What To Do When You Have A Gout Attack
A gout attack is one of the most painful things you can experience. Women with gout often say that they would rather have another child than a gout attack. The more you can avoid it the better, but sometimes you will be hit with a flare-up that forces you to lay still in bed and scream when the wind blows over yoir toe. Here are a few tips about what you can do when it happens.
MANAGE THE INFLAMMATION
The uric acid crystals in themselves do not hurt, even though they are shaped like microscopic needles. What I learned is that what causes you pain is that when your body wants to get rid of the crystals, it starts an inflammation.
The inflammation is painful because the blood vessels expand and put pressure on your nerves. It is like the fire brigade arriving and blocking off a street to fight a fire. There will be lots of (painful) congestion around it, but drivers may not be threatened by the fire, their problems are caused by the traffic being blocked.
I wrote more about this in my little book "Gout Simply Explained" which is based on my own research into why I had gout attacks, and what I could do about them, from the past few years. I have tried to distill the knowledge in a way that will be accessible to you too.
Just like the fire brigade has to put out the fire before they to away, the gout attack does not end until the inflammation stops. You have to bring down the inflammation to stop the pain, and the easiest way is to get rid of the uric acid crystals.
The inflammation is painful because the blood vessels expand and put pressure on your nerves. It is like the fire brigade arriving and blocking off a street to fight a fire. There will be lots of (painful) congestion around it, but drivers may not be threatened by the fire, their problems are caused by the traffic being blocked.
I wrote more about this in my little book "Gout Simply Explained" which is based on my own research into why I had gout attacks, and what I could do about them, from the past few years. I have tried to distill the knowledge in a way that will be accessible to you too.
Just like the fire brigade has to put out the fire before they to away, the gout attack does not end until the inflammation stops. You have to bring down the inflammation to stop the pain, and the easiest way is to get rid of the uric acid crystals.
DRINK MILK
Cows milk contains a compound, orotic acid, that binds to uric acid and helps flush it out through the kidneys. The concentration is highest in skimmed milk, but orotic acid is also present in yoghurt and kefir. Drinking your milk in coffee is a double whammy for the gout however, as coffee is a powerful diuretic (makes you pee a lot), which forces the excess uric acid out through the kidneys in all that water you have been drinking.
LOWER THE Ph OF YOUR URINE
You can not manage the acidity or alkalinity of your body. Many diets and amateur herbal doctors claim it would have some benefit, but stomach acid will always be acidic and bile alkaline. What you can do is change the Ph of your urine, and that has beneficial effect since uric acid dissolves easier in alkaline than acid urine.
Cranberries are effective against urine tract infections since they make the urine acidic, and this kills the bacteria which cause the infection. So cranberries is something to avoid during attacks. Other things to avoid are meat products - not just red meat, but anything with animal or seafood origin, since all of those contain purines. And another thing to avoid is sugar, for reasons we talk about elsewhere.
Cranberries are effective against urine tract infections since they make the urine acidic, and this kills the bacteria which cause the infection. So cranberries is something to avoid during attacks. Other things to avoid are meat products - not just red meat, but anything with animal or seafood origin, since all of those contain purines. And another thing to avoid is sugar, for reasons we talk about elsewhere.
DRINK LOTS OF WATER
When you have a gout attack, you need to drink lots of water. The water has two functions: Wash the excess uric acid out of your body; and dilute your blood so the uric acid concentration in your blood goes down below the crystallization point (which means crystals do not form) The uric acid is still there, but the crystals that are causing the pain will start to dissolve when the concentration gets low enough the uric acid will get flushed out of your body.
GET COMFORTABLE
While you wait for your body to rid itself of the uric acid crystals, you need to find a way that you can sit or lie that makes you feel the pain less. Deafening the nerves with ice or cold spray (like athletes do) will make the pain feel less intense. A foot bath is also nice as it warms up the foot and makes it harder for uric acid crystals to form - although it is really too late for that now.
PROMISE YOURSELF TO CHANGE
During a gout attack, you have an excellent reason to think about your situation: you do not want to be in this much pain ever again. And you do not have to be. It does not take iron resolve either, if you already have got allopurinol you can do it by changing your diet. If you can not get medication for some reason, you can still manage your gout by diet and (light) excercise, and by drinking milk and water. You have to be strict about following a program, which is why I have created a set of goutbeater journals to help you.
EVEN IF YOU ARE SUCCESSFUL, IT TAKES TIME
Attacks happen whether you like it or not, and when you least expect it. Having an attack is probably the best reason there is to avoid one in the future. And while it is possible to make your current attack a little less painful, you want to be sure that it does not happen again. In this case, prevention is worth more than a cure.
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