You may go through your entire life without gout and never realize how serious the condition can be. Gout is a form of arthritis that comes and goes, but it remains a chronic problem for most people who suffer from it. If your body becomes susceptible to gout, you can keep attacks at bay or at least decrease their severity with a change in your diet and medications.
Gout Causes
Many foods you eat contain purines. High-protein foods, especially organ meats and other animal products, contain purines. After you ingest purines, during digestion, they turn into uric acid. Your kidneys typically rid your body of uric acid through urination. However, if your body does not expel enough of the uric acid, the uric acid can form into crystals. These can lodge in your joints, primarily in your feet. If you suffer from gout, you do not generally have pain all the time as you would with other forms of arthritis. Instead, the uric acid crystals build up in the joints and you suddenly will have a gout attack.
Symptoms
When a gout attack occurs, you will experience extreme pain, at least for a few days. Gout attacks may begin with slight pain for a few days, followed by excruciating pain for another few days. This pain will lessen but not completely disappear for a few days after that. A typical gout attack lasts five to 10 days. The area of your body where the uric acid crystals cause the inflammation will feel hot and may appear red.
Medications
Your physician may prescribe probenecid or allopurinol to prevent or decrease gout attacks. You take the prescribed dose of either of these medicines once a day, every day. They do not offer relief during an attack, however. When you have the onset of a gout attack, you may take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as naproxen sodium or ibuprofen sold over the counter, or you may take stronger prescription nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as indomethacin. Some doctors prescribe colchicine. This medicine can work as a preventive measure or, with increased doses, to rid your body of the uric acid crystals during an attack.
Diet
In addition to medications to combat gout, your diet is important in your ongoing struggle with the disease. Your practitioner or nutritionist may provide you with a specific diet or at least foods to avoid to reduce your intake of purines. You should also drink at least six glasses of water every day. Water helps to flush out the uric acid by causing you to urinate more. The water flushing through your system can help your kidneys to rid your body of the uric acid before it has a chance to crystallize. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, a lack of sufficient water can cause you to become dehydrated, which can induce a gout attack.
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