Painful, and just too damn young! (My Experience Of Gout)

Member Name: moleman

Product:	My Experience Of Gout
Date:	29/03/01 (1358 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: As Nietsche said: "Whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger"

Disadvantages: A long, painful, arduous journey for me which I wouldn't wish on anybody else.

Okay, most people have heard the old wive's tales about gout. Images of elderly gentlemen who have had too much port and stilton for their own good seem to come to mind to most people when this condition is mentioned. Of course, this is a load of rubbish! As I write this, I am nearing a decade of suffering from gout, and I'm only 25 years old!

It started fairly simply. One morning I woke up to find a swollen big toe joint and a lot of pain. Obviously worried about what could be up with me, I called the doctor. After close examination, several possible reasons were looked at. Allergies, infections and other logical conclusions were ruled out, and after months of annoying and sometimes painful tests (bone marrow samples - ouch!) it was finally settled on that despite being nearly 16, I was suffering from gout.

So, what is gout? Put simply, it's a hereditary condition where a person's body (usually the liver) produces too much uric acid. This acid reaches a level where it crystallises. The crystals get lodged in joints, where they cause painful swelling. Not just painful when you walk on it (though that *does* hurt), but there's often a sharp throbbing sensation in the joint when the attack is at its most acute. These attacks usually happen in the feet, because that's the furthest point from the heart, and therefore where the blood flow is normally slowest. However, it's not unusual for attacks elsewhere in the body (I've had attacks in my knees and hips before). Oh, and I find that limping on the inflamed foot often leads to a build up of fluid in the kneecaps - definitely an experience best left avoided.

Although it's much more common in men over 50 (and almost unheard of in women), it is possible for anyone to develop gout. Apparantly I couldn't avoid it. My Dad developed it a couple of years after me, and my Grandad on my Mum's side had it. I have at least one cousin who has developed the same c
ondition, so since it's hereditary it seems inevitable that I would develop it.

Of course, this is a real git of a situation! At 16 I was very interested in playing basketball and also starting my first job. It was definitely not nice to have to sit around in a fair amount of pain while I could be out enjoying myself, even though I was a relatively solitary kid at that point.

Psycholgically, having this condition (which always seems to hit at just the time something I've planned for months is about to happen) hasn't been easy. I've come to terms with it in my own way, accepting my fate and the fact that there is no cure, nor necessarily anything guaranteed to prevent it. Depressing it can be, but I can normally deal with it when the time comes.

Gout is usually treated with Allopurinol, a medicine taken daily which lowers the level of uric acid in the bloodstream. Combined with a medication to clear up attacks when they happen (I have been prescribed Indomethcin, but find Diclofenac Sodium works best), this should in theory keep the attacks and pain at bay. Unfortunately - possibly due to my unusually young age - these don't seem particularly effective all the time. In fact, I sometimes find that taking Allopurinol for more than a few months at a time seems to increase the frequency of attacks!

This has impacted virtually every area of my life. My work suffers - I recently had to have 2 weeks off work due to a particularly severe attack which left me virtually housebound, as does my leisure time - clubbing with a severe limp is best left avoided. And alcohol is bad for it! (though my philosophy is to enjoy the night as much as possible, suffer the consequences later - one I've lived to regret many times with this thing!) Oh, and I find that, strangely, driving is virtually pain-free during an attack, though you don't want to be seen by the police limping to your car!

So, how do I deal with it? E
ssentially it's just a mixture of defeatism and defiance. That is, I know I've got this condition, and i know I'll have it pretty much forever, but I'll be damned if I'll let it beat me!

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