The last attack I had of gout was back in October, and since I am Allopurinol and had been doing well on that, I let myself slack with my diet and started eating things I wasn't supposed to anymore. I am sorry that I grew weak in self-control and had chop suey and pizza in the same week...and a taco salad with beans, which are a big no-no during a gout attack.
The image here is no exaggeration. My toe is as red as this illustration and the joint as large as shown. And the way it depicts the throbbing isn't anywhere near the real thing. It's one of the most horrible kinds of pain you can get. Right up there with having your teeth removed with pliers with no anesthesia.
This pain went on for three days and three nights. Finally, after another sleepless night and excruciating throbbing around 4 a.m. despite taking two Vicodin at once (which usually knocks me out but didn't phase me or the pain one bit today) I phoned the doctor who told me to come in. So, since I wasn't in any condition to even walk by myself, much less drive a car, I called hubby home from work. We were both a little nervous that this would affect my RA and Lupus since last time I had a gout attack and the gall bladder attack at the same time I ended up with fluid on the lungs from a Lupus flare!
He was home in less than an hour (it's over an hour drive, usually). I got to the doctor and yes, severe gout attack. No duh! I wanted to tell the doc he had a keen eye for the obvious, but contained my sarcasm. I was in a bit of a bad mood after squeezing my foot angonizingly into a shoe, and hobbling all the way to the car, through the medical building, and to his office, and then having to wait for half an hour sitting in an uncomfortable chair in the examining room. But he was sympathetic. He prescribed Prednisone for two weeks, and said to use the Vicodin as needed, and then said to come back in a week and he would have the blood test for uric acid levels done right there at the clinic. Then it will tell if I need to increase the Allopuriinol. I hope I don't. I am on enough crap. But I will take it if I have to in order to prevent this from happening again. And you can bet that I will not be eating anything I know is bad and can bring this on. Good-bye to Chinese food and pizza forever. It's just not worth this agony ever again.
(Oh, and I am working on a project, or trying to, for that work-at-home scoring company. I finally get a decent project with them and this happens!)
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