Gout - anyone on Allopurinol?

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Harrys Again

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Well it looks like I need to go on Allopurinol or other uric acid lowering drugs for a while (or forever).

Had a flare up a couple of weeks ago followed by a minor one a week later but the crunch came last week. Just had 4 nights in hospital and two operations with infected bursitis on my elbow and infected gouty tophi.

Enough is enough and this is the second complication due to gouty tophi - last year it complicated surgery on a torn meniscus.

Got a few questions.

Has anyone had an side effects with it, any unpleasantness - (I know everyone is different but just some general feelings)?

Did you have many flare ups/acute attacks while the uric crystals were dissolving when first starting Allopurinol?

Does taking it effect your everyday life?

I have always heard it said it is for life but some latest research is showing it might be possible to come off it after 5 years or so - has anyone ever come off it?
 


Me dad was on it, might still be as he's on so much medication these days I lose track.

Never mentioned any issues or side effects other than not getting gout any more.
 
Town End Farmer Giles said:
Me dad was on it, might still be as he's on so much medication these days I lose track.

Never mentioned any issues or side effects other than not getting gout any more.
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That sounds good.

The occasional acute attack while wanting to chop limbs off while it is on is bad enough. Now it has caused me nights in hospital and surgery it has gone too far and I need to do something about it.
 
Town End Farmer Giles said:
Me dad was on it, might still be as he's on so much medication these days I lose track.

Never mentioned any issues or side effects other than not getting gout any more.
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Not a pleasant condition marra, my mate's had it for years.
 
Harrys Again said:
That sounds good.

The occasional acute attack while wanting to chop limbs off while it is on is bad enough. Now it has caused me nights in hospital and surgery it has gone too far and I need to do something about it.
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A nice bit of stilton and a glass of Cockburns should do the trick.

It's a comedy illness is Gout.

It has connections with gluttony and overindulging but is apparently really painful.
 
Harry Angstrom said:
A nice bit of stilton and a glass of Cockburns should do the trick.

It's a comedy illness is Gout.

It has connections with gluttony and overindulging but is apparently really painful.
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The cheese would be OK but fortified wines are out - normal wine in moderation is fine :-D

Turning up at A&E with your arm double in size and a lump of the elbow the size of a duck egg was no fun. They admitted me right away and operated that night. It is the comedy illness but having to go under the knife twice in 3 days has gone beyond my own humour levels. :lol:

I have tried the diet changes and only drink beer rarely, losing weight has not been successful. Going for the only sure cure - drugs.
 
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Harrys Again said:
The cheese would be OK but fortified wines are out - normal wine in moderation is fine :-D

It is the comedy illness but having to go under the knife twice in 3 days has gone beyond my own humour levels. :lol:

I have tried the diet changes and only drink beer rarely, losing weight has not been successful. Going for the only sure cure - drugs.
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I have heard it can be VERY VERY painful. Good luck marra.
 
Took allopurinol for a few years but started to miss the odd dose or three.

When at the quacks a few year ago I told her I had stopped taking them with no real ill effects she told me to hoy the rest in the bin , which I did , get the odd twinge from time to time but never had another full blown attack since the beach ball Liverpool match which must be a few years ago now.
 
Harry Angstrom said:
I have heard it can be VERY VERY painful. Good luck marra.
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It is but that is just the acute flare ups and outward symptoms.

What is worse is what is happening under the skin and in your joints. It can cause joint deformations and disability but if we saw people with it would not associate it with gout.

Two orthopedic surgeons have commented on it to me after surgery now I am going to a a Rheumatologist. Even paying for it I can not get an appointment till mid-January at the hospital I want!

buster said:
Took allopurinol for a few years but started to miss the odd dose or three.

When at the quacks a few year ago I told her I had stopped taking them with no real ill effects she told me to hoy the rest in the bin , which I did , get the odd twinge from time to time but never had another full blown attack since the beach ball Liverpool match which must be a few years ago now.
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That is what I am worried about - missing a few doses and attacks coming on. When on holiday etc I tend to forget my medication.

As I said above though its not the acute attacks (Nasty as they are) that are worrying me but the underlying effects of the tophi in my system.

My Uric Acid levels are not off the scale though - at the higher end but not in the worrying range - always around 7.4
 
started taking about 4 years ago,took about a week to get into system to combat gout..take it everyday no side effects no gout...i understand it can raise your cholestrol....i got gout as a side effect of strong drugs for my psoriaris so its a medication merry go round...
 
JAZZMANB said:
started taking about 4 years ago,took about a week to get into system to combat gout..take it everyday no side effects no gout...i understand it can raise your cholestrol....i got gout as a side effect of strong drugs for my psoriaris so its a medication merry go round...
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Did you have any acute attacks in the first few weeks of taking it while the gout deposits were being disolved?

Waxon said:
You have my sympathy Harry

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=e...&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi
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Yuk - That is exactly what I want to avoid.
 
Harrys Again said:
Did you have any acute attacks in the first few weeks of taking it while the gout deposits were being disolved?



Yuk - That is exactly what I want to avoid.
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no i was bedridden with my 1st proper episode (i realised i'd had minor flares at this point)..within hours i was diagnosed the drug but it took about a week to have an effect,so i had the pain for most of that time...i was thinking of stopping it but if it comes back there's no quick fix and it fkn knacks
 
been on them for three months, as predicted had a flare up a week after starting course.
told to take three diclofenic daily until it settles down, now have to take lansopazote to stop the diclofenic causing stomach pain:cry:

settled down now though and cutting back on the anti inflammatories, have to cut back on the lobsters and vintage port ;)
 
I've been on it for over a year now with no side effects whatsoever apart from, as somebody else said, not getting gout. It doesn't affect my daily life at all. Ask your quack for a tablet called Colchimax (that's what it's called here anyway) to deal with the initial flare up until the Allopurinol takes effect, which is what my doctor did with me. I think the Allopurinol is to restrict the production of uric acid rather than deal with what you've got currently. As for cholesterol, I'm on statins anyway so they take care of that. My doctor told me that white wine, especially sparkling and also beer was worse than red wine, which I drink in copious amounts without ill effect. Fizzy drinks are bad too but I'm convinced it's to do with the sugar content rather than the carbonation so on the rare occasions when I drink soft drinks, I stick to diet versions and I'm fine. Good luck with it anyway, it's a horrible condition.
 
Harry Angstrom said:
I have heard it can be VERY VERY painful. Good luck marra.
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Thankfully mine only lasted a week,cant remember what medication i got but it did hurt,was ok one minute then 3hrs later i couldnt walk,hope you get better mate.
 
ROBOX said:
Thankfully mine only lasted a week,cant remember what medication i got but it did hurt,was ok one minute then 3hrs later i couldnt walk,hope you get better mate.
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went to bed feeling fine, woke up at four am and thought she had smashed my foot with a hammer,
nasty business is gout
 
Cheers for all the replies - everyones experience seems to mirror what I have been told to expect.

Will go on Colchicine and a NSAID to prevent a flare up in the first few weeks/months on the stuff if I go on which looks highly likley.

Will wait to see Rheumatologist in January and discuss with him unless I have an attack before then where I will discuss with GP and go on after attack subsides.

Its the on for life thing that worries me - I am on blood pressure tablets but kid myself i will come off them if i lose 10 kilo - can always live in hope :-D

PS: About fizzy drinks - I think its the fructose that is the problem with those.
 
Over 5 years and not a single flare up, no side effects with me, that I know of?
 
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