Gout and DCS?

[T. Bix]

Okay back in my own hemisphere, blood work done and the results are 7.8mg/dl. Doc says "just cut out two red meat servings a week and watch the alcohol intake. This was a mild flare up and you should be able to keep it in check". I'm thinking "mild" flare up! OMG what does a severe flare up feel like? I have a decent tolerance for pain but I don't even want to fathom what that feels like!

I fly for a living and have to wonder based on anecdotal reports of reduced pain while hyperbaric if the condition or pain would/could be intensified by a lack of or lower barometric pressure?

Anyway thanx everybody for your input.... getting old sux but it beats the alternative!

 

[FritzCat66]

"Excruciating" doesn't quite do a serious gout attack justice. Before Allopurinol, I only had them once every 4-5 years or so, but they were *DISABLING*, like someone crammed ground glass in my toe joints; the overall inflammation so red and painful that even pulling a sheet over my foot felt screamingly harsh. And just flat forget about walking!

Since Allopurinol... nothing unless I overindulge at a nice meal, but even then it's very mild and of short duration in comparison, like a two-aspirin, two-hour headache compared to a four-alarm, 36-hour migraine. But if you're only 7.8 without it then yeah, you should be able to keep it down with just diet. I gave up beef entirely and it really hasn't been much problem. However, beware because some foods that are "OK" for a traditional low-fat diet are NOT good for gout, like turkey and spinach.

I've found the GoutPal site to be exceptionally helpful when it comes to the straight dope on gout, including what foods tend to be high in purine (i.e. BAD).

I'd recommend regular uric acid blood tests, however, to make sure your new diet is working.

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello Readers:

Yes, gout can be very painful. I have had flair-ups every few years. Allopurinol is very effective for me.

For diet control, I eat very little meat, red or otherwise, and no beverage alcohol. Sounds dull, huh! In have lost considerable weight [about forty pounds], and I have only fifty to go.

Food intact is always an issue in the modern world, epecially among people with money. They eat foods with bad additives – sugar, table salt, and alcohol. [Yet many worry mostly about minute amounts of sodium benzoate and the like.]

Dr Deco :doctor: