So...
I have gout.
A disease that predominantly affects men.
Old men.
Me? I'm a female and I'm 52, which feels older than it is at time...
Gout also 'normally' presents in the big toe first.
Yeah, right. My big toe has never bothered me. It's the other side of my foot that hurts and it isn't the toes, it's the joints of the metatarsal area.
At least eight years ago, before my mother passed away, I went to see a foot doctor because my left foot hurt so badly at times I could barely walk. I clearly remember telling him that I couldn't imagine it hurting any more if it were broken. He x-rayed my foot and said it was fine but he had no explanation for the pain. I think he gave me a steroid shot.
I've lived with pain that I cannot describe for at least eight years. Probably longer.
What's it like?
When I'm suffering a flare, the weight of the blankets on my bed are unbearable. Putting on a shoe or boot makes my foot hurt all the way up to my knee. Pain killers barely touch it when it's that bad. The only thing that seems to work is keeping off it and keeping it elevated. My life, however, does not lend itself well to that so I suffer and I spend a lot of time standing on one foot.
Since those long ago days with the foot doctor, I have had flares in other places, most recently both index fingers on my hands, which scares me. I consider myself a writer and I spend a lot of time typing. Pain in my fingers is too scary to contemplate.
Since starting the medication, I've discovered a couple of other things, mostly by the reduction or absence of pain. My knees, for instance, do not hurt as much as they once did. And a chronic pain in my hip seems to be gone.
So, no, Greybeard, the gout pain doesn't keep me from posting. It keeps me from doing some of the things I'd love to do, like take my dog for a long walk or like sleeping well...
But finally there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
I am losing weight, trying to eat better, and I am treating my disease...
Finally.
And if you want me to explain what gout is, let me know. I'll tell you all I know about it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
For some reason my right toe seems to have grown a bunion, wherein there is a bump that's tending to push my toe towards the other toes. That's uncomfortable.
Just this winter, my left index finger is hurting at the base joint, and it "ratchets" out after I've curled it in. I, unfortunately, think that is the beginning of arthritis.
I don't have the pain that you have described. Can gout be cured?
BZ
BZ -
I'd get both checked by a doctor, BZ. Osteoarthritis is pretty much non-damaging so there isn't much they do for it. Rheumatoid, however, can damage joints and needs to be treated. I'd also make sure your bunion is that and not the beginnings of something else.
Gout can't be cured - it's caused by the way my body processes the food I eat. Some things are more easily processed; some are not. Hence the no alcohol, no processed meats, no ham; my body doesn't handle them well. The medication I'm on helps eliminate the excess Uric acid in my blood, created by the digestion process. The excess acid turns into crystals in my joints, which is what causes the pain... and the damage.
So, treatment and diet and I can be pain free... I hope.
cjh
As I've mentioned before I have a good friend that suffers from gout. The good news is that if you stay on your meds between bouts they are much less likely to happen and much less severe when they do happen.
He's gone nearly a year without a severe bout. Over the holidays there was rum and pork (pig roast!) which put him to walking with a cane for a week. For most of the year he was completely pain free and, like you, began discovering that the chronic pain had been affecting him in ways that he never imagined until it was gone.
There's hope. The diet and meds work... stick with it.
Jinksto -
Thanks. I am learning and getting better at avoiding the triggers. Long process, but worth it.
cjh
Well, I'm sorry, at 60+ years the no-Grey Goose vodka thing just won't work for me.
Life is too short for cheap vodka.
Vodka and Patrol just seem to go together. But only on my OFF days. (It still makes me giggle that I push around a squad as a Sergeant in the streets, at my decrepit age.)
I got aches and pains, but I suspect not what you've got. That said, though I'm on no meds and I'm not dead yet, I may just consult my ignored doctore and see "wassup" with my ratchet-finger.
I think that concerns me more than the toe thingie.
BZ
BZ -
Get them both checked out. The toe could be nothing but a bunion, but those can be serious in their own way.
cjh
Good grief.
I'll be 65 on the twenty-fifth, and I'm actually finding this conversation interesting.
GB -
Consider me your PA service...
Here's my best advice: If you have unexplained joint pain, with or without swelling, if a joint is sore to the touch and you cannot figure out why...
Go to a doctor and ask if you should be tested for gout. It's a blood test, for pete's sake.
I've seen some horrendous photos of what untreated gout does to your joints. Not good, not fun, not necessary any more.
And, it isn't just 'rich' food that triggers an attack. It can be any food your body finds difficult to process.
Bottom line: If you think you should get it checked out, get it checked out.
It's better than joint replacement.
cjh
Greybeard: we're just ancient, ol' Silverbacks.
BZ
Post a Comment