Gout
 

OK Dwellars - who's got/had experience of this?
Poor Best Beloved is getting ever increasing attacks in spite of cutting out alcohol and reducing meat, and taking the tablets. In fact at present we've gone veggie for the duration.
It seems that his recent increased caffeine intake (well, you gotta drink something, eh!?) led to a gout attack, so caffeine in all its forms (including chocolate) is also off the menu.
Can sensitivities to food substances suddenly rocket like this?
In fact, since we also need to watch his cholesterol levels, once you've avoided all the gout-inducing stuff and all the cholesterol-raising stuff all you're left with is a processed white bread sugar sandwich.
Help!

I'll ask Mrs B at school - her husband has gout.

My counterpart at work is pretty sure he has it. his feet swell up and get hot...and hurt like hell....( he actually left one saturday at 3pm to go home and cry). he was diagnosed, and prescribed pills...but then changed doctors and the new one thought it was just a ruptured tendon.... but now is changing his tune back to gout. He might have both. He's wicked overweight, and drinks vodka like a mo fo. might be a little karma involved too....

Both of my brothers have gout. They drink cherry juice to help.

Hyperbole and all that, I know... but, um, processed white bread and sugar are two of the exact things you should avoid for gout? Whole grain bread is good for gout and the fiber helps lower your cholesterol. Or you could go with oatmeal and salted popcorn, which are both healthy whole grains that don't taste as grainy.

"Going veggie" really only helps if you're actually substituting vegetables and not just replacing the meat with extra refined carbs.

I have Gout in my Right Big Toe.

Read about it and this is among the most common sites for a first flare up in men. My Dad had it when he was alive. For some people it is self limiting and for others can get really bad as the disease progresses. It is very dietary sensitive. There really is no cure, it is a chronic condition.

I'm afraid the advice we've been given so far by docs, and much of what I have found and continue to find on the internet, says wholegrains are not the best thing for gout (though I know they're fab for cholesterol) and include phrases like "Low Purine Foods – No Restriction Breads and cereals (low-fiber, white flour, or refined grain types)". Oh, and yes, we're substituting vegetables, so there was some hyperbole going on :).
And then there are the diametrically opposed positions which say caffeine good, and caffeine he de debbil ... :neutral:
We have the cherry juice on order.
Keep that feedback coming, folks!

*shrug* Obviously I'm not a doctor, but the Mayo Clinic says whole grains are good. Several other pages I skimmed noted whole grains not as being specifically high- or low-purine, but as being a part of an overall weight-loss plan, a healthy weight being the most effective way to improve gout symptoms. But hey, IMHO vegetables are a better choice than most any kind of grain, whole or not. :)

I have to agree with clodfobble. I have a great crazy analogy that I am working on, but refined foods aren't good for you gout or otherwise.
And I am a doctor.

Guy where I used to work is managing it quite well after a lot of suffering. Next time I talk to him I'll ask and try to remember what he's doing for it.

Oxycontin?

I've had the Gout in my knees before. A friend told me to drink Cherry juice, none around here. I tried dried cherries and have not had another attack. I eat about 1/4 cup ever 3 or 4 days. Works for me. Pain, boy couldn't sleep, rest or be still. It sucks.

Clod, believe me it goes against the grain (grain!! geddit?!) to feed BB refined products but in all the lists we've seen (except that Mayo clinic one) wholemeal is listed as high, or more often medium, risk. This makes it (even) harder to overcome BB's natural tendency to eat the white stuff ...
However, here I am garnering ammunition and things to discuss with the doctor. The overall impression I get from a 'netsweep is that we have to do a Clodfobble© and observe which foods set him off. but I can't control so closely what he eats and he can be absent minded.
Yeast extract seems to be a big baddie for him and you'd be surprised where that's to be found, so I've had a clear-out of all tins/packets where it's lurking. The Marmite jar stays, however, because I like it. You can't eat that accidentally!

No, he is in literally no pain. He's avoiding something common like latex and also his previous medication.