Gout
 

Is there a Portuguese remedy for gout? I’m in agony at the moment and have been for days. My Voltaren pills do not seem to be doing their normally reliable job. I’ve done cherries and such in the past with mixed success/failure

Re: Gout
 

I feel your pain Sportpix, my husband used to suffer.

He now takes a daily Alopurinol tablet and hasn't had any pain for years.

Still eats oranges etc.

Re: Gout
 

Hi from the France forum!
To avoid taking Voltaren and the like which have side effects, could you change your diet? Apparently too much meat (especially red meat, pork and any offal), some oily fish, sea-food, full-fat milk/cream/butter/cheese, some veg. (google those to avoid), sodas, alcohol,...., add excess uric acid to the body and can cause gout. Drink 1 1/2 l of sparkling water (e.g. Vichy, Badoit,....) per day, so that the kidneys can help evacuate any excess.
I'm not vegetarian, but have to watch my cholesterol, meaning that I have to avoid all the above, too. It's quite possible, with a bit of effort, and apparently you can allow yourself a glass or two of wine now and then (but not when you're actually suffering!).
HTH
Good luck

Re: Gout
 

Alopurinol tablets are recommended for gout in the UK. Here in Portugal our vet prescribes them for leishmaniasis in dogs.

Re: Gout
 

love it BB

Re: Gout
 

Sportpix - here is the NHS advice on Allopurinol (same word in Portuguese!) - you should got see your doctors at the Centro de Saude for blood test to see how your uric acid is to confirm the diagnosis, get prescription for the treatment and expect regular blood checks and possible adjustment of the dose of the treatment ... Apparently change of diet can help, but take advice first!
By the way Allopurinol is used for Leishmania in dogs as it boosts their immune system to fight off the parasite's effect ,,,,
https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/allopurinol/

Re: Gout
 

Thanks all. I took alupurinol for several years but then a doctor told me I shouldn’t take any medicine for a prolonged period of time, so I stopped. I usually only get gout two or three times a year, and as soon as I feel it taking hold I swallow a voltaren and it’s normally gone by the next day. This time it’s been going on in one form or another since Christmas. When it hit me I asked my wife if turkey could be the trigger so she told me to google it. Top of the list was bacon and second was turkey. On top of that we’ve been having nice Christmas hams and creamy pates. There has also been the occasional glass of good Australian Shiraz…. The wages of sin, and all that …

Re: Gout
 

I had my first two episodes in the past 6 months.

PAINFUL!

I saw my Medíca da familía about it and then had an uric acid test.

My levels were high, despite the fact that I drink very little alcohol and we follow a Mediterranean diet. I've also reduced to practically zero intake of cakes, biscuits and chocolates.

I was prescribed Alopurinol (1 a day) and from the past 8 weeks or so I've been feeling much better generally and no sign of the gout.

Re: Gout
 

I'm not sure that's good advice. If the uric acid isn't crystallising in your joints, it could be doing so in your kidneys, which is more problematic.

Re: Gout
 

But it is crystallising in my joints, which is why I’ve been limping for a week. I saw a doctor on Saturday who prescribed a different type of pain killer + anti flam so I’ve been avoiding the Shiraz and hoping for a positive result. I’m taking it as well as voltaren. The doctor did not even mention allopurinol.

Re: Gout
 

I've found Naproxen 500mg to be an effective anti-inflammatory and Co-dyramol as a good painkiller, although, I rarely need to take them as the 200mg daily Allopurinol seems to keep my gout at bay.

Re: Gout
 

All I am saying is that if you have high úricas acid it will come out somewhere.
I only ever had equivocal úric
acid results but with a family history of gout and some attacks that never really seemed painful enough, I decided on 100 mg alapurinol…my trigger was long haul flights in economy (dehydration) rather than high purine food. Here in brasil alapurinol is OTC and costs pennies.

Re: Gout
 

On all the blood tests I’ve had I’ve never had a ‘high’ reading, just at the upper end of normal. As far as medicine goes, we just buy over the counter in HK. It’s illegal of course but the authorities just ignore it. On Saturday I visited the clinic, and the cost to see the doctor together with three types of medicine came to less than 6 euro.

Re: Gout
 

Allopurinol is quite the miracle drug in my gouty experience, but it does take a while to take effect - for me more than 9 months, during which joint inflammation got worse and more widespread.
Surprisingly the joint deformation which I thought was permanent receded after Allopurinol kicked in, fingers, wrists, knees, ankles, toes, etc. all back to normal and I can now get the ski boots back on.
150mg Allopurinol per day, I guess stuck with this for life but it works and even in the US cost is negligible.
Upside is you can consider yourself in good company, gout is apparently "The Disease of Kings".

Re: Gout
 

Perhaps unreasonably I have more confidence in this guy than in my GP