You don’t know Pain, until you know Gout Pain.

“It’s kind of like Gout.”  Dude… If you have never had a Gout attack… you have no idea what Gout is like. So don’t even think you know. Having a Gout attack is like joining an exclusive club. “Those who know”. Let me tell you something… you don’t want to be a Member.  Ever.  I’ve had crushed bones. I’ve shattered my ankles. I’ve torn out my knees. I’ve dislocated and torn my shoulder. I’ve been shot. I’ve been stabbed. I’ve been bitten by snake, dog, human, and cat. I’ve been sucker punched. Tasered. I’ve been hit in the head with a beer bottle. I’ve been kicked in the junk. None of that pain… none of it… comes close to what Gout is like. If someone said, “Okay Ogre, you can have a Gout attack or you can take a bullet from a .357 Magnum.” Seriously, I’d take the bullet. No, I’m not kidding and I’m not exaggerating.  And if you have had a Gout attack – you know exactly what I am talking about.

When the weight of a light bed sheet on your foot is too much agony… when the pain keeps you up all night. I mean, Zero sleep because nothing touches, relieves, or does a dang thing to help the pain… Shocking, Sharp, Unyielding, Hellish, Torture. You can’t touch your foot. Not even a light touch. Gout is the worst pain I have ever experienced. With a broken bone, you can often find a “Position of Comfort” some way to rest where there is no pain or a reduced amount of pain. With Gout – there is none of that.
So if you never had a Gout attack – don’t you dare tell me that something is like Gout.

They say Pain is the sign that something is wrong.  Gout Pain is the sign that God Hates you.

What is Gout? It’s basically a crystalline infection. Crystals build up in the joints of a localized area, most of the time in a foot, but sometimes in hands, elbows, knees, could be anywhere. It’s caused by the build up of Uric Acid. Too much Uric Acid builds up, crystals start to form.  These crystals look like needles under a microscope.  Literally, they are tiny needles.  Thousands of them in that area that is hurting.  Those crystals cause bone and tissue damage, pain, and swelling, and more pain.  The swelling alone would cause plenty of pain.  But the damage the crystals are doing, even more pain.  Combined… you have Gout Pain.  Personally, I think the Crystals are magic and open a portal to the 7th level of Hell and a demon bites you through the portal. Bites down and doesn’t let go.

Uric Acid levels are a result of proteins that are not being processed out by the Liver and Kidneys.  There different reasons for this. But mostly it comes down to poor diet and not enough water. You eat a protein-rich diet, drink too much alcohol or soft drinks, and you can build up enough Uric Acid in your blood to cause a Gout Attack.

I have this problem because my liver was severely damaged years ago due to trauma, and then later due to my abuse of OTC pain relievers trying to deal with unrelenting migraines. In fact, this liver damage almost killed me. Well, the migraines are no longer the 2 or 3 times a week visitor that they used to be for so many years (since I was 14) but the liver damage remains… this translates into overworked kidneys dealing with proteins that are not broken down right, and that results in a build up of the Uric Acid… and I get a Gout attack. That and I am chronically always dehydrated because I don’t drink enough water.

In a previous life I must have been horribly cruel to puppies.

In short, Gout sucks. Gout makes you look at a Chop Saw with a raised eyebrow and a thought that maybe it’s worth it.  A quick zip of the saw, a little bleeding, and the hellish torture will go away. Maybe it will.  For awhile.  But the Uric Acid level is in your blood.  Which means the Gout Crystals will build up again in a different location.  It will come back. Gout is insidious.  Gout is a Demon.  He will hide for a while, let you forget about him. But once he’s attacked, he will attack again one day.

But that’s not the worst part. The worst is when you mention Gout… Everyone knows how to deal with it.  Because they know someone who has it and all the sudden they are the freaking expert on the subject, even though they themselves have never had it.
Screw those guys.  If they haven’t had Gout, they don’t know.  Next guy that tells me I should just eat Celery is going to get Throat Punched.

Celery Seed Extract.  Cherry Juice.  Grape Seed Extract.  Drink lots of Water.  Yeah, that’s all great… but none of that is going to help deal with an acute attack.  Those are things you add to your diet to keep it from happening again… or staving off an oncoming attack when you start feeling those twinges.  Once a full blown attack is on you… All those bets are off.  You are now in Damage Control Mode.

What can you do?  I will take Advil and Tylenol in combination together.  800 mg of Advil will help start to reduce the swelling that is part of the pain formula working against you.  I’m not a Doctor, so don’t listen to me.  Listen to your Doctor.  Talk to him about it.  But I take 4 Advil and 2 Tylenol Extra Strength.  And I’ll pound water like crazy.

I was told by a Medical Person that this combo is just as good at knocking pain as a Percocet.  Having taken Percocets, and Lortabs, and other medically prescribed narcotic pain relievers… The Advil and Tylenol combo is the best. A lot of people say Alieve is good, but that stuff just doesn’t work for me. If a Doc is going to write a scrip for you, I’d say take Lortab if he gives you the option. Because at least Lortabs will make you sleepy and you’ll be able to rest.
Hopefully, he’s giving you something else to help fight the Gout. Allopurinol is a common one, and there are others. But they don’t help you deal with the pain of an acute attack.

Learn to Love Lemons.  You need to help the pills fight the acid. You first need to flush your system to help prevent more Uric Acid from building up.  I was told by a doctor that Citric Acid will latch onto the Uric Acid and help flush it out.  Lemon Juice.  Pure Lemon Juice in water.  No Sugar.  Chug it.  I don’t know if this is true or not, but it’s better than just plain water, so why not. And if it does help, that’s great.

While the attack is acute, you are going to have to grit your teeth and suck up the pain until it subsides.  This can take hours or days… And maybe another week or longer to fade away completely.   While drinking water, you can drink the Cherry Juice, and all the other home remedies which I have to say, really don’t seem to do anything for me. Cherry Juice does, I think, to a small degree. But I don’t know if it’s better than drinking the same amount of just plain water. But I’ve been testing all the other theories out there… and it’s mostly all crap. Don’t buy into it. Seriously, it’s a ton of wasted money.

Don’t drink ANYTHING with High Fructose Corn Syrup. One medical site suggested that ANY FLUID is good. No. It’s not. I’ve found that beverages with HFCS makes things a lot worse. And when I’ve had a Gout Attack, it was usually after a day of drinking a lot of Mt Dew or something else with HFCS. Even when I was eating a low protein diet. I suspect that the HFCS may have more of an effect on Gout than a piece of lean meat. All I know is, that stuff is poison and drinking it causes hell on wheels pain down the road. Drink Water.

To help deal with pain when it’s the worst… Usually in the middle of the night.  There is no sleep.  So don’t try to sleep yet.  Because all you can do is focus on the pain, and that makes it worse.  You gotta get your mind off it.  I’ll play violent video games or watch a movie.  Don’t drink alcohol, that makes it worse and the attack will last a lot longer.  Concentrate on something that will take your mind away from thinking about how much it hurts.   Whatever you do though.  Drink water.  With Lemon Juice in it.  A lot of it.

If you are having a Gout attack, I am truly sorry. I feel for you. Because I know what that is like. I’ve had Gout in both feet, both ankles, both knees, and in my left hand. Oh that was fun… my hand was swollen like a cartoon hand that was hit with a hammer. Huge, red, and unbelievably painful. The worst place to get a Gout attack, I think.

The best way to avoid a Gout Attack is to not feed the demon. Avoid red meats, fatty fish like Sushi Grade Tuna, Shrimp, and anything made from Swine. Bacon, Ham, Pork Loin… You know… All the best foods. Just don’t. Seriously, that Bacon is just not worth the pain. That London Broil, that Prime Rib… Not worth it. Moderation, brothers. This is a lifestyle change. You are going to need to develop a taste for Salads. Others meats that are not mentioned, are still meats and still have protein so they need to be taken in moderation. Don’t skip the family BBQ, just enjoy more of the Slaw and Potato Salad and less of what is going to make you consider cutting off appendages.
Hey, I’m not just saying this… I’ve been living this myself. I’ve been there. It’s not worth it.
Oh, I’ll enjoy a Burger once in awhile… Like maybe once a month. Know what? I enjoy that burger more when I do have one. But don’t get carried away with it. And then I’ll follow up with tons of water and skipping meats altogether for a few days. You don’t have to go completely Vegan. Just be very careful.
And don’t think that “Oh, I’ve not had an attack in a year. I’m fine now!” Don’t. The Gout Demon is still there, sleeping. Waiting for you to slip up again.

Don’t feed the Demon.

279 thoughts on “You don’t know Pain, until you know Gout Pain.”

      1. I’m 23 and have only had the one gout attack. Initially I was told it was a fracture, so it went on for about a week before they diagnosed me with gout. I’m an alcoholic and for years I misused codeine and paracetamol tablets in conjunction with the alcohol. My substance issues started as a means to combat insomnia. Had no idea that gout was caused by liver damage, particularly paracetamol use, after reading this I will never use them in conjunction again.

        I found that the constant agonising pain was exacerbated even by tiny vibrations in the house. I wanted to die.

        1. Ive had gout for 11 years im 33 now i get it every where now toes ankles feet knees arms and not just every other month all the time it just moves around so bed ridden. My grandad had it young 2 but not as bad. Anyway i got given tabs by my doc called dicolfenic something like tht thay worked so gud i took for 8 years but thay have messed up my stomach and i hav heart probs cos of them now but id still take if i could get cos pain is so bad

        2. I know this post is old but I had to chime in on this post too. I had what’s called a sudo gout attack when just about every joint in my body was attacked and I too wanted to die but I fought the thought for my kid. No one can imagine the pain I felt going through that experience not even my doctors. The team of doctors that treaTed me couldn’t understand what was going on and that I was almost completely paralyzed by the weaked damaged joints with the unbelievable pain. I was a very muscular guy that could bench press over 400 lbs and gout reduced me to not even being able to turn myself over in bed. God’s honest truth.

          1. Also, i was hospitalized for a week and given all kinds of pain meds but nothing made the pain bareable not even morphine. The doctor told me that the only way to be released from there was to show them I could get out of bed and walk on my own after working with a therapist at the hospital for a few days, I was so tired of being there so I managed to will myself to finally stand and take a few steps so I could go home and let my wife take care of me but the only way that was possible was with percacet and a wheel chair. It took months to recover from my biggest gout attack and I couldn’t even get disability.

            1. GI jones, I too suffer from pseudo gout, so I know exactly what you’re going through. I’m going through one right now, started 6 weeks ago but by the end of the 4th week I was able to walk around abit, still painful but not as bad. But the last 5 days it’s just relentless, Ogre is right, people can never “imagine” the pain if they never get it themselves. I think I have left comments on here before but at this point in time I’m getting very tired physically ( lack of sleep) and emotionally ( feeling useless and not being to earn a living since 2010). I’m 44 now, and having suffered from this wretched disease since 2004, started to go really bad in 2006. I have changed my diet and doing everything right but still getting these stupid attacks. And yes Ogre I agree 100% this is karma for me, there’s no other reasons why one has to suffer this much. I think I’ve said this before too, but for the past 6 weeks, the thought of putting that gun to my head seem like a very enticing option. I’m losing my will to live as the day goes by, one shot and it’s all over.
              P.s I’m just really seeking a bit of sympathy but really I’m sure you guys had all been there before…

              1. I suffer from the same I’ve had it rotate from left arm to right then to left foot then right then to left knee then right which is the worse knees are to much to handle I go days without eatting out of fear id ha e to poop, and I piss in an empty milk jug

              2. I don’t know if you believe in God but I can tell you this you tried everything else want you give Jesus a try start praying and believing in God and ask him to heal your body and mean it from your heart and I believe God will heal your body. I will pray for you. ask him for a miracle and just cry out to him and see want that pain start to be lesser. give it a try you got nothing to lose. don’t take your life God got many blessings coming your way and you gonna have a testimony letting the world know it was Jesus that healed your body. been there and he healed me

              3. Hey bro don’t do it. I just smoke some good indica during gout attacks, it somehow gets the mind off the gout pain and gives pain relief too…somewhat.

              4. Hey bro don’t do it. I just smoke some good indica during gout attacks, it somehow gets the mind off the gout pain and gives pain relief too…somewhat.

                There is hope don’t give up!

          2. I would rather give birth than have gout it’s the most horrendous pain it’s like a migraine in your foot totally debilitating it’s brought me to tears suffering right now can’t sleep 😴

            1. I hope you are better by now. I’m going through a gout attack now…day number 3, this is the worse. I only get gout when I stub my toe …. takes about 2 days after a stubbed toe…big toe right foot. Ibuprofen right now. Will call doc in am. It’s painful for sure…bed sheet yes….I caused this myself alcohol, red meat, diet soda up the yang yang …. pounding water now….

            2. I said those exact words today when my 4th gout attack in 2 years came on suddenly…and I’ve given birth, all natural to a 10 pound baby! I’d gladly do that all over again than be up tonight with this relentless pain…right at the start of our summer break. My poor kids. I am utterly useless right now. And not knowing how long it will last is also stressful. I’m on day 2…so much worse than yesterday. People who have never experienced it just don’t understand.

                1. It’s not a fix. It helps… some. Mainly because you are taking a fluid. But Black Cherry Juice never really did anything for my gout attacks.

                  1. Damn I’ve been reading all the posts. I too am experiencing the demon gout. I got my first gout experience ten years ago. I ve gotten GOUT about two times every year since. However, I’m a glutton for pain I guess because I just can’t give up meat. However, this time I’ve had it. I’m going vegan. I can still get GOUT from freakin mushrooms and beans . This is nuts. I do get prednisone shots and it helps a little with the pain I experience. I take allopurinol and ibuprophen. I drink the cherry juice eat the celery seeds these don’t seem to help much . I heard of some new procedure that the doctors are trying where they hook you up to an IV and flush your system but I’m not sure about it. If I find out more I’ll post the information. As for now brothers and sisters of this horrible disease I have to go deal with the pain.

          3. Going through a gout attack now. Yes. It is a living hell. Extra strength percocet barely touches the pain. Cannot take much advil, colcrys, and def not indocin because i have crohns disease and colitis. But percocet and prednisone bring the pain level to …8. Because, as you know, gout is a 10+++++++ category. Ive been hit by a car, walked on a broken ankle for a week before i knew it was broken, dealt with severe lower back disc osteoarthritis. But gout? I have considered amputation…cutting my body…suicide. oh yeah. Its THAT bad. Or…i just dont have much tolerance for pain. Well…im about ready to stick my fist thru a window. Cant put on a shoe, cant get down my stairs, have to crawl to the bathroom. Slept zero hours, finally fell asleep at 730am…hoping…praying…i would die in my sleep. I sure wish i owned a gun.

            1. Gout attack here too. Had it a few times in each toe joint, both ankles, and now suffering for the first time with it in my right knee. I’m 36. I take a lot of meds for a chronic heart condition, and when I forget to drink my water and have a little too much meat or a couple of oat sodas, the red demon comes callin’…

      2. He is not lying.Its almost impossible to walk,but lets just say you had to walk.It feels like your foot is nailed to the floor, and every time you try to walk it feels like you are ripping a nail through your foot every time you lift that foot up.

          1. The worst is when you have dual attacks. Its gotta be te HFCS as ive been on a no meat diet and limit my drinking of alcohol. Some threads have said “oh vodka shouldn’t be bad.” That’s a lie, all alcohol is bad for da gout.

            My knee is all flared up, but no pain there, but in the foot, that lil demon has sunk it’s teeth in. I too have experienced a flare up in the hand and it resulted into a ganglion cyst and I can no longer bend my index finger. All in all, gout sucks.

            1. You are correct. All Alcohol is bad. No matter it’s source or flavor or quality. It’s all very bad for Gout. Yes, even wine. Even your favorite beer. It’s going to aggravate your gout.

              You know how you put denatured alcohol in your fuel tank to remove water? Does the same to your blood, which in turn increases the concentration of uric acid – which means… hello Gout Demon.

            2. Alcohol does not cause gout I should know I have suffered with gout since I was 25 I am now 48 years. The person who wrote this article is so close to the truth. The pain is by far the worst I have ever had. gout is caused by a chemical imbalance in the kidneys. I have perfect liver and kidney function so it is not necessary damaged to those organs but I can understand it would not help. Broccoli is high in purines believe it or not. Back to alcohol. What alcohol does is prevents the kidney,s from excriting uric acid. Their are no purines in lager vodka etc. Orge says drink loads of water. I agree you need to help excrite uric acid from kidneys. But I Have also drunk 10 pints of larger before (which is alcohol) and that has stopped an attack because of the amount of urinating I was doing. The Fact is that near on everything you eat has purines even healthy foods. Let me explain that the attack I have right now is in the ankle and all the little bones in the foot. I have been taking cherry active tablets for a while and have not had an attack for 2 years. I decided to diet so I only drank water with lemon and diet was no sugar flour etc just what would have been eaten 2000 years ago. Within a week have that f****ing gout. Screaming pain I forgot what it was like. I normally drink 3 or 4 pints of larger a day. Work that out. Change in diet an hey presto. So the answer is no one really knows .you have gout I feel sorry for you. Just either take cherry actives or prescribed drugs to control it and as soon as you feel a twinge a flutter in a body part don’t question is it gout . If you do the next morning it’s to late just assume it is gout take ibrobrufen until twinge is no longer. The only reason I have this attack is because recently was taken in with high blood pressure was put on tablets. Did not know if I could take the ibrobrufen with them, doctor took a day to get back.to me got this now for at least a week or so

          2. Ogre my name is Ron, I’m writing from the
            Mountains of N Georgia. It’s 1:25AM now
            And I’m in EXCRUCIATING PAIN. Gout in
            My right shoulder both feet & Hands. I am
            46 & single. My diet must change to drink
            More Water & Juice less meat. Ogre I’ve
            Been dealing with Gout Arthritis for so
            Many Years, I’ve had it under control but it
            Comes back. I get gout when I eat nothing &
            I get gout when I eat lettuce, I’ll get gout no
            Matter what really. I have a rheumatologist
            And he is prescribing Uloric and Colchicine
            As a maintenance and anti inflammatory if
            And when I need it. Please pray for me Ogre
            I used to be a trucker making good money.

            1. You need a whole lifestyle change, Ron. Diet and Drink need to be drastically changed. Another thing that needs to be changed, is thinking that Gout is Arthritis… That’s a crutch. It’s like an infection. Drastic change. It will be difficult. It will be annoying. But it will be easier than dealing with Gout.

            2. Ron, buddy, I feel your pain, literally right now at 2:34 am in N. Alabama. On day 7 of a flarge up in my right foot. Needle like pain shooting through every toe and then back to the ankle and up the calf. Been on colcrys, indocin, and steroids all week and my foot now resembles a JV football. Haven’t slept in days, can’t work. My cause? two weeks of bad eating due to a death in the family. But this is by far the worst ever. I have Contemplated self-amputation and stopped short of suicidal thoughts this evening. Thank you Jesus! Praying you find relief as well.

              Ogre, I have found that indocin works about as good as a tic tac for me. I will be switching back to advil in the hopes it does better, which it should as I’ve always responded well to it. Thanks for your honest portrayal of demon gout. It has helped me immensely this evening to lock arms with fellow sufferers and share our stories.

            3. I’m 44. It’s 3am. I’ve been up all night with a gout attack in my foot. My 2nd in 2 years. I’ve realized tonight that when I suddenly switch to a vegan diet…this happens with in the first few days. This pain is horrific. No relief, not even for a moment. Kind of comforting to know I’m not alone…

            4. I hear you. I am up at 2:46 am can’t sleep because of pain I have flare-ups about every other month I don’t drink alcohol or eat red meat or pork. Pretty much live on vegetables and I drink about 3/4 to 1 gallon of water a day. I have had it in big toe, thumbs, wrists, knees, and ankles but most often in big toe on left foot. I do have several things going on in the rheumatology family but can’t figure out what’s causing the gout. I agree about the pain. I’ve been through childbirth, broken bones, burns etc. The only thing that comes close in pain dept is a dry socket!

              1. How on God’s earth do we manage this terrible pain, I can barely get to the bathroom so I am afraid of drinking. Because it means having to try getting to the bathroom This is my 2nd attack in 6 months. I have seen no Dr’s but will call this morning. Its 3.10am in England. I have been in agony 5 days now but I can’t do it any longer I swear, it’s just too much pain. And impossible to put my foot on the ground to walk half a dozen steps without sounding like I’m moaning with the pain. Thank you all for being there cos it makes me think it’s not just me. I am 79 years of age and I’ve had many bad pains through my life but this really is the limit.

                1. It’s not just you. But you can’t just NOT drink water. You gotta flush your system out. Lemon Juice in Water, in copious amounts. That will knock it down and you can get through it.

      3. I’m living this story.
        Liver and kidneys greatly affected by use of ad IL
        4th stage kidney failure, managed to catch it ahead of needing dialysis. Now I see a Nephrologist every 3 months and my levels are not getting much better 😏
        Prior to all this I had been diabetic for 15 years which was affecting behind my eyes and went undiagnosed until yesterday which is why I was taking the ad IL..to help with the migraines that the extra blood vessels and high blood pressure were causing me. Now to be on insulin for the past month and starting weight watchers to change my life style. I gave up red meat months ago, I don’t drink, I stay away from swine (a Lil bacon crumble here or there) and yet here I am with the demon still attached 2 weeks later – on my right foot this time (1st time on the right)
        I absolutely agree with the magnum option – because I’m there, and not just with the gout.. but all the ailments.
        But guess what, still getting up for work today, I’m still driving the carpool, I’m still gonna make my appointment w the nutritionist, and take my dog out to play when I get home and all because that’s what we do. We keep on struggling, everyday.

      4. These words describe the Hellfire Damnation Pain that started for me yesterday, and after sitting hours in the ER wondering what in world this devil Hell pain could be, what could be possibly wrong in my hand and knee,??? all in 1 day, I had no injury or accident yet if I ever had a broken shattered hand , this is what I think it might feel like, did I blow my knee out, all those falls I had years ago, what is the climax of my knee decent to the dsrk side, ??’ Limping into the ER barely able to walk can’t even hardly use my left hand at all to even do anything pain like I’ve never known, Lord please help me, whats wrong with me??’ please give me something for the pain give me some kind of shot in my hand do anything to help me out of this misery,,, 3hours later, nothing for pain yet, pain tears for hours, sobbing like a little girl not a 45 year old woman, unbearable pain attacking my knee and left hand,, finally after the x-rays and a whole day of unbearable pain, I am introduced to the Hellfire Damnation pain that is now part of me called Gout.

        I have a meltdown comma begging you Lord please make this unbearable pain go away .. asking the nurse how long will this pain last, in disbelief , hearing the unimaginable, I’m sorry but I don’t know it could take weeks..

        At that moment in time I know my life is forever changed..

        Im in shock, im.in pain, im devastated… time to go to bed I’m exhausted, the pain is back again even stronger in my hand how long is this unbearable pain going to last?? How am I going to get through this.

        Before bed I’m reading about gout for the first time in my life.. your blog is different from other things I read your blog describes what I’m going through what has just begun for me,, the raw truth,, there is a parallel universe in this world for people living with things like Gout, a place you didn’t know existed, how can this be real? You dont ask to go.here, it’s an exclusive Club of people taken hostage by unimaginable pain. I don’t want to be a member but I am..

        Im in your club now Madogre. Will you please have mercy on my soul that is currently crushed in spirit beyond the crushing pain its currently enduring,,,

        Will you help me get through the next few days, trying to cope through.the pain, some kind of advice, where do I go from here?

        I just am in shock,,

        Thank you for your time

        1. The Club that No One wants to be in… And I’m truly sorry that you’ve joined.
          Two things to understand…
          1. Your Life is now Changed, and there is no going back.
          2. This will pass. You can endure this, get through to the other side, and you can overcome this.

          When you do overcome this – and you’ve taken to heart that your life is now going to be different – You may never have to endure another acute attack. Maybe. The change in your diet will be the biggest thing to keep it from happening again, but even if you do everything right, it can still come back, but will be reduced in duration and intensity.

          Ibuprofen will reduce the swelling. That’s where a lot of the pain is coming from. 800mg will start to reduce the inflammation… Back that up with about 400mg of Tylenol to help take that edge off the pain.
          Water… Drink a fuck ton of water with some lemon juice in it. And I mean a lot of water. More than you’ve ever drank before in your life. Pound it.
          While doing this – now comes the hard part.
          Keep your mind occupied on something other than the pain.
          Night time SUCKS for this. It will feel worse at night. That’s your biology and psychology working together against you. You combat that with psychology. Your brain can only focus on so much… so focus on something else.

        2. Id rather have gout than 5 Kidney stones with 2 stents and my lord after the 2nd of 5 operations i learned they put the stents back in! I was on Pain meds already for Fibromyalgia which never goes away. They added sublingual Fentanyl and it did nothing to touch the pain those stents caused me. I was walking like a 90 year old.

          1. Then you’ve never had a full blown gout attack. Period.
            I have Fibromyalgia, and kidney stones, and gallstones. They’re all baby shit compared to a real gout attack.

            1. I’m in the ER reading this right now. They diagnosed me with Gout and are starting to treat me. I’ve been in pain for 2 months and the podiatrist kept refusing to believe it was gout. I never knew what it was. My dad had it a few times and he suggested it. I couldn’t take it and got up last night and went to the ER. I have a lot of reading to do and figure this out!

        3. I have come across this and for the same reasons! First I’m noticing I am am female! I know a minority! Guess what my mom belongs to the club! Her first attack put her in the hospital, no one could touch her! It killed me the see her in this kind of pain, she’s a strong woman who can take a lot of pain. To see this do this to her was scary….broke my heart! That’s been almost 2 years ago. Right before her attack I had horrible big toe pain. I’ve had this on and off since then. The last couple of weeks this has felt like the toe is on fire while trying to explode from the inside out! Like folks here I have broke both ankles, one was crushed, even a knee nothing compares to this toe pain! My long post leads to questions, how do I get my dr to check for this? I have an appointment coming up. Does anone know if gout can hinder healing in tendonitis? I have been dealing with dequervain’s tendonitis in the wrist. I don’t know if information have gout but it does run in the family! I’m thinking of seeing if my mom can come with me. And no I’m not exactly young but sometimes mom is needed! 😆

          1. Oh, I am so sorry Raylyn. It sucks… But it’s very treatable. Also, there are genetic traits that make gout rather prevalent through a family blood line. So you and possibly your children could all be very prone to it… so your family needs to be more careful of it.
            YES… You need to ask your Doctor about this specifically. They need to test for it specifically… a simple Uric Acid test will do for that. And if that comes back negative, or with low uric acid numbers, it could be psudo-gout. Which is the very same sort of thing but with a different causation.
            The gout crystals that cause the swelling and pain, are doing so because they are causing internal damage. And if you have some where they are contacting any tendons, then they can cause damage to the tendons and really cause problems for healing tendonitis.
            Again, this is something you need to talk to a doctor about. Most Doctors are very dismissive of Gout… because they do not understand it. I talk to one doctor that said it was just a form of arthritis. (I called bullshit to his face) And another one that dismissed it as an infection and wrote a script for penicillin. So you need to find a doctor that really understands Gout, and can really help you.

            1. Great great post! I’ve suffered with gout for a few years. when i first got it i didn’t understand what it was so i was in bed for a week with no pain killers or meds. had to put a bucket in my room next to the bed to take a piss in as there was no way i could have got to the dunny. i just thought i must have banged my toe or something and it would clear up. when i finally hobbled into the doctors with a huge, red angry foot and was told what it was, there was some relief, but only in my understanding.
              now i can feel the first twinges when it is starting to come on so i take my meds and it normally subsides before the demon takes up residence. but i missed it last week as i ran out of meds and put of getting them for one day, even though i felt the twinges. i now pay the price. at home now and waiting for it to pass enough so i can get back into work.
              one thing i do believe has helped me by doing everyday is water with fresh lemon juice as madogre has said. i have osteoarthritis in both knees so they were always inflamed and walking was unbearable. 2x 800mg ibuprofen helped but i knew that wasn’t helping my insides. someone told me when lemon enters your system it alkalizes and that lemons are a natural anti-inflammatory so for the past 2 years i drink shit loads of water with fresh lemon squeezed in. everyday. i noticed my knees got better and i noticed i didn’t need to be taking anti-inflammatories. i also noticed gout and the twinges were far and few between. last week though i ran out of lemons and went for a few days without them in the water. nek minnit… gout.
              now i’m not saying lemon water is the be all and end all. and from reading here i think some people have a much more potent experience of gout than i do, i just know that fresh lemon juice in water seems to help keep the system balanced, amongst other things like diet etc. i have a large drinking vessel that holds just under a litre of water. i take a whole lemon, take 2 slices out of the middle and drop that in the water and then squeeze the juice from the ends. i leave the slices in all day so they infuse and i fill up the cup at least once again. and then i repeat everyday (with fresh lemons!) not only does it seem to help but it is a highly refreshing beverage! the more bitter the better. it’s very bracing! and it definitely helps the tastebuds re-align to not wanting sweet shitty soda drinks.
              anyway, thats my 2 cents worth. travel well. and once again, legend post madogre!

            2. I am currently having an attack. I was trying to explain the pain to my fiance and this article did an amazing job. Im 34 and was diagnosed in my mid 20s. You know it hurts when youre staring at your pistol saying “3 shots to the ankle should take the foot off”. I feel for anyone that experiences this pain. Thanks for the article.

          2. I am female as well and am just learning about all of this. In the ER right now and starting treatment. I hope you are feeling better now.

      5. Ogre I really have to thank you sir.I’ve been suffering from gout in both toes for the last 4 years now.Let me just say,being a ‘sufferer’ I completely hear you all and truly wish that you all find a way to combat the ‘demon’.I know this is going to sound selfish,but it’s a relief to know there are other people out there who know the pain.

    1. love your article made me laugh. because i can relate ,,.im dealing with gout for years ..to many times i thought of blowing my feet off..shot gun style.//.however all the things iv been told,.,its all bs ;”; BUT IM RIGHTING THIS TO YOU GUYS BECAUSE I TRULY THINK I FOUND SOMETHING ..THAT WORKS !!! FOR ME AT LEAST I HAVE TO SHARE IT WITH ALL I CAN ,..,.,I FOUND THAT I WOULD GET ATTACKS MORE IN THE WINTER,.., BECAUSE LESS ACTIVITY.,.,NO SWEATING.,,.LESS SUN,..,SO ANYWAY THERES MUCH MORE TO THE STORY,..,SO WHATS BEEN WORKING FOR ME IS OVER 1000MG VITAMIN C AND D…… I OD ON VITAMIN C TAKE OBOUT 4000 A DAY,./.,IT WORK FOR ME .//.AND IV TRYED EVERYTHING .// BUT IM NO DOCTOR BUT IM NOT ANY WORSE././ SO I TRULY HOPE IT HELPS YOU GUYS GOOD LUCK .//././.

      1. You are right gout is more likely when you dehidrate could not agree more the vitamin c I have heard can work as can vitamin D1 I have not tried before but you have to see what is best for you and also believing something works is massive.
        Me and my friends say never talk about gout as soon as you do one of us will get it. So try not to think about it. Is this not the most mental thing that we result to not talking about it just in case.

    2. Hello guys my name is jesse from brownsville tx. I have gout also, what works for me is colchicine. I dont use colcrys which i believe is the brand name in the us. I live right across the border with mexico. A 30 pack of colchicine is about 3 dollars. I always have it on stand by. Ive had 4 gout attacks the last one which was pretty sever and attacked both ankles and lasted 2 weeks to go away. Dont eat meat!! Dont eat anything with fructose as ogre said or you will wake it up! And drink water!!!

  1. George, I feel your pain… literally.
    I get the occasional attack, usually right ankle.
    The ONLY thing I have found that works on it is Alleve.
    I have went to work on crutches due to mangled knees due to a motorcycle accident.
    If I am having a gout attack, I will take the time off.

    Jim

  2. Amen. I seriously thought about breaking my big toe joint with a ballpeen hammer once…anything to relieve that pressure…it’s like a tiny rabid porcupine has been microscopically implanted in the joint and decides it want to grow into a big porcupine all while thrashing and wailing and getting bigger by the damn second until my toe explodes…I had 11 vertebra fused “old school” style 20 years ago and was in the hospital for 6 weeks and thought someone hit me with a bus…even the overall full body pain of that wasn’t as intense as the pain radiating like a micro nuke bomb from my toe…unreal…

    1. Hammer the toe? Yeah, that wouldn’t hurt nearly as bad.
      I’ve thought about just sawing my foot off… I’m not even kidding.
      People that don’t know Gout, just can’t understand just how rational a consideration that amputation is.

      1. I agree the times I have thought about cutting my foot of from the ankle down is rediculous. But I talk my self out of it by saying I am so unlucky I would probably get gout in the stump.

  3. Kim du Toit says that lemonade, of all things, actually helps a lot. I don’t know if it’ll help you, but I thought I’d mention it.

      1. Gout does make you do crazy things. King Henry is a direct relative of mine, and he had Gout. As did many of my forefathers. It’s genetically predisposed. That’s something a lot of Docs don’t talk about. And there’s not a lot they can do about it other than pills. Because sometimes DIET doesn’t change a thing for you.

        Drink Water… Stay Thirsty, my friends.

  4. I know it. It’s like having shards of broken glass in your joint(s).
    Once an attack hits you just have to ride it out. But I’ve found that a bowl of fresh strawberries twice a week keeps it in check: not always easy in the winter, but frozen seem to work too.

  5. I can’t even fathom that pain, but I know several people who have Gout, one of them won’t even eat any meat because of it. If Gout is strong enough to make a man stop eating meat, I would take the bullet too. I hope something helps, I know I have seen them commercials for a new medication for Gout, but I am not sure if you have read into it or not. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0000499

    I noticed it may not work because of your liver damage. I hope all gets better, and hope you can find a treatment that works.

  6. Chainsaw the foot? Yeah been there. I’ve had to drastically reduce salt in my diet to control it. Drink tons of water too.

    Anyone else have times where you’ll get sick and when your fever breaks you get a full on attack? No warning, no time to pre-treat just BAM.

  7. I finally got diagnosed with gout when I went to the ER thinking I had somehow managed to shatter the joint in my big toe. (And getting there was certainly no picnic, at the time I drove a pick-up with a manual transmission!)
    Lots of OJ, lemonade, and no aspiring under any circumstances!
    If a surgeon were to offer amputation to me while I was having an attack, I’d take him up on the offer immediately!

  8. I surely know pain but (luckily…for now) I don’t know the joys of gout. I can empathize with you George when it comes to pain.

  9. Yep, even a light breeze blowing across that toe will be extremely painful. But, look at the bright side…that uric acid can also form kidney stones and passing a big ol’ honking football-shaped stone will make gout feel like a stubbed toe! Take a leak and it comes out looking like a good dark merlot – that’s enough to make your knees weak!

    1. I passed a small kidney stone a couple years ago. Felt like pulling a bore snake out of my… er… snake… It hurt deep and it hurt all the way out. Not fun.

    2. I’ve had the “pleasure” of passing whole stones. 3mm wide, 5mm long with jagged edges in one case… Mine have been calcium oxalate stones. Unpleasant doesn’t begin to describe the pain invovled… Gout sounds worse… much worse… And having suffered a variety of other high intensity pains (for hours, thankfully not days for the non-stones) and knowing multiple people with gout, I can say I truly to feel for anyone who has gout. I hope everyone with it finds a regimen that keeps it in check!

  10. Ogre a woman at work her husband has Gout.They tried Dark Cherry concentrate tablets.According to
    her they did help with the flare ups.Go to a health food or vitamin store get the tablets or go buy
    some cherries.they may not work for you but hey its cherries they don’t come with 2 pages of side effects

  11. Some things mentioned are good.The water,EATING or drinking the cherry.The area between N.Ogden and Brigham City has the BEST cherries and juice. One thing not mentioned is the benefits of SEX in the treatment.Cleaning out that plumbing has a real effect. Staying very active-movement helps.

  12. Gout? Yes, I have gout bouts from time to time, and yes, they’re painful as hell.

    But on a scale of 1-10, they’re about an 8, maybe 8.5.

    Kidney stones, on the other hand, are about 11. Maybe 12.

    I’ve never had pain so bad that it caused me to sweat like a racehorse before.

    I have been told by women in a position to know that kidney stones are more painful than unmedicated childbirth.

    I get a gout attack, I take some indomethecin and wait for it to go away. I get another kidney stone, I’m going to the hospital for morphine.

    1. I’ve passed two kidney stones. Broke my neck, had spinal fusion,rebuilt knees, and a shoulder. None of that touched my Gout attacks.

    2. Oh wow? Really stones are an 11 to you? I must be lucky. I’ve never had stone pain get above an 8 for me, *usually* they don’t get worse than a 7. I’ve had gut pain (Crohn’s) get to a 9… (using the harish comparative pain scale) . Yeah. pain sucks no matter its origin.

  13. Due to extensive nerve damage and bone relocation in the ankle foot and leg from a near 30yr old accident I live at 4-6 on the pain scale without being on it, and spike 6 (hopefully) – 10 while being on it. I too have often considered amputation as some of the pain areas are unspeakably vicious. There is a newer pain scale I suggest you read if you think you have ever experienced 11 or 12, as 10 puts you on your face, incoherent or unconscious from the sheer unbearable weight of the pain. Not pleasant and most people never see it, and those that do will not often have that experience more then once in their lifetime. Rest assured, if Gout is a 10 for more then a few minutes and you don’t pass out you will take that toe off.

    1. Yep. I’ve had a 9 on that pain scale. Repeatedly. No fun. It sounds like Ogre is experiencing a 9 on that scale from gout.

  14. Learned about tart cherry juice concentrate from my nurse for my arthritis pain. I started drinking a few weeks ago and my joints feel great. I also got free shipping from Fruit Advantage

  15. I’m having an attack on my right ankle right now!!!! I get one every 8months it starts on my right ankle than the pain goes to the left one after the first several hours then I get pain on both ankles I feel like killing my self nothing works literally nothing!

    1. 4 Advil and 2 Tylenol. Helps take the edge off. Until you move. Chug Water. Seriously, chug a ton of water. Enough that you are pissing clear every two hours.

  16. This pain is so bad I would volunteer to go with the grim reaper. Relentless pain throb never letting up.

  17. I am having an episode that started slowly a couple of days ago and then woke me tonight, I’d say I am at an 8 on the pain scale. I only get them when I am pregnant which means no anti inflammatory meds….typically lasts a week…don’t know how I a going to make it through the next week with work, a toddler and no effective pain control. Agree on the amputation…seriously why isn’t this a prescribed treatment for chronic sufferers?

  18. Ughhh having an attack right now in my left toe I agree on cutting off the toe it’s terrible I have missed 4 days of work already my legs hurt from limping and favoring one leg while walking from the couch to the bathroom cause lord knows I can’t leave the house just got some pills from the doc I guess better late then never but usually I drink 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda in a glass of water a couple time and it usually does the trick this time it just wasn’t working the pills usually have me better in 6 to 8 hours I’m praying they work sooner the only thing with the pills is I can’t leave the house for a day after the gout is gone cause I can’t get off the toilet I guess it’s better the gout pain

  19. Gout takes away most of my holiday time at work, gout stops me from walking,driving,dancing – I have almost wet myself at times on the way to the toilet trying to get there with gout. Gout hurts more than any pain I have ever had and it is ruining my life and career prospects. my only saviour is pain relief and before too long I’ll probably end up getting ‘anything’ even illegal if it stops the pain. I would rather be numb from the knees down than suffer gout forever.

  20. I have never found a statement about gout that comes close to describing the pain (or the reactions to it by those that don’t know) until NOW! Dead on. I’ve had several attacks over the last 13 years; the first 8 or 9 I just thought it was overstressing from exercise. Then I had a supremely painful attack in my foot where I thought I had broken something and forced me to go to the doc. Several x-rays and tests later, I was diagnosed with the demon. I could not fathom it; I was reasonably fit, but then I learned the truth about what truly causes it. I have been flare-up free with treatment until two days ago. Woke up in the middle of the night with my wrist ON FIRE. I knew immediately what that unequaled pain was and I felt a wave of dread blanket me knowing what the next days would bring. The demon has not disappointed; I am typing this very slowly with my left paw as my right is completely useless. This pain has seriously had me contemplate the ridiculous in that I would honestly consider amputation of the offending appendage f I were not certain it would eventually subside. I have never been more serious about anything in my life.

    1. Examine your diet… A lot of meat? Or a lot of High Fructose Corn Syrup? Or both? Sodas with HFCS effect me probably more than meat.

      1. I suffer rom pseudo gout for the past 10 years , I read on the webs that some doctors think the pain is not as severe as the normal gout, if only I can talk to one of them I’ll probably ram my fist down their throats.
        The pain, as many have said is unbelievable and I nearly pass out on several occasions. Right now I’m having in both of my ankles, right knee and my left wrist. I took some sleeping pills the other night hoping it was going to help me to get some sleep, bloody massive mistake, the attacks were unrelenting, moving from my knee to the ankles and then finally the left wrist. Like many I think death is a better solution most of the time.

        1. I know all about Pseudo Gout as well… You have my sympathies.
          Pseudo Gout is the same thing as Gout – but instead of Uric Acid levels building up the crystals that cause all the problems, it’s Calcium. These crystals cause tissue damage, scar tissue, pain, swelling, joint damage… everything regular Gout does. Pain is exactly the same. You see diagnoses of this when the patient has all the symptoms of Gout, but without the high uric acid levels in the blood. Pain is every bit as bad because its’ the same pain.
          Dealing with it is the same too. Lots of water. ZERO soft drinks or alcohol. Nothing with High Fructose Corn Syrup. And lots more water. Avoid juices and other things with Fructose sugar, as Fructose is a contributing agent.
          Take some Advil Migraine soft gells. 2 of them. And two extra strength Tylenol. Once that takes effect, it will take the edge off the pain… then alternate regular Advil and Tylenol through out the day to cope with the pain until it subsides. But seriously, drink lots of pure water. Since it’s not Uric Acids hurting you, the Citric Acids and other remedies wont help. But Black Cherry might. Get the Pure black cherry juice with nothing else added – no sugars… sip on that all day long while you pound water. You should be pissing clear. If you are not pissing clear – you are not drinking enough water.

          1. You definitely know your gout and pseudo gout. For years I’ve been told by doctors that I have gout even though test results have shown that my Uric Acid was perfectly normal. It was toward then end of 2012 when I went in for an arthroscopic surgery that they found calcium deposit in the knees cartilage.
            I do drink a lot of water and have changed my diet accordingly ie no red meat, seafood or alcohol etc I have pretty much cut them all out but on average I get an attack almost once a month and if I was lucky two and a half months at most ( during the warm season I don’t get it as much). The latest attack has been going on for nearly two months and it doesn’t look like it will get better anytime soon. I’ll try the meds you have mentioned and see how it turns out. I’m just so sick of this shit, please someone , just shoot me.
            P.S I can longer bend my knee 100% like I used to, there’s still calcium deposit stuck on my knee cartilage after surgeon scraped most of them out.

            1. Hang in there, Mike. I know what you are going through and it sucks. Makes you think God just hates you.
              Occupy your brain with thinking problems to get your mind off the pain. I play violent video games when I’m hurting… It helps me not think about the pain. If you think about the pain – you get into a downward spiral.

              1. OMG…I made it through the night. A night of sheer torture and the most indescribable pain I have ever experienced. I spent 4 hours at the emergency room to find out it was probably gout. I’m a bit ashamed to say I have gout because it is the result of unhealthy (in my case) living. I will now do everything in my power to never experience that again. Your posts helped me, thank you. Now that I made it through what I hope was the worst, can I look forward to it getting better? I didn’t wake up (I actually fell asleep at some point) to the burning, intense throbbing that was my night but it’s very swollen, sore and hard to walk on. I have to go to work today and wondering if the agony will come back tonight. I thought I would go into shock from the pain. My whole body shook uncontrollably and I couldn’t get warm. I wonder if this explains a lot of other pain I have been experiencing in my joints.

                1. You probably did go into shock. Many do and don’t realize it.
                  800MG of Ibuprofen will help reduce swelling, and that will help take some edge off. 400MG of Tylenol will help attack the pain from a different direction. This combination is the best Gout Pain Relief I’ve found. But it’s hard on your liver, so only do that when the pain is getting really bad.
                  Lots of water, Liz. Get to love water with lemon.

                  1. I am experiencing what I believe is my first gout attack.it started a few days ago after I catered 2 days in a row. Long days on my feet plus a full time job. I was thinking it may be a stress fracture until last night when the pain kept me up and when I finally fell asleep only to wake up because the sheet was touching the side of the joint between my greater/1st metatarsal and the toe. It is radiating from inside the ball and I seriously understand the just cut it off thought. I worked yesterday and today and do have to move around some for my job but not a lot thank goodness. Tomorrow getting xrays to find out for sure. I can tell you I have had 3 kids. One without pain relief and that is absolutely horrid pain but at least it will pass. This has been 2 days of breath taking unrelenting make you want to throw up pain that doesn’t stop and I know that the middle of the night is going to suck. Going to the store now to get cherry juice. And I will take what ever gout met Dr suggests. I am not a sissy but this really sucks and I love red meat. Shell dish. Caffeine and beer. This just sucks!!!!!!

                2. Up for the 2nd night with a gout attack…interesting that you mention shaking and being cold. I was like that earlier this evening (it’s now 3:30am)…. I broke down and took ibprophen…it takes a bit of the edge off, not much…but with gout, some relief is better than nothing.

  21. im a 27 year old woman i have had about 10 gout attacks in the last 2 years each worse than the one before my last attack i wanted to either saw my foot off or if i could have gotten up i would have ended it all the pain was so horrendous i wanted to die i believe in no god and hate all religion but when i was laying there at night i would beg absolutely beg god or any higher power to please let me die in my sleep and now i live in constant fear of that next attack because i could not!!! go through that again

  22. George, I have gout myself, but not as severely as you apparently do. When I suffer an attack I resort to drinking lots of water, Aleve, and guafenesin, which is an old gout remedy that these days is found as an expectorant in cough syrups. You can also find it in pill form over-the-counter at pharmacies. Here’s a link on it:

    http://www.guailife.com/why_guai.htm

    If you drink sugar sodas you might consider switching to diet; I did, years ago, and it stopped a problem I was having with heartburn/acid reflux. The taste of diet soda is nasty at first, I will admit, but I was told that the secret to switching was to simply stick with it for two weeks, at which point your body would accustom itself to the lack of sugar, and the diet stuff would suddenly taste better. I found this to be true. Having said that, some diet sodas taste better than others, so you might have to experiment a bit to find one or two that you like. I’ve found that Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry is my absolute favorite, followed by Diet A&W Root Beer. Diet Sprite, 7Up, Ginger Ale and Cheerwine are all good in their diet forms.

  23. HFCS is in all hard candy & clear or crystalline hard candy is the worst. Had 4 mini jolly ranchers on Halloween and Nov 1 it hurt so bad I threw up standing on my foot. Avoid HFCS in all its evil places.

  24. Thank you. Nothing else I’ve read has got close to conveying the pain I experienced. I can recommend daily allopurinol to prevent it recurring which, thank Whoever’s In Charge, it hasn’t.

  25. Everyone is right on it. This is by far the worst pain I have ever had in my lifetime. Im 34 yrs old. I can’t imagine it not being the most horrific horrendous experience of physical pain a human can possibly have. You have to pray and call on Jesus and all of heaven to come fight that demon! Because it is literally a matter of life and death. I know because I have suffered for a long time with gout. I have spoken to women who have gout and they have all said they would rather give child birth with no epidural or pain meds. No offence to the women kind and what they go through in child birth, but I am a man and I would rather push a grape fruit out of my penise than have a gout attack. I have a spine injury, herniated disk that push into my spinal cord, broken hand with surgery and screws, cyst removal from tail bone, sciatica pain, permanent nerve damage in right arm, thoracic empyema and lung decortication surgery with three chest tubes hospitalised for almost a month, peripheral nerve damage to the chest and abdomen from open chest surgery, multiple oral surgeries – I was born with canine in my sinus, cervical radiculopathy and stenosis compression, rheumatoid arthritis and much more. But I tell you this is the wooooooooooorst pain in the world. I’ve had got attacks in my toes, both anckles, hills of my feet,every bone in my feet, knees, elbows hands, painful heart pvc’s palpitations. I’m currently having a gout attack in my right foot and my left SHOULDER which is mind shattering new to me……… yes folks my (shoulder). I have it right now in my left shoulder and my right ankle, it has had me bedridden. This type of glass eating pain will make you begin writting your living will. Okay 🙁 ….. I’ve been hospitalised because of it. My feet knees have swollen to the size of balloons. Even couldn’t go to work because of it many times. I helplessly crawl on the floor and steps also grind my teeth to get around the house. I take indomethacin and pain meds. In ER they give me some type of steroid through the IV , I’m not sure what it is but it helps a lot. Lemon juice and cherry juice are good for it. OH Thanks I will watch out for that corn fructose syrup! That’s great to know cause I didn’t know that. True true true your diet is everything. I love salads. My heart goes out to all of you my brothers and sisters who have this threshold burden. (Only) we the people who acually suffer this or those who have close love ones whom they witness suffer this disability understands. I wish all of you the best.

  26. I first had gout 5 years ago, I was 18, yes, 18 years of age. Now I’m 23 and I feel cheated and robbed of my “party days”, but yes I still do drink occasionally, but the fear of gout while at a party bothers me a lot and that somehow hinders me to have fun. I started drinking beer at around 15 years old. Btw i’m having an attack on my right big toe right this moment. All the comments here are spot on. There’s no better way explaining how it feels like having an attack. Unfortunately for me, it’s in my family, my dad has it, my uncle, my male cousins, my older brother (but I had my attack first, he only started having attacks maybe 2 years ago.), my mom, my aunt’s on my mom’s side, my grandmother on my mom’s side, i’m guessing all my relatives may have had it, but usually the worse ones are with us males.

    I remember seeing one of my older cousins having an attack on his toes, knees, ankles, and elbows. It was not a nice scene. For me i only usually get attacks on my right big toe and my right elbow. The attacks on the elbow are more bearable than the ones on my toe. And yes, it get’s worse every god damn time! If you guys thought that if you get it more often that you’ll get so used to the pain?? I’M TELLING YOU RIGHT NOW, YOUR BODY WILL NOT GET USED TO THIS PAIN, THIS HELL, IT WILL BECOME WORSE AND WORSE AND WORSE.

    One of my brother’s friend, had a friend who had gout. He died. Cardiac arrest due to sever gout pain. Good luck to us!

    1. Both of my kidneys are failing. I’ll need a transplant sometime in the next 2-10 years according to my specialist. I started getting gout when I was 15 and I had no idea why. Took them 7 years to diagnose me. They have no idea if the kidney disease caused the gout or the other way round. I’ve had gout in all my fingers, wrists, elbows, ankles, toes and knees. The worst part is once I’ve had an attack the area will stay swollen for at least a couple of years. Looks like I’ve got 10 thumbs at the moment. I’m pretty sure I’m up a shoe size because of it. I’ve tried most remedies. I’m taking allopurinol (but only started a few months ago). I’m generally a healthy person. Average height and weight. Nothing helps when I have a bad attack. The most annoying thing is not knowing what caused it in the first place

    2. I’ve had gout, The pain is very bad. The Lord gave me a two second insight as to HOW BAD gout pain could become. It is like nothing you could ever conceive of on a pain scale. I’ve had ACL surgery, during the aftermath the opened me up to remove the packing. No pain cocktails by IV. That was sheer hell in itself.
      Gout sends waves of pain with each heartbeat. Norwegian kelp pills, strawberries and concentrated unsweetened cherry juice from a GNC type store are reputed to help. Indomethacin/steroid pills, percs…. but I like the violent video game playing solution myself.

  27. I feel as if I have joined a very exclusive club.had my first attack four yrs.ago………it was WORST EVER PAIN of my 56 year life…..motivated me to lose 105#…..also on allopurinol for life……things are much better …….but last week the DEMON came calling…….so, unfortunately…….it can be controlled……but remains hiding in the shadows forever…….Thanks to all here for sharing…..at least I don’t feel so alone now…….p.s.–18 months since last attack.

  28. have to call it a nine on the pain meter………can’t imagine anything worse……..but I’m sure there is something………my best words to describe gout…….UNRELENTING PAIN

  29. I was searching the web looking for testimonials from my fellow gout sufferers. I wanted to be able to show my family, friends, and co-workers that I was not exaggerating the level of pain I was in. Like many of you including the author have noted, those who don’t have Gout have no way of understanding, and their corresponding lack of empathy adds insult to an already unbearable situation. My first acute attack come in college, and I was diagnosed with a sprained foot. Being an athlete of sorts, I knew for certain that I hadn’t sprained anything. I figured a stress-fracture was a possible culprit, but I’ve broken bones before and the pain remembered from those broken bones wasn’t even in the same galaxy as the pain from my new “ailment”. That was ten years ago. A solid 15 or so acute attacks later, I am just beginning to have somewhat of a grip on my condition. I take allopurinol and vitamin d daily. I drink excessive amounts of water and lace the H2O with tart cherry juice as much as possible. I absolutely NEVER drink soda anymore, I avoid HFCS like it’s the plague. I take IBUProfin at the slightest hint of joint pain. I have found many mixed messages on what foods are or are not high in purines, so that battle is ongoing, save for the obvious of shell-fish, pork, redmeat, beans etc. I have visible tophi sediments on the fore and middle fingers of my left hand, and they do somewhat limit the range of motion of those digits, but are not actually painful most of the time. The acute attacks I’ve endured in both feet, ankles and elbows are, like many of you noted here, basically living hell. It is beyond agony. My most recent flare in my left elbow was a top three attack as far as pain went, and I was describing the pain to my GF this way. “Imagine, literally, a grenade exploding inside the center of my elbow, except that it’s not an instataneous explosion, but instead happens in extraordinarily slow motion, over the course of two days.” I am well past trying to be a tough guy and gutting it out. I worry about permanent damage to joints/bones and the tissues surrounding the afflicted areas. It is truly traumatic for the affected area. I now can relate to the phrase “I wouldn’t wish that on my own worst enemy”. On that note, I really want a chessburger and a good beer…sigh.

    1. I give myself a cheat day every once in awhile. Once a month. Have that good burger and a good beer. But just one. Moderation is key. Then drink a lot more water the next day.

      1. I notice when I go on benders, which has been less and less, hopefully it will come to an end because it’s just too brutal to go through. You are right, Evian has helped so much. I went 10 months without a tinge, then I got stupid a drank my favorite yeasty IPAs for 5 days straight and last Tuesday paid a horrible price.

  30. It’s been hard to discribe the pain to people I know. I’ve had them come here and they still don’t believe me. I’m currently experiencing a flair up in my big toe and the joint below my pinky toe in my left foot. Mother of god it’s horrible

  31. I’m 31 and have had gout for a few years. I missed a couple days of allopurinol a few days back and now I have an attack in my entire left midfoot lisfranc area. It’s absolutely horrible. Even worse than my attacks I’ve had in my big toe. To make matters worse when it started I tried to just tough it out because I had just gotten a tattoo and the prednisone that the doctor would have prescribed would have impeded the healing. I’ve worked 2 shifts at my job since the attack started. I’m a paramedic. Tonight as I type this my pain level is a 20 on a 10 scale. It was manageable before on an Advil Tylenol regimen. Tonight I have taken a Vicodin, 600mg Advil, and 1 mg Xanax just to calm me down. Hasn’t touched the pain at all. I can’t even get out of bed to go get water to drink. I’d let Floyd Mayweather punch me in the face to take my mind off the pain at this point. Going to the doc tomorrow.

  32. Dude…excessive protein doesn’t cause a Gout flare-up. (And yes, I’ve had many SEVERE flare-ups) It’s the inability to effeciently process PURINES that brings on a flare-up. These Purines then BECOME uric acid crystals, razor sharp ones at that.

    1. Protines are broken down into purines. Its like were talking about ash build up in a bbq grill and your saying too much charcoal has nothing to do with it.

  33. Sure everyone here can reply in unison with a, “Fcuk gout!!” If gout were a person I’d probably be next in line for the electric chair. Been battling gout for the past 10 years (I’m 27). Of course, I’ve only had an idea it was gout for the past 3 years. First time was in high school and it got chalked up as a sports injury, or I thought it was turf toe as I played plenty of sports. The demon went away for a while, just some joint pain. Struck again in college. Felt like it was broken, doctor thought it was broken and decided to put me in a half leg cast for two months, after two months there wasn’t any healing to his proposed “break” in my sesamoid bone, “let’s put you in a cast for another 2 months”. Thanks but no thanks dick, casts don’t help with gout. God I wish I knew more at that time to pursue it further. Would have loved to wipe my ass with his fancy degree.

    Joint pain/attacks got worse and more frequent over the years. Couple doctors did blood tests and told me my uric acid levels weren’t high enough to raise concern. Go to a specialist 3 months ago and he’s shocked I haven’t been treated for this yet…. seriously?? Anywho, I’ve just about lost my faith in the medical industry. Been on this Allopurinol for the past 3 months and the gout has been worse than it ever was, I’ve been in discomfort for the past year. I’m in constant pain with back to back attacks alternating feet, elbow incident recently but that was due to an injury. It has taken forever to heal cause I’m sure the gout didn’t want a speedy recovery. It had to drag it out for a month, and still not 100%.

    Anyone have success from taking Allopurinol? I was already hesitant in taking a medication for the rest of my life and now just fed up with everything cause I can barely walk anymore.

    1. Uloric is a miracle drug designed for gout but is very expensive and has no generic version (to my knowledge). I could feel it work actually dissolving the uric acid crystals. My free samples were used up quickly and back on allopurinol. May God have mercy on those who experience the increasing pain of gout with every attack.

      1. I use you uloric as well, it’s a superior product and there is still no generic yet I believe for three more years but if you contact them through their website they send you coupon and it’s a prescription for $15 they make you fill out a survey describing your experience. the coupon is $15 a month and its last five months and then you just have to redo it

  34. Wow absolutely amazing to read these brilliant comments.

    I have a kidney issue and first got this pile of shit when I got injured playing footie. I thought I sprained my ankles twice but have had awful qout for years since.

    My knee was so bad I couldnt walk and saw a specialist who immediately drained two vials of crappy brown shit off it and plunged steroids in to my massive relief.

    Had an ankle flair up this week oh my absolute god and all things holy! I thought i was in hellfire.

    Wife doesnt get it, matea and colleagues laugh ffs. If only they could feel it for 10.mins eh.

    Fk this crappy infliction.

    1. I had the same experience with my knees. Several trips to the Doc for draining my knees and injections of that steroid that actually accelerates the knee’s degeneration, which ultimately is going to just make it all worse. My doctor had me convinced that I needed my knees replaced! I was all set for surgery!
      And then I got a doctor that actually diagnosed me correctly.

  35. I have had gout many times but last Weds night was like nothing on earth. Nothing.

    Been taking colchicine but it has taken a week to even get near it. I just cant risk this pain again and doc gave me allopurinol to try and 2 x colchi for a while.

    Heard that tart cherry juice is supposed to be magical stuff to so gonna try that.

  36. Omg. Had the nightmare attack. I wanted to die. I literally thought my foot was gonna pop. Could not wiggle my toes Could not get comfortable and I was on vacation. Halloween Horror nights at the Hardrock hotel. It was the horror night from hell. Then to make matters worse I ate fried chicken and drank an Icee at the movie theatre since the movies were all I could do. Could not walk more than 100 feet. Then my wife was laughing it off. Did not get it. She had the nerve to tell me that she thought she had had four before. I wanted to turn her into one of the walking dead. I’d rather be eaten alive by Zombies than live through another attack like this. Id rather be gut shot a and cut the bullet out myself. If you have never had an attack just shut the fu@$ up and get me to the nearest critical care office. Wish I had read this at the onset of the attack. Your insight is spot on. I hope I’m over the hump. Day 4. God save us from Ebloa and its ugly stepsister Gout;(

  37. I am 19 now , 3 days ago i wore a tight shoe at a wedding, and after 2 hours the swelling started , i thought it was due to tight shoe and i took pain killers regularly with coconut oil ( the hottest of all the oils) , ate fish 2 times a day , BBQ , ice cream 3 days regular , played football, Tea with sugar , donuts ,eggs , and chicken too and thus every thing one should not eat in gout, went to doc today , he gave me antibiotics ( Son of a *****) and now here i am 2 am i saw pictures of gout at google and came to know i have high uric acid , it has blown up for 2 inches after 3 days , a black spot in middle of swelling neat the big toe , left feet ,severe pain , literally crying to get over this but this painnn , Man this hurts ! Can’t sleep ! once had glass pierce through bottom of my feet , had operation of that without anaesthesia for removal of pieces but this pain ohh M God !

      1. checked uric acid today it was 5 🙂 , had a little surgery to remove the pus ! and now the pain is a little less ! drank lot of lemon water and ate apples , I think that helped me going through the night !

  38. I have had multiple attacks over the past 7-8 years. I’m still not sure what causes a flare up. None of the typical things have any affect on me. Just every now and then BOOM. AGONY
    I’ve tried multiple meds but none of them help
    Pure black cherry juice gives me relief within hours. Don’t drink too much at once though. Diarrhea and gout is a bad mix lol
    I’m diabetic and it’s high in sugar but I have to pick the lesser of two evils.
    Also I have no large intestine due to cancer. So I’m dehydrated all the time. Keeping up with enough water to keep me hydrated is difficult

    Had my last attack two weeks ago. Had a surgery to remove part of my toenail and that night I had an attack in the same toe. Horrible luck

    1. That’s the cause. Dehydration. Concentrates the uric acid. You have to keep well hydrated. Stay away from any HFCS as it takes more water to flush back out… and you can get a lot of HFCS through many foods, not just sodas.

  39. Having had about 2 attacks per year for the last 5 years I hear ya pain although some attacks are worse than others. Some are bad up to hitting the bed with your fists and passing out from body exhaustion dealing with the pain. Ended up here as I’ve got a filthy tooth ache but seems bearable after gout. Especially after 2painkillers and a swish of vodka.

  40. Dude,you deserve a damn medal. Thank you so much for this piece. Everyone has something to say. “oh are you sure ita gout,didnt you just bump your toe” Yea id like to bump my toe and foot up your ass.
    There is no pain as constant and as excruciating as gout.
    But im changing everything. A complete lifestyle change. Cause this pain and walking on the fringes of sanity is just not wort it.

    1. Yessir!!!!!! I STAND “experts” and folks who ask a ton of questions about it while your in pain. Like I want to go through the complicated story while I feel like dying!

  41. I have liver and kidney ailments and have had gout attacks a few times. My wife giggles and called me a baby. My 6 year old twins comes into my room to mock me limping. Oh…they will never know the horrors of this unyielding beastly anguish. The sleepless nights have lead me to contemplating the relief that a workshop electric saw could bring or just a shot gun barrel in the mouth. Seriously!

    1. Forgive the ignorant… And pray they never have to suffer this. Have your wife read this page and all the comments.

  42. My first and – thankfully – only, attack was in my left big toe area. It happened while my wife was out of town and I was watching our hyperactive 2 year old.

    It was soooooooo bad. We didn’t have any food in the house, and luckily my neighbors took pity on me when they saw me trying to walk to the car using a bat for a crutch so I could get breakfast. They helped a bit.

    I liked the bedsheet reference, because I experienced that as well, and I was both horrified and a bit awed by the fact that something that subtle could cause that much agony. The whole experience, while truly awful, was like that; filling me with a sense of awe that my body was capable of experiencing such pain.

    In my case; I guess I was kind of lucky, because the prescription of extra-strength ibuprofen helped a ton – made life bearable. I can’t imagine how I would’ve survived without it.

    I don’t often post in forums, but this is a club whose membership is definitely earned (like being struck by lightening during a shark attack, giving birth to octuplets twice, or having your junk bitten off by an ostrich); I may not like that I got elected as a member of this club, but I proudly commiserate with other members.

  43. I too suffered the experiences of the other contributors to this thread. From the agony of the weight of an untucked sheet, to having my foot x-rayed believing it to be broken. I had daily pain, but also horrific, crippling, acute attacks 4 to 5 times a year. I was prescribed Colchicine (in addition to the Tylenol and Advil) but was told to take it at the onset of an attack. By then its to late, its ineffective. Another doctor told me to take it everyday. I haven’t had an acute attack in 3+ years. Talk to your doctors. I currently take Colcrys (essentially the same as Colchicine). I hope this helps some of you.

  44. I’ve had gout in my ankle twice. (The first time it presented itself, I was convinced I had unwittingly broken my ankle and so went to the Emergency Room expecting to be put in a cast.) I thought nothing could be more painful than gout. And then I got a large kidney stone. Wow.

  45. Finally I have found people who get it. I have had stitches without anesthetic, surgery on a figure without anesthetic. I bit down on a wallet. Problem solved. I have had gout for about 8 years. Some attacks are in the foot (the most bearable) the big toe ( I agree it would hurt less to cut it off) and the ankle. Wow. The ankle gives you a whole new perspective on just how bad something can hurt without causing you to pass out. I am in the middle of a flare up in my ankle right now. I will try the water with lemon juice. Tried cherry juice and cherry pills. Agree that in moderation they probably don’t hurt. Too much though and you get to have gout and the runs. I agree that aspirating the joint and shooting it full of cortisone is not a long term solution. But I have done it twice. And it sure as hell beats riding out a 10 day flare up. I only recommend it along with agreeing to change eating habits and drink an annoying amount of water every day. If I go a few days without drinking an annoying amount of water I get a flare up.

  46. Very well said re: gout. I am currently having a flare up and I find acupuncture to be very soothing. Painful at the time but very soothing. This is going to sound very unorthodox but pomigrinate juice (Pom brand only), water, lime juice and gin really works well for me. Alcohol is bad for gout, however, an alcohol made with a dark berry (juniper berries) has worked well for me. I may just be self-medicating but that has worked well for me. Gout is the worst and nobody understands.

  47. Thanks for the blog. I’m going through my first gout attack and you’ve succinctly described everything I feel(including amputation). I wonder how your diet has been treating your attacks present day?

    1. I’ve not had an attack in some time.
      Mainly due to more water intake and a great reduction in consuming HFCS. I enjoy meat, especially grilled and smoked. But I don’t consume it in huge quantities, and I don’t eat it regularly. If I do eat meat one day, I don’t eat it the next. And again, drink a lot of water to keep my system flushed and keep the uric acid levels low. If I feel those pre-attack twinges – Lemon juice in Water all day long.

  48. I got blown up in Mosul a little bit in 2008 and had to walk funny for a few weeks, then developed chronic fasciitis walking on the drainage stones.

    But the pain got so bad and came back so often that I fantasized off my legs, just like you said. Every time I went back to the doc for relief, they went with the previous diagnosis and told me to stretch/ice/stretch/warm-up/cool-down and gave me steroids and NSAIDS. I suspected it might be gout, but army docs don’t often look outside whatever box they find themselves in.

    Until last week, after years of attacks and the past year having one every month lasting a couple weeks or so, I insisted the doc test me for it. Low and behold, I am a gout sufferer. My job requires me to stay fit and it’s impossible with this affliction. I’m starting meds as soon as this attack is finished, but if it doesn’t work, my career is pretty much over. And unlike the fasciitis, I don’t think it’s service connected and so no disability.

    I’m going to share this blog, because like you said, nobody gets it.

  49. I have gout in my elbow right now, and it has been coming and going since Christmas. I’m allergic to allopurinol and have been taking Uloric, but I’m still getting it. I had it once or twice a year for the past 4 years, but prior to that I was getting it every month and in 4-5 different joints. Seems like I’m back in that pattern and it really sucks. I wouldn’t wish the gout on my worst enemy.

  50. Hey Ogre,
    So glad I ran across this post. I’ve (sort of) joined a club I wish:
    a) never existed, b) terrifies me now, and c) I have to restrain myself from punching people when I see them smirk “oh gout”…

    I too have shattered multiple parts of my body in a horse accident… I’m talking shattered femur, pelvis, degenertive discs… what have you – and I’ve had a kid (ok I’ve never been shot, but I have been bitten my human, cat and dog…) and NOTHING is as painful and having my knee so filled with fluid and crystals from hell that I thought it was going to explode.

    I’ve been hobbling and dealing with the *#!+ my toes hurt for several years, but two weeks ago when I awoke to this “event” with my knee, I wanted to take a gun and shoot something… me, my knee, the galaxy, my husband for being so nice to me but patted my leg in empathy. HOLY MOTHER OF the stars above.

    And then I can’t even say I have “gout” I have to say “I have pseudogout” which is downright embarassing. I can’t even have the “real” thing. My crystals are calcium not uric acid, and have nothing to do with diet or drink or anything other than the trauma of my horse accident. It’s very common among 90 year olds, but not 50 somethings… and there is “no treatment” except for the crap that kills your kidney and liver.

    So ~ looking for vitamins (magnisum is my best friend now)… and frankly living in fear of waking up each morning. I truely could not sleep for 2 weeks b/c my body was terrified of sleeping and then waking up to THAT.

    Best of all was being treated like a drug seeker at the ER. “Oh yes, I injected calcium crystals and excessive amounts of fluid in my knee just so I could get pain medication.” (I had no CLUE what was going on and I wanted someone to KNOCK ME OUT but no… since I’m a drug seeker, can’t go there…)

    Thank-you for posting – and for the others that responded. I now have a new “family” that can only understand what this hell feels like – even if my hell is “pseudo”… gout.

    Tori from Oregon USA

    1. Tori, look up Dr Sage Wheeler in Seattle. He’s the best in the Pacific Northwest. He’s on Facebook.

  51. I had my first gout attack. I have had surgeries on my elbow, knee, wisdom teeth pulled. Nothing can describe the pain of gout although this website comes pretty close. I was in absolute agony, to the point I thought I’d pass out and vomit from the pain. A ‘gentle’ breeze was like a million needles in my toe. The pain radiated all the way up to my thigh, i was literally crawling to the bathroom.

    Thank goodness the podiatrist I saw diagnosed it quickly and gave me colchicine, steroids, pain relievers, and drained the fluid from my toe. It’s been 4 days and the pain level is now a 2-3 from a 9.

  52. I had mine for about a year. I had a day off and went to the gun range. Thought I had a spider bite. Told myself if I shot my foot off it wouldn’t hurt any more. I did nothing but research. Tried everything and there was a video of a Dr selling his drug and using a litmus test to prove his drug. His mistake was showing sodium bicarbonate. It cleared the acidity of the purine crystals almost immediately. Tried a teaspoon of baking soda that night, and after a year of suffering it almost was completely gone. Just a side note; I was very athletic.

  53. Great blog Ogre. The first few attacks hurt…but then the big one comes. Toe…lame…..wait till you crawl to the bathroom in agony. Drink lots of water. When I feel a bad attack coming on….I drink Vodak till I pass out. Kinda of against the grain, but it works more than not. I have flat wide feet and doomed to pain no matter what. I went to a foot Dr. and no Colchicine,,,,now way. On some Predisone now and that usually works for the bad ones.
    See a Dr. or three. I told my wife to get the saw a few times.

  54. I’m on my honeymoon going through an attack right now. A little while ago I determined a lot of beers in one night gave it to me almost every time, so I switched to a bottle of wine once a week. Red wine led to swelling, however I made it a month and a half without an attack by drinking white wine.

    I’ve been eating poorly, not staying hydrated and having a few beers on the honeymoon (think 5 total) and the gout is back strong. Glad I came across this blog to remind myself of all the good habits I need to go back to. Stay hydrated my friends…Damn Caribbean island.

  55. You sir are an absolute genius! My “Oh gout?… Its just gout. Eat celery seeds” Boots my sack at least twice a month! Lasts anywhere from a day to a week. Absolutely nothing works. Prendisone fought the good fight for some time. Now I have my fingers crossed for pegloticase (Krystexxa). Hopefully it works. Im so shamed every time I walk into the doctor with a burning lump of doom on any one of my joints. Talking to my doctor, Asking for some pain relief. I almost feel like Oliver twist “MOOOOOOOORE!?” Lol Anyways great read prrrtnrr!

  56. I’ve been fighting gout for about 7 years. (Here is the cool part) I am allergic to ibuprofen. I have a magic combo I’ve been prescribed that works as good as anything else. Flare ups if treated last a week. Untreated they last 7 days. But the maintenance pills keep them at bay for the most part. I’ve had to (no shit) change my ccw gun to a diffeent style and shoot a ton with my left hand because my right hand turns into a red swollen mess. I love it when it only hits my feet. I can function on a limited basis with that. My hands and elbows take me out indefinately.

  57. i just had my first confirmed gout attack in my right big toe, guess what, it FRICKING HURTS, as bad or worse then a broken bone, very debilitating pain, hope u all find relief god bless

  58. I am 38, I exercise, I eat meat in moderation. I’ve suffered from gout since I was 12! YES TWELVE!! Of course I had no idea what the heck it was then…woke up in the middle of the night with a swollen ankle and thought I was bitten by some spider or a centipede. Happened again at age 27, thought it was another spider or something. Finally got diagnosed with gout. Anyway, I’ve tried all the remedies…some work a little, some dont. Water with Baking soda, squeezed lemon juice, or ACV definitely takes the edge off for me, but while an acute attack is the worst pain EVER (sciatica and herniated disc are arguable, but no cigar) my main issues are post flare up. Constant pain and swelling…can usually not bear weight (right now BOTH feet are down and I’m on vacation). I don’t know if I’m having more flare ups or if the post swelling is just that bad. I’ve been on this kick about 5 weeks. Yes, amputation is a reasonable consideration in your mind when going through this. I HATE pharmaceutical medicine, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to nullify the other worldly pain. God bless everyone on here and I pray God’s QUICK healing in your life.

  59. So glad I came across this post, Ogre. I have a high pain tolerance, and can usually compartmentalize pain and deal with it at a later time. Not this time!

    I started feeling the stiffness and soreness in the joint of my big toe, thought I had just strained it somehow. Then, two nights later BAM. Awoken in the middle of the night by the fiery, insistent pain we all know and dread. I could not believe the sheer intensity and all-encompassing nature of it.

    What a lot of people don’t talk about much is the fact that the swelling makes it so that if another, non-afflicted part of the foot is touched, it causes a pressure change that DOES hit the afflicted part. With artillery-shell waves of pain. I could do almost nothing to take my mind off of it.

    The next day, a friend of mine asked me 2-3 questions and said “Yup! That’s gout. Bad news is…well, you are in the bad news part, but the good news is that it’s treatable.” Drove me to the doc and helped me inside. Got a shot of Toridol (sp?) which helped immediately. Colchicine and Allopurinol and I seemed to be OK for a while. I fell into the trap of thinking “oh, it’s over now, I think I’m ok.” Skipped some med days, stopped drinking a ton of water, and had lots of meat 4 days in a row. With a soda each time. You know what happened next.

    Now I’m on the tail end of the second attack within 60 days, and let me tell you, the old ways of doing things are out the window. Time for a lifestyle change.

    1. Yup… Gout is a Demon. It’s like Cthulhu… it sleeps until it’s ready to devour your mind with pain and maddness.
      A healthier lifestyle is required. Don’t feed the demon.

  60. I had untreated gout for about 11 years. My doctor prescribed colchicine, one pill a day. I don’t think he had any experience dealing with gout. One pill isn’t going to do anything. I lost my job and insurance because of it. I had attacks that lasted a full year, the gout jumping from joint to joint. Imagine being bedridden for a year, in excruciating pain 24/7. I got it in my foot and hand at the same time so I couldn’t even use my crutches. Nothing relieved the pain. I tried pure morphine sulfate, didn’t help at all. It got to the point I REALLY thought I would die because of it, so I went to the county hospital (no insurance it was the only place that would take me). They put me on Allopurinol. I truly believe that saved my life. The gout is under control now but my joints are ruined, so I still have a lot of arthritic pain, but nothing at all like the gout pain. It is without a doubt the worst pain imaginable, a 15 on the 1 to 10 scale.

    1. I was in that same boat. Doctors misdiagnosed me for years. I was set to get joints replaced. Until a real doctor got me straightened out.
      Unfortunately we can’t sue the bad doctors for missing a diagnosis like Gout.

  61. I have been dealing with gout for a long time. I got two words Allpurinal which helps reduce the level of Uric Acid in your body and Indomethacin. The Indo will reduce inflammation within a couple hours it will take the edge off the pain. Narcotics don’t work so don’t waste your time. My Dr. lets me keep a running tab of Indomethacin so I always have it. Look into coming up with a plan to deal with it with your Dr. like I have.

  62. Agree with Dwayne. Take the Allopurinol regularly and treat flare-ups with Indomethacin. Weight loss is a good idea for the big fellas. My personal belief is that beer is the worst thing for gout. Something about the yeast. I’m 56 and have had it for 25(?) years. I’ve had the cases where amputation seemed like a good idea. I also have kidney stones. Bad kidney stone attack vs. bad gout attack? I’ve had the kidney stone attacks that left me bathed in sweat from the pain. Tough call. The kidney stone pain usually subsides after 3-4 hrs.

    1. Any Alcohol is terrible for gout. Reason being isn’t the yeasts – though that is an interesting train of thought – it’s the alcohol its self. It dries you out, makes you lose water. Condenses and concentrates the Uric Acid in your blood.
      Think of it as being really thirsty and then chowing down on a bag of Lays Chips.

  63. This is by far the most hilarious and accurate depiction of gout, I’m having an attack right now and this article made me laugh so hard!!! I’ve had it for about 8 years now and at first I thought my foot was sprained, never went to the doctor because I’ve sprained my foot/ankles before, but the attacks became worse every time and I didn’t remember twisting an ankle or anything then I found out gout ran in my family. Oh but tonight it’s great because I literally would like to stick a syringe in my foot to see if I can suck the uric acid crystals out my foot because it feels so good (yeah right). Monday it started in my pinky toe, so then I walked putting all my weight on my big toe, by Wednesday it moved to my ankle without letting go of my pinky toe, by Saturday it made its way to my big toe so I got some 50 mg codeine tablets and a gallon of water and hopefully the pills will take the edge off just enough to go to the John 50 times tonight. I’ll tell you ice is also horrible for gout and so is heat. After this attack I’m taking the treatment for gout. Thanks for the laugh I needed it now because there’s nothing like a throbbing big toe to ruin my week lol!

      1. my son has gout and as a mother i would take the pain he is in right now i see him in so much pain got all the gout stuff i could get cherry juice ginger alkaline water cherry pills , i have not had it but when i see him in so much pain , it kills me in side , i hope you all get some help and understanding and love from your family and friends , i will pray for all of you as i am for my baby boy he, s 28 years old has a good wife and 2 kids to stand by his side. Gout mom

  64. I hope that more of the gout victims reading this will try Colchicine 0.6MG daily. (I’m 180#) I suffered exactly the same as others have described until I was put on this regiment. Taking it only when you are having an acute attack doesn’t work. It has to be taken every day. I don’t know why it took so many years, Dr. and hospital visits, wasted time/money, and agony to find a Dr. who knew what I needed. Good Luck

  65. I currently have gout in my left foot, between my two middle toes, on bottom on the ball of my foot. Safe to say I can’t walk without crutches, but no matter, the pain is excruciating even if my foot never touches the floor. This is my first attack in over 18 months and it’s HELL! Like you said – “Don’t feed the demon” – I was & didn’t realize I was off track until it was too late! You do forget…

    One thing that has brought up in the post and many replies revolves around “protein”. This is often confused with “purines”. This is what to really avoid, purines, which have some similarities to protein. There are good purines in veggies that actually help reduce uric acid. Go to gout.com for more details.

    However know that everything else mentioned is accurate, including drinking cherry juice to help flush uric acid build up from your system.

    So what to do when you’re like me, right now, having an acute attack? Go see your doctor and get a prescription for Colchicine or Allopurinol coupled with Probenicid. Together these meds break down the crystallized formations to help them flush out of your system, teamed with high amounts of water, through urination. You can take Colchicine or Allopurinol daily to eliminate the changes in diet however a major side effect of these meds is potential issues with your liver. No thank you, I live in moderation!

    No matter what happens you’ll need these meds to completely flush the crystallized formations out of your bloodstream otherwise they’ll still be there waiting to attack again so consider these meds as holy water to fight against the demon.

    Good luck, hope this helps, and that any of you never get another gout attack! Rob

  66. As I sit in my misery for the 5th consecutive month, exhausted with the sound of my own voice complaining…crying and cursing everyone and everything because Gout hasn’t left my side since May, I finally felt vindicated Reading your initial post and all the posts after yours. In the midst of my pain I actually laughed a lot ! I then sat down and read it to my family and sent the link to friends because you swear no one gets it and you’re tired of feeling like a complainer! I have literally been a prisoner in my home and when it leaves one area comes to another. The only places I’ve gone is the hospital or the doctor. This has taken over my life. I’ve become helpless and dependent. But seeing this site and the most accurate way you described it at least for a little bit brought a little laughter to the whole fucking situation !! Best to all you in this club from hell!

  67. Hey there brother!

    I feel like I can call you brother because yes, I know what you are talking about. From what you wrote, I can also believe that you know what you are talking about as well. That pain is the most heinous satanic bitch I’ve ever had to deal with and I wouldn’t even dare to wish it upon my worst enemy. No human should suffer through this.

    Sorry for necroing your blog post, but I was just talking to a friend of mine and tried to describe the pain that gout brings. Google brought me here and I very much enjoyed your blog post about it. I hope you are well!

  68. Ive had gout in my ankle for years…..thought it was the worst pain ever UNTIL a flare up in my knee! Anyone else ever have have that? After 15+ years gout jumping sites? Up now at 2am with the pain.

    1. Yup. Gout moves. It’s hell on wheels. Just pray it doesn’t go into your hand.
      Fight it with water. Lots of water.

  69. I loved your description of a gout attack, it’s right on the money, I have read every post on here and it feels good to know I’m not alone, I have had a few attacks on one area at a time, and that was excruciating alone, 2 weeks ago, I had an attack on my left knee and ankle first, then onto my left toe,, then I got it on my right knee then to the top of my right foot and toe, HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK! I have been stabbed 5 times, led to surgery 26 staples on stomach, jaw broken & wired shut, jumped numerous times, steel toe boots to face, list goes on,,,, and yes this pain is the worst I have ever came across, I loved my beer and juicy steaks every weekend, that was my weakness, seems lots of ibuprofen works the best to contain the pain and swelling, thank you for allowing me to share my story! Take care all sufferers!

  70. I’ve begun to think the most unfortunate thing about gout is that it’s not (generally) fatal. I’m 40 and have been dealing with it since I was 26. I wish it would somehow spread to my heart (why not? It’s hit just about everywhere else) and end this horseshit.

    I’m presently dealing with an attack in my right hand. Obviously the pain isn’t currently horrific since I can type okay, but there is almost no strength in the hand. I can barely wiggle the fat sausages I have for fingers right now. In the shower I can’t squeeze the shampoo or body wash bottles. Getting dressed is an absolute bitch. I can’t hold a pen to sign my name.

    The idea that I am only, in theory, halfway through my life is severely depressing. Sorry to my friends and family, but I’d call it a day right now if I had the option (short of suicide.)

    1. I’ve had a gout attack in each hand now. And I can easily say that it’s my least favorite place for an attack.
      So trust me when I say, “I feel your pain”. But honestly I wish I didn’t.
      I can’t stress this enough – Drink a shit ton of water with lemon juice in it. NOTHING ELSE. No Sodas. And if you can, find water with higher alkaline properties… Fiji or Evian are more alkaline. Drink that. A lot of that.
      If it keeps coming back, you gotta look at making a real lifestyle change with your diet.
      Alkaline water with Lemon Juice – Go Get Some. Pound till you are pissing every hour, and keep pounding it. You gotta flush your system and this will do it.

  71. I noticed you made this post years ago and I found it, on a whim, while experiencing what I would assume to be the worst ‘gout’ experience I’ve ever had. I was laying in my bathtub, soaking my foot in the hottest water I could stand, hoping to somehow get some relief, my phone by side. Your site and post hit me different: this wasn’t no WebMD “try this or see a doctor” bull. This was a user report and you nailed it.

    I’m 24. I’ve had some run ins with gout in the past. The doctors never really addressed it aside from giving me a prescription for diclofenac and sending me home. In previous cases, it was pretty manageable. I assumed I just fractured my foot at the worst and any of time it was me twisting my ankle wrong. Couple days? It was over. I didn’t think of it much further because my doctors truly didn’t make any effort to inform me. Silly me. So young, so inattentive.

    But what I read here, tonight, covered it. I’ve spent today in what I’d consider the worst agony I’ve ever felt. I’m not going to say I’m this massive tough guy or anything, but I’ve experience some harrowing shit (one, having both of my lower legs ran over by a bus). When that happened. I could position my legs to ease it. I could take morphine and dull it. This? There’s no safe zone. It’s just a constant sharp stabbing pain.

    I have a history of heavy alcohol and drug use and lost my dad three months ago to liver disease. I quit taking opiate painkillers years ago and switched to booze. After the death of my father, I hit the bottle harder. This last week and a half I said a lot of regrettable things while drunk and ultimately decided to get help. As it stands, I’ve gone four days without a drop of alcohol and I don’t have any cravings. I’m not sure if that’s entirely because of the maintenance medication or the fact that I want to saw my foot off and cauterize it on the stove.

    I’m not religious at all, but you best bet I feel like this is punishment for the things I said and did while drunk last week.

    It hit suddenly. Yesterday, woke up, foot was a little sore. Didn’t think anything of it. Drank water. Ordered a pizza – chicken, bacon ranch. My favorite!

    Woke up this morning? Whaaaaaaaaat the f&#@$@$@!

    I made the mistake of finishing the pizza and drinking soda today and the pain only got worse. Now I’m gonna lay here. I’m gonna put on some music, I’m gonna slam like three bottles of water, hope I can sleep, and in the morning give a bit of lemon a shot. Hell, I love lemon. I’ll eat em raw for all I care.

    I just want this to stop. I don’t want pain killers beyond OTC stuff. The bit of ibuprofen (800mg) I took helped, but I’d seriously not want opiates. So, I guess I’m gonna bite the pillow and ride it out but it was nice to see a humanistic and honest perspective on the pain. Made me feel like I wasn’t going crazy when it took me forty five minutes to make it from the tub to here in order to type this.

    Best regards to anyone else dealing with this. Don’t saw your foot off, those stains in the carpet will piss a lot of landlords off.

  72. Gout is primarily an underlying metabolic disease independently present whether or not you eat a high purine diet or drink alcohol. Diet can help reduce some flaring but will generally not eliminate all of them. Binging on barbecue, beer or shell fish can push you over the edge and cause a flare, but your blood Uric acid levels were high to begin with and the purine binge just shoved them over the edge to trigger a flare. Most likely Living a purine free diet will only make a maximum of 1 point drop in your Uric acid level which will still leave you hyperuricemic. Most people with gout are under excreters and simply cannot get rid of purines in their body fast enough so they build up over time regardless of diet and you become hyperuricemic. You need to manage the underlying disease with Allopurinol or Uloric and have your Uric acid tested at least once a year and make sure you are achieving and maintaining an appropriate goal of 6mg/dl or less in order to prevent the disease from progressing and to reduce frequency of flares. Uloric is more effective at getting patients to an appropriate Uric acid goal a higher percentage of time vs allopurinol but if you get to 6mg/dl with allopurinol with no side effects there is no need to change it. If you have tophi deposits you will likely need to get closer to 5 mg/dl to reverse these. For Acute flares, colchicine/Colcrys is listed as an A level first line therapy by the ACR and to be most effective should be taken at the very first sign that a flare is coming on. It prevents inflammation from fully developing. If you don’t have it in your medicine cabinet, it’s too late and you will end up in urgent care for suboptimal treatment. The correct dosing for colchicine is 2 tablets at the first sign of a flare, followed by 1 tablet an hour later and your done. You can also take 1 tablet a day as a flare prevention compliment to your urate lowering therapy (allopurinol or Uloric). many doctors have a basic grasp on gout treatment guidelines and best practices but many do not have sufficient training or understanding – it’s a roll of the dice who you get especially in family practice and urgent care. If your doctor isn’t offering meaningful effective help, see a rheumatologist or if you also have chronic kidney disease, talk to your nephrologist as most of them are very knowledgable about best gout practices and having you on appropriate medication that gets you to an appropriate Uric acid goal while not further punishing your kidneys and liver with ecessive allopurinol dosing or ecessive damaging NSAIDS or corticosteroids.

  73. I haven’t been diagnosed but I’m 80% confident my foot pain is because of gout. I’m a 32 years-old man and the foot pain started 2 years ago. It has happened 3 years in a row now. Originally started on my left foot, the last 2 years it has been on my right foot. The pain scale is a 9/10 or 10/10 for me. I would not wish this pain on my worst enemy.

    The best way I can describe the pain is someone dipping my foot in boiling hot water and keeping it in there or pouring scaling hot water on the foot

    I feel for every person who has a gout problem.

  74. It’s Van again. I didn’t get to finish my gout story.

    The first couple of years one of my feet would hurt about 2 weeks later after doing lunges. First time in 2014 and second time in 2015. I originally thought my leg exercises was causing the foot pain, so I stopped doing lunges. Then it happen again this year, 2 weeks ago, and I didn’t exercise at all and I experienced the same foot pain and that’s when I realized the cause is something else. That’s when I develop the theory maybe it’s gout? I researched the symptoms and it looked more and more like gout.

    I took left over vicodin I had from the first time I had foot pain and it this time it did nothing, apparently, the drug became expired and had no more power to it. That night was agony for me, I could not sleep the pain away. I wanted to hold my leg and cry. I had ideas about chopping off my leg or killing myself if that was an option, not to feel the pain any longer.

    Went to my nurse practioner the next day, told her, I think the foot pain is gout, prescribed me ‘indomethacin’ and the drug helped right away!!! The pain decreased and it was much more bearable. I was able to weight bear and walk gingerly 2 days later. Indomethacin cut down the duration of the gout swelling and pain in my foot in a few days where I can walk like 80% normal.

    The past 2 flare ups, without the proper meds. and not realizing it was gout, it would take 3 to 4 weeks for the pain and swelling to go away. Basically 2 weeks of decreasing pain level and 2 weeks of rehab for the feet before it was normal again. Basically 1 month.

    One of my feet would usually feel ‘funny’ the day before, not a mild sore per se, it just feels off and a bit strange for no apparent reason….then either that night or the next night is when the foot pain would come on massively. It happens during my sleep the last 3 flaws up. My pain comes from sole of the feet and the last time was at the ankles, it hasn’t occurred in the toes yet.

    Even draping of a very light frabic on my foot would cause pain.

  75. I’m having a gout attack right now as I type in my right ankle I got fired from my job my son sometimes have to miss school because I can’t walk at all to take him I can’t live my life like I want to I don’t know what to do I have another baby on the way and here I am jobless with no money and can not go on any kind of interviews I’m always in pain and always have gout attacks I feel hopeless as a man gout will surely bring the bitch out of you I just wish I didn’t have to live with gout I have known gout for 4 years now I am 31 years old and I feel like I’m in my sixty’s like wtf lol but imma keep on pushing even when I down because I know imma see better days and to all my gout suffers keep your heads up and stay strong because gout pain is no joke it will have you in church praying for a cure early sunday morning just try to eat right and drink alot of water and unfortunately give up them old drinking habits good luck on y’all Journey!!!

  76. Hi…all of this resonates with me…but the funny thing is, when the attack has passed, how quickly the mind erases the horror of the experience.
    You obviously remember, as though having watched a film on the subject, but the foot chopping thoughts are a thing of the past, and one is soon down the pub, rerserving your place in pain central , for next time.
    But here, s the thing…Arcoxia, 120.. will stop the whole thing dead.
    Taken at the first twinge…essential, miracle. Hallelujah.

  77. Like ppl have said. It’s a lifestyle change. Find the specific foods that affect it the worst for yourself. It’s different for every body. I have tried every remedy. My tart cherry pills, water, excercise and diet have worked for me. Indomethacin works very well but I try not to depend on that. I used to run hot and cold water over the affected parts but ended up bowing down to Tylenol 3 – trust me get ur Doctor to prescribe some. Don’t over due it. But it will make the pain go away and you’ll have a good nights rest. Whatever you do cutting the affected part off won’t help – I’ve considered it and thought about the consequences if I did it. The pain is serious. But if you change your lifestyle you will be ok…

  78. Arcoxia…generic name in the UK….maybe Etoricoxib also.
    Efficacious if taken immediately. ..but not so, once the attack is a couple of hours under way.

  79. You can have a dog pee in your eye and bite your eyeball out
    But it’s still not as painful as having gout

  80. I am going through a episode now and it is unbelievable how painful it is. I tried the prescription that starts with a “ch” and it didn’t do anything. I am begging a doc to give me a cortisone injection tomorrow. Only think that has helped in the past. My 5 year old stepped on my foot and I collapsed in pain. Embarrassed much? Ha

    Good luck all.

  81. This blog is good medicine in its own right. Been suffering 2-3 attacks a year for 7 years. Always makes me feel better when the demon shows up. Talked to an amputee who says that he gets phantom pain, which is especially maddening because there isn’t a limb there to hurt! But I too, have wanted to cut off my feet. I’m an auto technician by trade so 9 hours of standing on concrete 5 days a week can be tough on us “club members”. Lots of H2O, tart cherry extract and celery seed extract every day helps me.

  82. I know this was written a few years ago but one of the most honest and real depictions of suffering from gout. I felt like I wrote it myself. I have just recently stumbled onto the same conclusions, more salad, enjoy meat more because it becomes a treat if you don’t want to be full vegan. The cherries, the lemons which is easy for me because I love lemons. Sodas are the devil, I drank a 1/2 of can of coke and could feel the tingles in my toes. I have found that Apple Cider Vinegar helps. I once even rubbed it topically on my toe, and it did minimize the pain enough for me to sleep. We eat too much meat anyway to be honest. A burger and hot dog at cookouts? Then eat meat all through the week and most of us drink very little water to flush all of that out

    1. Enjoy the meat more – yes. That is the way of it. Make it more of a rare occasion when you do have it.
      Soda’s are my biggest trigger. Specifically those with HFCS.
      I will do Soda now and then… as a treat. But I follow it with a 3 to 1 ratio of water. A bottle of soda, gets followed by the 3 of the same amount of water.
      The intake of Water. PURE Water. Remains the most important factor. Few of us drink enough. Few of us even drink 1/2 of what we should.

  83. Love the post. Ive had since i was18. Golly man. I am currently having it right now. My right food just finished yesterday, and my left foot just started out of the blue. Im on the verge of crying. Im 21 now and i cant sleep.

    God this hurts… Help please. My attack wasnt as bad as my 2014 attack. Coulndt sleep. Called 911, said cpme tp the door. My left foot didnt allow my right leg to move or it would keep throbbing. So crawled on my back to the door using only my arms. What do i do now? This feels like my 2014 attack.

    1. Do EVERYTHING I said in my original post. You’ll get through it. And when you do, you will have to consider a lifestyle change.
      Back off on the meats and the sodas. Back off completely.

  84. Oh man I’m 30 and just having first gout attack(5 days so far) and can definitely relate to the pain of stepping on nails. It’s mainly between my big toe and toe next to it but in the middle of my foot. Scale of 1 to 10 it’s an easy 12. I almost faint when it flares up, can’t sit still can’t put my foot up, or down, can’t hold it still either complete agonizing pain. I’ve been taking motion 800mg and prednisone 50mg for a few days an no relief yet. Flares up mostly at night and morning, but is on and off all day. Been using an ankle/foot splint since emergency room dismissed it as a sprain. I was so pissed when I heard that, I know what sprains, dislocated ankles, torn tendons and ligaments feel like, fractured shins, 3rd degree burns, cut fingers in half verticaly with electric hedge trimmer when younger… nothing compares. I’ve called my doctors office several times saying I’m in horrible pain and can’t sleep, they refuse to give me pain meds even though the norco I received from the ER did atleast allow me to sleep. Sort of took the edge off of it but still hurt bad. My doctor gave me tramadol 50mg for pain but it gives me insomnia, makes me flush feeling and sweat even more when the pain hits. It does absolutely nothing but make it harder and have migrains ontop of all the foot pain while feeling more uncomfortable and nauseous as hell. I want to smack all the opiate abusers in the face at the moment, when in deep agonizing pain I get left suffering… Day 2 no sleep :/ how long do these last?

    1. They can last a Month.
      If you want to shorten it – Seriously, try my suggestions in the original post.

  85. Odly enough, before reading this, I mixed up some lemon juice and water before it happened. I’ve been feeling severely dehydrated for months. Started getting pitting edema and started chugging gallons of water and lemon juice since it’s so good and good for you. I took colchicine last night and this morning, 6 pills costed me 30$ but also hasn’t helped yet. Doctor is still not concerned about my pain and having to miss so much work. About to lose my house and car!! Not sure if I need to go to a specialist to get help, someone who knows how painful it is? Im an electronics tech and constantly up and down off my feet, but can stay mostly in a chair at a bench but I can’t think straight since the pain hits suddenly and distracts my attention so nothing gets done. I’ve been on pain meds before and absolutely know the addiction from seeing others on them. I’m very responsible with them but not understanding why my doctor is throwing me on pain meds that I have horrible side effects from and won’t change them? I’m so very frustrated. Anyway, great thread, I’ve been trying to explain the pain for several days and everyone looks at me like I’m exadurating and crazy. Hopefully it’ll lay off soon and never deal with it again. Gallon of lemon water a day rest of my life if I have to! And going to look into kidney detox herbs to flush them out.

  86. Has anyone ever tried supplimenting ashwagandha and/or shilajit to prevent gout flare ups and other types of arthritis? I’m going to give them a shot and see how well they work. Thankfully my pain is now over with, still a little pressure in my foot and ankle but whew time to take preventative measures seriously. The lemon juice and water flush helped a ton, haven’t felt so hydrated in a long time. THANK YOU FOR THIS POST, glad I ran into it!!

    1. I’ve not seen any benefit of the Ashwagandha – or other special herbal things. And Ive tried many. My Brother in Law is a medical/naturopathic doctor… and he’s not recommended such things. He’s the one that told me about Citric Acid. The Lemon Water. It’s worked very well.

  87. FUCK!! Major gout attack in my knee, as well as my feet and hand but the knee is killing me the most. I usually take 650 mg alfalfa pills and it seems to keep it away,,, but then I missed taking it a few times and had some pork ribs and sausage and beer…..SHOOT ME NOW! This attack has gone on for four days. OK,,,, never will I eat any pork again!!! 🙁

      1. Never have I wanted to join this poxy club, but the decision was not mine to make, I consider myself pretty staunch and reasonably hard and like others have had my share injuries, broken arms, wrist, ribs all the usual ones been kicked in the balls by a giant bird called a cassowary made my balls swell to the size of grapefruits, pissed blood for a while and very painful, even been stung by the deadly box jelly fish that kills people over here in Aus, fortunately for me only a small portion of tentacle got on my forearm when checking my crab pots, but that was major pain is indeed, but compared to gout fuck my black dog rover!! nothing absolutely nothing comes a shit show in hell close to the ever relenting fucking agony of gout, just when you think to yourself that It could not possibly get any worse that sedistic evil demon just ramps it up another notch, I have personally screamed, cried for over 48 hours before the agony begins to subside only to leave my knee miniscus shredded in need of surgery, there have been many things said on here that are true , a person that has not had a acute gout attack can even begin to imagine the agony and they are not qualified to comment, gout and full blown acute gout attacks are different beasts also, but never have I been humbled and made feel so weak fragile pathetic and scared, and I don’t scare easily not afraid of much but I am terrified of gout and I’m on the downward slide after having another attack and found this and fuck me it made me giggle and smile to know that some other poor cunt has to go through the same agony, and old mate is 100% correct water is the key and yet I struggle with it, just can’t force myself to drink enough and so I suffer, I have tried everything all the home remedies did fuck all, just pissing in the wind, tried praying, begging God all gods I even switched sides and tried Satan but that cocksucker wouldn’t even help nothing seems to, just have to keep remembering drink water drink water drink water that the key.

        1. Yeah, I tried Satan too. He just laughed and said, “Wait till you get down here.” What an asshole.

  88. I had a gout Attack on my right big toe NEVER have I felt such pain it felt like my knuckle on my toe was shattered and someone was twisting it for 3 weeks straight was out of work for a total of 7 work days going on my fourth week and it is still sore literally couldn’t take my work boot off without having tears in my eyes I thought about cutting my F in toe off on multiple occasions all I have to say is it “SUCKS”!!!!

  89. This page is great. I’m 47 and had my 1st acute attack when I was 37. Being a big believer in the value of data, I’ve kept notes on every attack since 2010. Been hit in both feet and knees and have done a ridiculous amount of research on this debilitating condition. There is plenty of info on how to prevent it; not much on WHAT TO DO, and WHAT TO AVOID during a FULL-BLOWN GOUT ATTACK. So here are my thoughts:

    1. Buy Ph testing strips.
    Your body can only flush uric acid crystals when your system is in an alkaline state. You should be drinking as much alkaline water (ex. water with lemon juice) as you possible can. Test your urine regularly. Your target should be 6.5 – 7.5. Pharmacies don’t carry Ph strips any more, but GNC and Vitamin Shoppe do.

    2. Get your body in an alkaline state asap and keep it there. Drink the following cocktail at least once a day :
    8 oz water
    juice from 1 lemon
    1 tablespoon baking soda
    1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

    3. Medication options (I’m 6’1, 230 lbs)
    Over the counter: 800mg Advil followed by 2 tabs Tylenol Extra within the next hour. Be careful. High doses of Ibuprofen can cause stomach issues.

    Prescription: Indomethacin used to work but I developed a tolerance for it. Celebrex has been prescribed off-label for Gout but requires a high dose (600-800mg) to be effective. Celebrex can have dangerous interactions with Advil and lots of other over-the-counter drugs so be wary. 800mg completely relieved pain for 4 hours at the beginning of my last attack. Pain came back though 🙁

    4. Ice helps, and in theory might delay onset of tophi in chronic sufferers

    5. Joint aspiration. I had my left knee aspirated as a last resort once while away on business. Almost instant relief. I was walking within 45 minutes of the procedure. Procedure is not pleasant…Remember, not all doctors are created equal and you should try and find someone with experience.

    6. Don’t massage the infected area or it can spread….especially with feet. That nasty substance is under high pressure and will spread anywhere it can. There may be no clinical evidence on this but it has been true with me

    7. Wet cupping.
    See link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flmaSWRFkX0
    Don’t try it yourself the first time. Go to a clinic and learn how first.

    8. Don’t smoke. It increases acidity almost instantly. This includes medical marijuana. MJ should be ingested.

    9. Don’t eat trigger foods! You will just delay healing. You know which ones: meat, shellfish, booze, sugar, bran, anchovies, sodas or any high-fructose corn syrup. …etc.

    10. Plan on irregular sleep for 2-10 days. Sleep when you can when pain is bearable. Make sure to get the supplies you need immediately after an acute attack. Grocery shopping later is a challenge when you are in pain on crutches.

    1. I wrote a little later on down the page. Agree with everything u said. I do get ultrasound when it’s bad on elbows and knees. It does help breakup crystals . Swimming helps too. Ice and heat.

    2. You said its best, not all doctors are equal. I had an aweful aspiration experience once and finally found a true technician. I found a 4’10” Vietnemese guy named Dr. Long Tran, I call him “Dr. Long Tran Runnin'” and makes my procedure less painful, though still horrible. But it is immediate pain relief. After 5 years and 5 procedures hes leaning towards subscribing me Alopurinol. Your thoughts ?

  90. 2:30am I couldn’t sleep and thought about gout out of the blue, probably because last time I couldn’t sleep was about 20 months ago when I had gout on my left toe. I had it twice. I decided to Google it and came across your article. This is soo accurate, I couldn’t have explained it better myself. The cutting off the limb part is true. This has got to be the only thing that makes eating/drinking certain delicacies not worth the pain.

  91. Lol I feel your pain! Have had gout, pseudo, osteo, rheumatoid, lupus since I was 13. Now 57 and diagnosed with hashimotos . Life is fun. Switched from nasaids to goji juice 8 yrs ago. Nap rosin caused fibromyalgia attach. Now on amino acid therapy , goji, lemons cherries lots of water good water high ph water organic veges no canned anything. Marajuana tinctures and teas are helpful. Been fighting RA and gout since July cause I slipped off the wagon. It’s now September . Budweiser lime Rita’s were mighty tasty but not worth the price. Stay thirsty my friends.

  92. Hey your description really hits the nail on the head. I haven’t been shot (probably because my wife has no access to a firearm) but I can testify that gout is the most painful affliction I have had including broken bones, appendicitis and a hernia. I’m in the middle of an acute attack now, and I get a slight fever during attacks, which means I sweat a lot. So I have to take a lot of showers. And, boy, the water drops hitting my foot is incredibly painful. Don’t even mention getting in and out of the shower.
    Totally agree with the “position of comfort”. I do find you can get to a “position of slightly less pain” (e.g a car parking on your foot), but it only lasts a minute before Gout works out what you did and comes back with a vengeance. Then you either have to keep still and suffer the new elevated pain or move through positions of extremely elevated pain in order to find a new “position of slightly less pain” for a brief respite and then start again.
    If it’s in your right foot, you can’t drive, because you can’t hit the gas or brake hard enough in case of an emergency. If it’s in your left foot, and you drive a stick like me, you can’t drive because you can’t depress the clutch. You’re probably too tired to be safe behind the wheel, anyway. Either way you can’t walk properly.
    Anyhow, I estimate that I need to take a leak in 20 minutes, so I have to set off for the can now.
    Chin up sufferers!

    1. Driving is almost impossible with Gout. Try Riding a motorcycle though, like I used to do. Having to put a foot down at a red light. Good hell.

      1. Ride a motorcycle!!
        Kudos to you.
        It takes me 10 minutes of agony to get my socks on when I have gout!

  93. Had a few attacks over the last couple of years but this is the biggest and most painful ever. I would quite happily carve my foot off! I’m on day 7 and its gradually getting worse. As soon as its over I’m trying allopurinol because I never want to go through this again. If I could I’d give up all food and just drink water so I know I’ll never get this pain again. Every heartbeat is agony. No one understands they are just like ‘arr poor you, I heard this works’ how about fuck you! I phoned the out of hours doctor earlier and said nothing’s helping it’s getting worse to which she basically said oh well nothing we can do! Why do they not fund gout research to maybe find a cure?

    1. Look at it this way and take comfort in it – The greatest American Mind in History, Ben Franklin suffered Gout regularly. As did Kings and many other notable Historical Figures.
      I know that doesn’t help… but just an interesting fact.
      Take 4 Advil Liquid Gells and 2 Extra Strength Tylenol in one Gulp, and drink a fuck ton of water with lemon juice in it… and hang in there. Because I know exactly what you are going through – and it will pass. Seriously, drink as much as you can handle… and then drink some more.

  94. Get a perscription for Uloric. It’s the best. You will get adicted to being pain free. John G.

  95. When I get gout in my knee its the worst pain ever in the world. I realized now no matter how horrible a 16/18 gauge needle with zero anesthesia is, I gotta do it. My doc calls it “civil war” time. Aspiration of the elbow and the knee are a must. The elbow procedure isnt that bad, while the knee is rough. But the pain relief is so welcomed and immediate. Friggin 55 cc doc took out today, looked like a dixie cup of rotten lemonade.

    1. I thought mine looked like Watermelon/strawberry slushy. Yeah, you get that crap out of the effected joint and it relieves that pressure… yeah, it feels better. I had that done more than a few times.

  96. Year 14. Having acute attack as I write. Day 5. One of the worst. Right ankle. I peed out the window next to my bed last night. Couldn’t even make it to the bathroom 20 steps away.

    This blog was helpful. In 2002 when I first got diagnosed you couldn’t find anything online about it. Thank god for the internet.

    1. The old tradition of Bed Pans comes in real handy sometimes in the middle of the night. If you don’t have a Bed Pan… a wide mouthed bottle can do the trick.

      Drink Water with Lemon by the Quart… and hang in there.

  97. My brothers and sisters in gout-
    So glad I found this blog. Thank you MadOgre. I have suffered with this horrible curse for about 15 years now, since my late 30’s. It is without question one of the most horrible,unbearable, and soul crushing afflictions known to man.
    I am in my mid fifties and have always been extremely athletic. NCAA D1 basketball, running, lifting, biking etc – to this day. When I got my first attack I literally thought I had torn every ligament, tendon, and cartilage in my right knee. I was stunned to find out it was the demon. I was in good shape, had a reasonable diet and drank booze in moderation.
    Fifteen years later and appx 50-60 attacks in every joint imaginable I am still suffering. I had a recent attack in knee and was in bed for a week and had 2 cortisone shots plus Advil, Colchris , ice, prayers and still was laid up for nearly 3 full weeks.
    Like many of you I have had multiple injuries, broken bones, meningitis, etc and nothing is even in the same league with gout pain. I’ve passed out, vomited, sobbed like a baby, gone so many nights without sleep I can’t count. Plus I have awful guilt putting my wife and kids through this.
    I deeply sympathize with all of you.
    I’ve made a commitment that in 2017 I won’t get in trouble again.
    As MadOgre said so correctly- HYDRATION is the KEY. And everything in moderation- meat,alcohol,etc. Avoid soda.
    If you’re gonna drink, make it wine and avoid beer and hard booze at all costs. I’m going to try Krystexxa and hope it works. My added misery is the tophi, which is in my hands, elbows, knees and toes. So unsightly I’m self conscious in public with my left hand it’s got lumps and I can’t bend my index finger at all.
    In closing- I wish all of you the best and as we’ve said, nobody knows the horrific agony until it happens to them.

    1. As you said, “Avoid Soda”… Let’s call it Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup. Which is also found in a great many things other than soda. HFCS is poison, and I believe a Gout Trigger.
      Passed out, Puked, Sobbed, Cursed God… Yup. You know the true pain. Welcome to THE CLUB.

  98. FML. Laying here at 245 in the am with a flare up that started a week ago. Funny thing was this afternoon it felt like it was finally clearing up, then I lay down tonight and BAM. Constant aching and throbbing. I’m 36 and I’ve been having problems for a little over a year but this attack has by far been the worst. I drank about a gallon of water today but no lemon. I have some and would like to go get some but there is no way in hell I can make it to the kitchen. I’m thinking about slapping the shit out of my wife to make her go get me some. That’s how angry and in pain I am. Plus she inadvertently kicked my foot today. Damn this pain. Damn it all to hell.

  99. Thanks for this post and all the comments that come so close to describing what this pain is. I’m going through my first flare up, which attacked my right toe. I’m 47 and it took me by surprise. It happened on the third day of a 7 day cruise. The worst vacation ever! I had to fly back to Canada on a wheelchair and now the cold weather seems to make things worse. The flare up has been going on for 17 days now. I’m writing this at 5 in the morning on yet another sleepless night. I am allergic to ibuprofen, so I’ve been taking Tylenol only for the pain, which doesn’t help much. The doctor in the ship gave me colchicine for 5 days and it helped with the swelling. By day 12 it looked liked it was going away, I managed to go to work for a couple of days, but yesterday it started all over again. However, I’ve have been very rigorous with my diet, and drinking lots of water. I am going to try adding lemon to it, and also the cherry juice. The best analogy I read in the comments to describe the pain is like having my foot nailed to the ground with each step and reaping the nails off each time the foot is lifted to take the next step! I really didn’t know that such pain existed! I’m seeing my doctor in a few days and will certainly explore medication to keep my uric acid levels under control. As regards my lifestyle, this is certainly a game changer. It’s simply not worth it. I did never imagine I would come to the point of willingly depriving myself of meats and wine and beer et al… Cheers!

  100. I’ve been dealing with an outbreak for over a month in my ankles. The swelling in ankles is gone but pain remains. Then about 5 days ago I woke up with a softball on my elbow. I’m a boat captain and I have to deal with having gout while being offshore in seas up to 18ft and for any of you who have never worked on oilfield service vessels there is no such thing as sick days. So to all of you, I sympathize but it could be worse. TRUST ME!!!!

  101. Well I guess if your reading this , then like me you started searching to see who else might be dealing with this and how or what is helping .
    So me well for the last 2 years I’ve had this ongoing pain it comes and goes and I never had a good reason to justify what the doc said it was .
    I had Gout when I was 19 ish came home from a standard night out with the crew at the club , woke up and my right big Toe was the size of a small car , I figured wow must have been a cracker of a night who was I fighting with , doc later said don’t drink so much ! .
    27 years later I’m driving down the road in absolutely the worse pain you can imagine but this time it’s the base of my spine “tail bone ”
    Been 2 years taking pills to manage but today it’s killing me and that is when it hit me !
    I remember this pain , 27 years have passed but I remember this , a little research and sure enough it’s less common but not unheard of , of to the quack and now I’m sitting in a gentle position on the sofa , waiting for the meds to work , 2 right away 1 – 6 hours later , I’m sure this will be the answer to my problem , Sadly my home Bar that I love will need to collect a little dust till I’m feeling recovered , and then as this good man said .
    Moderation. Wish me luck .

  102. Man, it’s currently 6:13 in the morning and I can’t find a position to subside the pain. I’d cut my foot open right now and remove these crystals if it would relief it the pain! Lol fml 😂😂😂

    1. Cutting doesn’t help. If it did, we’d all be Emo’s listening to The Cure and shopping at Hot Topic.

  103. I am a new this gout beast the pain is really unbearable as you all know I did all the home remidies i drank tons water did the apple apple cider vinagar all day cut back on sodas juices and meats. Eat salads at meal times and no meals Nothing worked try to sleep no good wake up in the morning looking for a hack saw to cut my foot off after a week of this i finally listen to my son and went to a doctor he gave me a pill that kills pain for gout 4dollars for 10 pills its called indomethacin 50mg cap I took 1 pill today and there is no pain i dont walk around my house with a cane no more the real test will be tomorrow morning when i wake up i just had to share i know the PAIN I know everyone is different but I hope i can save some else the pain go see a doctor now i will update how my night went I hope the monster does not come back

    1. Indomethacine is a high grade NSAID. It used to be my go to drug for acute attacks but it has lost some effectiveness, and it’s not good if you have Acid reflux or have ever had ulcers, harsh on the lining.

      My new go to drug is a standard steroid called Prednisone. It’s a friggin miracle pill for me.

      I urge anyone to tell your Doctor to prescribe this drug if you have another attack!

  104. Thought I’d add to this I’ve spent the last hour or so reading whilst I’m watching TV (woke up in agony at 1am lay there for an hour then gave up trying to sleep). I have gout in my big toe first attack October ’16 and it went after around a week so I thought nothing of it. One off pain I thought. Couldn’t be gout that the doc said coz I’m only 30 and compared to younger me I am practically a saint when it comes to alcohol n crap diet. BIG FCKiN MISTAKE.

    Spent the last 2 days in excruciating pain and like the silly boy I am I had a beer with my meat filled dinner last night. What an idiot. I’m an ostrich when it comes to ailments. Just bury my head in the sand and expect my body to just fix itself. It won’t and I know it but it always felt like it used to. I’m only 30 but I need to realise I’m not 20 anymore. Maybe a gallon of ale a night for the best part of a decade wasn’t sensible.

    Anyway just wanted to show my support for everyone suffering through this. I’ve only just started and it is just my big toe (although my knee twinged and I’m praying to the god I don’t believe in that it’s just a result of my altered gait to keep pressure of toe) but I’ve never been in so much pain. It’s depressing stuff. Have my daughter all weekend and can’t do much. Not just that but I’m her Dad n Dad’s are supposed to be indestructible and I’m almost crippled by a “sore toe”. This OP and thread in general has been really helpful. Even just reading knowing I’m not the only one. Been smashing water with lemon all night and hoping it’ll help because I know I don’t drink enough water.

    This seems long I’ll end it here. Thanks to everyone who has posted and I hope that, even though we may lose a few battles, you all win the great gout war.
    D

    1. Sometimes the food isn’t worth it. The thing about Gout though… it helps us make healthier decisions with our diet. Better a gout attack than heart disease.

      1. What a great post and I love the comments! Great distraction from my throbbing ankle!

        This is my 6th flare up in about two years and I really appreciate everyone’s comments. I’ve never thought much about support groups and such but reading this had been very valuable. Thank you so much MadOgre!

        It is interesting I had experienced several attacks in my big toe joint and didn’t have trouble for a year or so then had “an ankle injury”. I wasn’t sure what I’d done but I’m fairly active and generally ignore minor injuries. My ankle kept getting worse so I worried I had some ligament damage. I went to an orthopedic, he X-rayed me and checked it out good and decided it was a severe sprain, gave me a boot and told me to come back in a few weeks. I had wondered if there was a bone fragment or something in the joint. I suffered for a week or so then it cleared up practically overnight. So dumb me I figured it was a bone fragment and it had moved to a better location, all good right?

        Yesterday my other ankle was sore and I wondered what I did but didn’t think much of it until it woke me up at 3am throbbing with undeniable gout flare up. Now I realize that my previous issue in the other foot was gout that two doctors completely overlooked as gout (as did I). It has me wondering how often minor flare ups have caused mid grade pain that eating right would help.

        I have taken colchicine with precious gout attacks and it is AMAZING! I’ve gone through attacks without and the attacks all lasted a week or so and with colchicine they not last a couple of days and the pain drops off a bit fairly fast.

        I’ve noticed though that when I am on the meds my entire body feels so much better, like I am 20 again instead of an achy 45 with heavy use. Makes me wonder how much we are effected even between acute attacks with nagging gout issues.

        I am now committing to fixing my diet, can’t keep having these attacks.

        Thank you all for sharing, it encourages me to know it’s not just me. I also feel better hearing people’s comparisons to other pain and that gout is worse. Knowing I can get through this and that it is worse than so many other horrible things makes me feel like less of a pussy.

        On that note gout is far worse than any pain I’ve ever experienced. I’ve had a shredded Achilles’ tendon and following surgery (say a 5 if gout is a 9 on pain scale), multiple dislocated shoulder injuries and following surgery (pain 3) and my only decent ridiculous pain experience was a root canal where the dentist could not get me numb, he was later arrested for practicing without a license, nice huh? The root canal was pretty impressive say an 8 on pain scale but I could squeeze the arms of the chair and thrash around a bit and ignore some of that pain. Gout is worse.

        Good luck guys!

  105. I know this article is old, but I unfortunately have just joined the gout club. I am just getting over my first gout attack on left foot. All I can say about the level pain and how intense it was is, well, if the Romans would have came up with a way to give someone gout, there would have been no need for crucifixion. I never knew pain until I experienced gout. I too have had broken bones, surgeries and all sorts of pains and strains in my life, nothing comes close to to the continual relentlessness pain of a gout attack. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, would be to cruel. I do want to mention though that after having the most extreme pain imaginable for a few days taking colcrys 0.6 with multi advils and alieve with no relief from the continuous pain, we were able to convince my doctor to do something else, he decided to administer a cortisone shot and an anti inflammatory shot. Within six hours after those shots I was able to walk gingerly without crutches and was able to sleep that night. Still swolen and some pain but tolerable. I am still not 100% yet but on my way to getting over this bout. I would say on a pain scale of 1 to 10 I am back down to a tolerable 8 which is great! lol, only people in the club would know that a 8 feels really good compared to where I just had came from on pain scale as was off the scale pain.

  106. So glad I found this site…. I really appreciate your writeup.
    The Celery throat punch line…lol
    This year I found Mersa to be an incredible painful affliction (imagine the gout pain in a fleshy area)….followed by a herniated disc and sciatica (take my leg thoughts)….and now gout. Three times in a month.
    I make beer – there goes a hobby…
    I hunt – goodbye venison…
    I just finished my mancave with bar and 1950s fridge….Ill convert that back to a garage.

    What I don’t understand is how it just HAPPENS one day…..
    One weekend, burgers and beers….couple weeks later do it again and BAM first gout attack. Who the hell threw this switch…they need a throat punch.

    1. Keep the Mancave, and fill the fridge with things other than Beer or anything with HFCS. And hang in there.

    1. Yes, and I’m still getting acute attacks. But my diet is flawed, admittedly. I thought they would be more effective so it’s a bit disappointing.

  107. I am a gout sufferer. I’ve had this page saved to my favorites for years because it’s the perfect descriptor. I believe this is hereditary more than anything else. My Dad suffered for decades. When people ask me about gout, I read passages of this blog. So, thank you for that!

    I’ve been doing tart cherry supplements daily along with allopurinol. I still like my steaks and wine though. I made it about 3 months this time and just maybe my worst attack yet as it struck my right big toe Thursday. Up all night and had to go to work but I left early to see the Doc.

    I shed tears when I had to put my shoe on and I had taken about 10 ibuprofen plus colchicine.

    Now, I will tell you bar none what the best medicine is for gout: Prednisone. Get to your doctor and get him to write a script. It’s easy to get not like some opioid.

    Lotta people with dogs have old prednisone bottles laying around.

    Pop 20 mg of prednisone and you will be 60% back to normal within 3 hours. Pop 2 more the next day and you’ll be 80% and can basically function normally in society again. It’s day 3 and I’m 100% free. I’m going to bank these 3 pills I have left for the next time. My attacks would normally last 5-8 days.

    You are 100% right with everyone’s advice. By the time an acute attack had struck, you could drink all the cherry juice in Michigan and it wouldn’t do a damn thing.

    I feel sorry for people who got this demon disease hundreds of years ago. They probably got crazy drunk to ease the pain and only made it worse.

    1. Sorry gave the incorrect dosage for prednisone. I take 2 20mg pills for a total of 40mg each day until it’s gone.

  108. I love this article. I’ve suffered​ from gout for about 8 years now. My wife thinks that I am milking it when I want to stay of my foot and try to deal with pain. I’ve tried to explain to her the how horrible the pain is, but to no avail. As I read your description of gout pain I knew I must send her a link. Your description was dead on, and really helps give a third person perspective. Thank you… My wife acusises me of clambing up when I’m suffering a gout attack, that may be so as I just have a hard time dealing with reailty. I’ve found that pretnisone will help reduce swelling and really helps with the pain, but it comes at a cost. The side affects suck, fuzzy vision, low grade headache’s and they really make you grumpy. It’s a last resort drug that I hate to take. But as you have described the pain of gout, there is a threshold that once crossed you’ll do anything to find relief… So I do a week of pretnisone, pound the lemon water and drink tart cherry juice. I can uaslly kick am attack within 3-4 days with this program. Thanks again for being an advicite for us gouters… Hopefully my wife can gain a little knowledge and understanding about the horrible pain of gout.

  109. The first time I ever had an attack I was a member at a local “CrossFit-style” gym. I thought I had a stress fracture in my foot, but like an idiot I worked out through it. I didn’t realize it at the time, but dehydration and high protein diet (thanks Paleo eating) triggered it the first time. That was 6 years ago. As I sit here today with my wife reading the article to me, I’m finishing off a three week attack that has ravaged my left big toe. Through doing all the right things, I still see when I’ve fallen short and what led to this attack. It was the first in nearly two years. Glad it’s over? Better believe.

  110. I’ve had gout since I was 24 and I’m 57 now. I have had it in 5 joints at one time and yes, I wanted to end it all. I quit drinking alcohol for 20 years trying to avoid an episode. I once had it every two weeks for an entire year after eating venison so don’t ever eat it if you have the gout. About 5 years ago I started taking Uloric and it worked so well, I stopped taking it and only had 2-3 attacks a year. I now am drinking moderately and haven’t had an episode in a year. Wierd malady that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Good luck to all of you in “the club”.

  111. First time ever having it. Feels like someone smashed my big left toe with a sledge. No sleep last night. Can barely walk. This kind of shit always happens to me on the weekend so I have to wait until two or three days have passed to see my doctor.

  112. I had 2 minor gout attacks in my left big toe within the past year or so. Both times, I didn’t think much of it because the pain subsided within a day. I naively assumed I had somehow injured my toe in my sleep (I know, I know) and went about BAU. Then about a month ago I twisted my ankle in a softball game and was out of commission for a couple days. That was a Wednesday, and by Saturday the ankle was feeling much better. I had about an hour of complete relief and then that peculiar pain in my left big toe presented itself again. By 9pm that night I could barely walk. Even the breeze from a window fan hitting the foot was too much. The entire area around the “knuckle” of the toe was bright red and swollen. Ice was a terrible mistake. This was the first of two weeks of agonizing, sleepless nights. About halfway through the ordeal, it started in my right big toe as well. My doc prescribed me indomethacin, which helped, but zonked me out and upset my stomach. I live alone, and the entire experience was surreal. I didn’t talk to anyone besides my Mom, and even then it was like I was speaking to her from a remote, desolate island that only I inhabited. Night after night I felt like a slug that had salt poured over it. The pain was too intense to lay still for long, but I could hardly walk just a few steps to the bathroom. The days were spent in a haze… the indomethacin made it bearable to walk, but I tried to sleep as much as possible in preparation for the long night of misery ahead. Finally, it subsided about a week ago and life has gone back to normal. I eat pretty well and I’m not a heavy drinker (although I was for most of my 20s – I’m 38 now). My doc wants to start me on allopurinol. I hate having to take a pill every day for the rest of my life but I also don’t ever want to experience that pain again.

    1. That’s exactly how my first experience of the gout went down. I had been drunk the night before, woke up and my big toe was throbbing. I thought, man you idiot what did you hammer your toe into last night? Then as time passed and it wasn’t getting any better (actually worse) I started thinking I had broken my big toe. Then as I thought about it more, I wasn’t that drunk and Ive never been the type to Black out and forget everything — and no I didn’t stub my toe on anything!
      I then immediately knew that it was gout. My Dad had suffered for many years. I never even got an official diagnosis. Got about half a bottle of indomethacin from the old man and that took care of the attacks for about 5 years along with constantly buying tart cherry pills for preventative maintenance.

  113. Ahhh Gout,its like a silent assasin,waiting to you are at your most vulnerable,at night,then strikes,being a 20 yr veteran of it your pain levels dont increase,they decrease,fear of that first initial prickly heat in the joint,if your lucky you can stop it,but if it kicks in,thats it,your 2 week holiday of pain begins,if its just the big toe,be thankful as at a struggle you can still shower,go to the bathroom,to the local shop at a push,the same if its the elbow,if not and its the ankle,knee your done for,keep a bottle near to urinate in,food and fluids at arms length,dont waste your time with painkillers,they will just make you constipated.If you get it in your achillies prepare for 2 or 3 months before you are back walking properly,its the worse place to get an attack,believe me,tears will flow.

    As for meds,Allopurinol is the best,but if you miss one dose,your liable for an attack,til you get back to a month non stop,i was in 900 mg per day,i advise this for anyone who regularly suffers,do a month at this then down to 600 for 2 months then down to 200,it works,i went 2 yrs gout free.Colchicine,Ketoprohin,cherry juice,they all work for individuals not everyone so try them all,i was on Arcoxia for a while but have been discontinued in England,they were very good.Short term use of predisolone is ok,but continued use will lead on to other issues,it can clear an attack with in days as can a direct steroid injection into the joint.
    REMEMBER to take gastro pills with your meds as this will help with heartburn and stomach lining problems with continued meds,also when on attack,ask your doc for fibro gel,this will help with constipation when you start moving,this is a terrible goodbye from a gout attack and through inactivity no amount of water helps you stay soft.

    The biggest bit of advice i can give regarding gout is
    DONT BECOME COMPLACENT
    Keep up your meds whilst not on an attack,your pain threshold will lesson as you get older,it will want to creep back in,every morning religiously take your 1 or 2 Allopurinol,avoid orange juice like the plauge it feeds it in my case,everything else im moderation,all the best from across the pond

  114. Gout is some shit. I’ve had a couple “lvl 9” attacks (just assuming that it can actually be worse)… like lightning rolling through your body. Its fucking hell. Started when I was like 32.

    These days – I eat and drink moderately (I love bourbon and IPA and NY steaks and all that shit) try to get a decent amount of water and exercise.

    First tingle in my toe (its generally because I’ve been drinking more than I should, and not drinking enough water), I hit my remedy hard:

    The Remedy : an ounce or two of Apple Cider Vinegar, and a pinch of baking soda in a glass of water, follow by 800mg of ibuprofen. Avoid hot foods (alcohol, red meats etc).

    I’ll drink that down several times a day, with the ibuprofen as needed (every 4 hours or so). All the while pushing a ton of water. That usually stops a flare-up in its tracks (I haven’t had anything above a “lvl 3” in years).

    If I was being really scientific, I’d test out the variety of remedies noted (lemon juice is interesting). But I don’t because my remedy works “for me”. You can add honey if you like, but, honestly – just learn to love the taste of ACV. I tried a shitload of different options, cherries, vitamin c, brown rice, etc… Colchicine did work, but gave me ridiculous diarrhea for days.

    My semi-scientific reasoning goes like this: gout is a PH issue. Your system is generally too acidic, and the uric acids, specifically, build up and precipitate in your tender joints. So why take in more acid? Because your body registers it, as you digest, and decides that it has “enough” and you stop producing the over-abundance that got you where you are. Include a “large” amount of water, and that helps dilute the over-accumulation of acids, on your way to a balanced PH. Baking soda is a Base, and helps sweeten the deal.

    You could get some litmus strips and test your piss on the regular to determine when the danger signs show up – but I just listen to my piggies and do my best to stay on top of it.

    Best of luck –

    1. Vinegar is basically doing what the Lemon juice is doing, but in a less pleasant way. I’ve also heard of some folks drinking jars of pickle juice. Which I just can’t stand, and I’m sure the Salt isn’t doing anyone any favors. Vinegar is basically an Acid, though not as strong as the Citric Acid in the Lemon juice. It’s also a bit less effective at bonding with the uric acid. – That came from an actual Doctor, not just my personal opinion. Dr. Sage Wheeler in Seattle Washington.

  115. Hi a gout suffer for the past 14yrs now. Male of 36yrs old. I suffer with my left and right ankles. I’m on 300mg of allopurinol a day and still my attacks are cronic and regular. I’ve gone through surgery on my left ankle around 4yrs ago, helped for 6 months and bang it came back. Over the yrs I have put on weight, stopped doing the things I love and suffered from depression as a result of the cronic attacks. As for the pain, very little I find that helps, rest and elevation and pray that the attack goes quickly. This has had a big impact on my life and people don’t seem to want to know. Living with this is difficult and at times I wish I was able to saw my ankle off.

  116. I look thru these comments and laugh becasue I’m up at 2 3 4 in the morning in so much pain you can’t move so you do the google gout search. People truly underestimate the pain I’m 29 and have had flares for 7 years now ranging from toes to elbows and achelies tendons. Right now I’m going through a flare in the back of my knee that landed me in the er becasue they thought it was a blood clot becasue the muscles in my leg were seized up I told them they were seized from the pain. My only relife I’ve found has been colchicine I know the runs and puking are terrible but I will take that any day rather then a flare

  117. Listen, if u get gout like I do indomathacin is the best thing ever, I call it my green miracle pill it’s normally takes about 6 hrs for me to start to feel some reliefe and in 24 hrs the pain is almost gone, it’s also called Indocin

  118. I experienced both Gout and a blocked Kidney (8 mm stone) at the same time and can confirm that the sharp, stabbing pain of Gout is greater than any pain known or even possible.

    A couple weeks ago on a Wednesday night I woke up with shockingly bad pain in my left big toe. At first it felt like a throbbing toothache, and even worse than my bony impacted wisdom teeth. Then the pain got worse. The throbbing felt like somebody had put a white hot knife into the joint and was twisting it over and over again. I had no control over the pain. It would just suddenly explode, then fade, then reappear. Shooting knifelike pain at random through my foot. The pain is really beyond belief. It attacks you suddenly with absolutely no warning. You are just sitting there watching TV, relaxing, drinking some water and suddenly it is as if needles are being driven into your joint and it feels like it is being ripped apart.

    Thursday was the last week in June. I could not get a doctors appointment until the next Monday. I screamed and cursed all weekend. I begged for mercy. I prayed to God for relief. I cursed God. The pain was unrelenting, throbbing, not continuous but probably half the time. I was certain I had shattered a bone in my foot. Ice, heat, nothing helped.

    I have Crohn’s disease and cannot even take NSAIDS. I screamed in pain all weekend. No relief from anything except Tylenol.

    Sunday night I had spent some computer time and found a nearby bone clinic that took walk-in patients. I was going there first thing Monday morning.

    Monday morning I hobbled on my crutches to the bathroom and suddenly I felt another pain that was “almost” as bad as gout!

    A Ureter blocked by an 8mm kidney stone is not like the sharp shooting pain of hot needles ramming into your bones. With Gout Sometimes you can even move to a different position and get some release. This pain was not needle like but more like a hot coal burning on my back and shooting down in unending waves all the way down my left side. No position helped and all I could do was writhe in pain. I was reduced to sobbing and I could barely cry out “I need to go to the hospital” before collapsing. No position helped. It just kept getting worse- for almost 3 hours at the emergency room I screamed and sobbed and moaned and whimpered like a baby. They would not give me any drugs until I became hysterical and started screaming and cursing at the top of my lungs. Finally they gave me some Fentynol and the pain eased.

    Having experienced both, at the same time, I can shed some light on the eternal debate about which is worse: Gout or Kidney Stones. The answer is that the deep, sharp, almost lightning bolt pain from Gout is beyond doubt greater than the pain from kidney stones. However, in my case the shooting pain from Gout would “only” last for a few seconds or minutes and then I would have a few minutes of rest and at least catch my breath before the pain began again.

    With the blocked Kidney, that hot coal just kept burning with no relief. Hour after hour until I was shuddering and squirming in pain, and heaving stomach fulls of green bile. They literally would not give me anything until I started banging the IV tree and screaming: “Give me some f–ing drugs. OWWWW OWW oWWW.. Help me please. Owwwwwwwww!”

    By this point the pain in the kidney was as much as the Gout but was continuous and unrelenting. The demon Gout is clever and gives you breaks so that the torture can last longer.

    I had emergency surgery to place a stent on my kidney and then they basically threw me out of the hospital. Since being released from the hospital I have had to wait 15 days before I can have the surgery to remove the stent and the kidney stones and I still have 2 more days left.

    On day 12, the Gout pain significantly decreased. I started using CBD oil and it reduced the swelling enough for me to bend my toe. Today I was able to walk for the first time in almost 3 weeks!!

    I have to ask, what kind of a sadistic creator makes a disease like Gout strike seemingly randomly and to hurt SO bad? What kind of monster creates a 2mm tube for an 8mm stone and then runs every nerve from the 9th circle of Hell through that location? What type of God would proclaim this “very good?”

    In the last 2 weeks I have gone from a successful Life Coach and attorney to a weeping, sobbing little baby. I have gone from excited about my life and future and career to shaking in fear and becoming short of breath in terror when I feel a twinge. I have gone from a solid Christian believer to a man ready to make a deal with Satan if only He would help me.

    I have planned out my suicide in detail, and have considered multiple options. There is no way I will go through this combined pain again and survive. I can’t do it again. I must have a way out, and perhaps that will be enough, knowing that I have some power at least to stop the pain. I guess I better get a psych referral at the time of my surgery.

    I cannot believe that a homeless vagrant can walk into the local clinic with a sprained ankle and he gets 60 oxycodone while a stupidly highly educated lawyer with a PhD in Sociology can have this level of pain and it warrants a shrug and a ‘take some tylenol.’ I want to stab these a–holes in the eye socket and crush their throats. How is this barbarism even possible? What is going on with the medical profession. Would it have made a difference if I was screaming “estoy en el dolor por favor ayúdame?”

    By the way I did NOT get to keep my doctor. I did NOT get to keep my plan. I did NOT save $2500 a year on my health insurance. I pay almost $30,000 MORE ON MY HEALTH INSURANCE SINCE FREE HEALTH CARE. Then I am told I am intolerant when I think U.S. citizens should have their health needs treated first before “free” health care is given to the rest of the planet. What I am going through is what “free” health care looks like. Wake up Sheeple. Like Obama said when denying there will be rationing or death panels: “Some live, some die” At least the President was willing to give a damn pill to people who are dying.

    Anyway, that was my first Gout attack. I would pray that it does not come back if I still believed in a benevolent creator.

    Thank you for this blog and letting me express my thoughts.

  119. I finally got fed up and told my doctor “Put me on something before I decide to chop my foot off at the next attack.”
    I was sent to a rheumatologist, checked over, and started on Zyloprim.

    OH MY GOD, it was like my long dark night with Gout had ended. Just a few days after taking it, it felt like someone had popped a balloon inside each of my feet that I had not realized were there. I’ve been on it for 4 years now and not a single acute attack in that time.

  120. I read the madogre story and really enjoyed the way Gout was interpreted.I have been drinking larger only for 25yrs,Some night’s 3 pint’s other night’s 6 pint’s.For the last 3 yr’s i have suffered Gout in toe’s,Ankle’s,Wrist and Knee’s.I never changed my lifestyle because i work hard and enjoy my reward..Beer.My point…!I was looking for a cure that would allow me to enjoy my life as i have been used to.However leave me Gout and pain free.Its simple WATER that boring miserable tasteless drink..I pump 2 litre’s a day through me and the same in larger later that evening??Water has given my larger drinking a new kickstart🤛Im thinking off proving my therory by having a mixed grill every night and uping my larger consumption..WATER IS YOU’RE FRIEND…DRINK LOTS AND ENJOY LIFE👍

  121. Hey Buddy,
    Each and every word you wrote made my eyes heavy. I have had a gout attack 5 times in my life ( I am just 32). Whatever you said is 100% true, no exaggeration at all. When there is an attack, it feels like Dementors are sucking the soul from your body, you hate everything in life and you feel you should not live anymore. As you said, “God surely hates you”, that is the exact feeling I had all 5 times.
    I once got an attack while I was on a business trip in Florida, late at night at 2 am, I had to walk all the way to my car, drive alone, park the car, walk to the ER and take 2 Toradol shots. It felt like I will pass out anytime, God only knows how I drove that damn car (I was probably driving at 80 on 25, and broken some signals, I don’t remember).
    Your post brought back all the memories that I had all 5 times, thank you for sharing this.. I feel I am not alone 🙂

    1. Yeah, I had an attack one time in my left foot when I was stuck with a sports car with a very heavy clutch… This was before Uber. Horrid.

  122. More thoughts on this subject:
    Here we are, years later. .. I’ve not had a drink of anything with HFCS in it for ages, and I’ve not had a full blown Gout Attack since. I’ve had twinges, where it could have turned into an attack… But lots of water with lots of lemon juice in it has done the trick to stave off the attack.
    But the more I look at the Gout situation, the more I am convinced that HFCS is a big factor for a lot of us suffering from Gout. It’s not just meat.

  123. It’s in the early hours of the night here in England and I was seeking you out for help with this problem again.
    I am back in utter agony. But this one’s different. It started as I woke up, but was in my heal. Since then it’s travelled through my whole foot. Settled in my toed joint, and is now in my ankle and side of my foot aldo. Please tell me can it do this? It’s more agony each day and has been 4 weeks now. Please can you tell me is it is possible or could it be something else. I am so sorry to bother you. I have no one to ask about it. Please help my mind and tell me it’s possible to move like this.. thank you. In hope.

    1. I’m sorry I don’t check this page as much as I used to. If you’ve done everything I have suggested and the pain persists and the swelling is not reduced… It’s time to go see a doctor. They have some other remedies and pain relief that might work for you.

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