 mg/dL. As you probably have heard, this is only partially dependent on your diet, and more on the uric acid production in your body. The diet accounts for something between 10 and 30 % of the purines, your own body for the rest. This does not mean you can relax and eat whatever you want. As long as you are above 6.8 mg/dL, the uric acid will tend to crystallize in the ligaments and connective tissue in your body, especially in the feet. Which is why you want to move your foot muscles, even while sitting still.

Never believe medical advice from a software engineer. Always read the disclaimer and talk to your doctor. Links on this site may be affiliate links, which helps me keep it available since I get a small amount when you buy anything, and provides you with great products. Please note that advertisements are not automatically endorsed. Only when I explicitly say so.
If you want to know more about what you can do about your gout and how to make sure you never have a flareup again, try reading my little book "Gout Simply Explained" which chronicles the research I did and what I found out. It is quite simple, really.