[Klean07]

chap limps into the doctors
doctor says gout
chap says ive only just come in 

Nice one 

[ianhannaford]

You certainly have my sympathy, drove me nuts...I've had three massive gout attacks over the last couple of years and not liking the medication approach I started looking into possible remedies.

Five things I found that work for me:

1) For instant relief I found that putting ice on the area numbed the pain and also caused some of the swelling to go down. You should only do this for 10 minutes and with a bag of pees/ice in a tea towel to protect you from frost bite.

2) In the morning and evening I applied Ibruprofen Gel to the effected area and found that it wasn't waking me up in the middle of the night.

3) For longer term, do a dehydration test. Go in the bath with hands underwater for 15 mins, if you come out wrinkled then you are seriously dehydrated. This is one of the largest contributing factors to the crystallisation or uric acid in the blood. The reason it effects the big toe/feet area is down to gravity. Its recommended to drink at least 1.5-3 litres a day. Makes you p**s loads but certainly helped in my first attack.

4) I found a product called CherryActive (quite expensive £25 a bottle but lasts a month and is a small price to pay to stop the pain). I have 30ml mixed with 500ml water everyday. During my last attack it went after 1 day and I have never looked back. It helps regulate uric acid and is made from a special type of cherry.

5) During an attack I also took Celery Seed extract tablets that I got from the local health food shop. Not sure if they help as I was taking the CherryActive at the same time. It was my Nan that told me about it so could just be an old wives tale - When you are in that much pain I tried anything!

This is only from my personal experience and I do hope that you get it under control soon. Also worth noting that I have not changed my diet and still am able to drink alcohol (although I do try and avoid Red Wine).

- Ian

[ant french]

i found the black cherries worked wonders and drinking lots of water helped me aswell.
my foot was in and out of hot and cold water all day. it was a weird feeling i had like when i got out of bed i could feel water running to my toe but from inside my foot lol

[Klean07]

Well thanks to everyone that has contributed to this post. I never expected so many positive replies and believe me I've taken note of most of them with the hope it relieves my pain. I did expect comments like "oh thats a rich mans problem" or you drink too much port etc.
I'm off again today though pain not as bad as yesterday and weekend. I've tried my trainers on and just about got my foot in. Was like putting a pair of trainers on 2 sizes too small. Two days off now and chomping at the bit now to get back to work tomorrow.

[ant french]

sounds like ur getting better but dont be fooled and dont over do it lol    u got lucky really coz its raining, well not now its not the suns out here finally

[Klean07]

Ive been painting all day as I'm not one for sitting around watching tv all day. Its been very windy all day here so dont think I would have done much anyway.

[mick hay]

Get "cherry active" its a sports supplement, but apparently great for gout.

http://www.cherryactive.co.uk/

[mileslake]

About 20 years ago I woke up with what I thought was a broken toe. Went to A and E,  they x rayed and said "see your doctor you have gout. "

He gave me a course of Indocid anti inflammatory pills, that got rid of it within a day.

Since then I take one 100mg Allopurinol pill every day, often I forget, never had a bad attack since.

But I also have a supply of anti inflammatory pills (motifene)and I take one, probably 3 or 4 times a year if I feel a slight twinge.

If I was you I would go and see a Doctor, there is no need to suffer in this day and age.

From what I have found it out, Gout is caused more by ancestry than diet.

[Denise l]

Eat fresh cherries, whole bag of them in 1 go and stop eating processed meats, like ham etc. The processed stuff has loads of additives in them. Eat a home cooked dinner with plenty of greens.

[Klean07]

Worked in my crocs all day today. Still couldn't get my trainers on. Went to docs who gave me Iburofen which I could have got myself. I did ask about cherries etc but was told not to eat anything red or orange like tomatoes, carrots, cherries. So there you go.