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If you drink lots of water, make sure you eat bananas and such to ensure your electrolyte levels are not low. I was told last year that I was drinking too much water, and it was contributing to my hypokalemia. I started eating a banana a day or drinking part of a Gatorade, and the K level is back to normal.
Since I started drinking enough water, I haven't had a gout flareup and was able to stop taking the allopurinol. My gout manifested in my right ankle. Nothing like feeling like you badly sprained an ankle, but don't remember doing anything to cause it.
What was your history with gout before? How many flares did you have over what period of time? How long has it been since you stopped taking allopurinol? What is your current uric acid level?
Reason I ask is a lot of people think they have fixed their gout because they don't have a flareup for a certain amount of time, but in almost all cases it comes back and gets worse and worse.
Last edited by Deserterer; 10-30-2022 at 08:14 AM..
What was your history with gout before? How many flares did you have over what period of time? How long has it been since you stopped taking allopurinol? What is your current uric acid level?
Reason I ask is a lot of people think they have fixed their gout because they don't have a flareup for a certain amount of time, but in almost all cases it comes back and gets worse and worse.
I had 5 or 6 flares, the last one was more than 7 years ago. I stopped taking the alopurinol after that, when I was having cancer treatments and trying to minimize the number of meds I was taking. My uric acid leves are in the normal range. I don't have my last blood test results handy.
I had 5 or 6 flares, the last one was more than 7 years ago. I stopped taking the alopurinol after that, when I was having cancer treatments and trying to minimize the number of meds I was taking. My uric acid leves are in the normal range. I don't have my last blood test results handy.
That seems like a unique situation because most people who stop taking allopurinol for gout have a return of gout flares within 4 years if not much sooner. I suspect your cancer and/or its treatment was involved with your gout somehow. Sometimes cancer or cancer treatment can increase or decrease uric acid levels. I'll keep taking my allopurinol and pass on the cancer though...
I had 5 or 6 flares, the last one was more than 7 years ago. I stopped taking the alopurinol after that, when I was having cancer treatments and trying to minimize the number of meds I was taking. My uric acid leves are in the normal range. I don't have my last blood test results handy.
That is the reason I mentioned polymialga rheumatica. It CAN cause the exact same symptoms as gout but generally will go away on its own. I was misdiagnosed with gout when I had the other.
That is the reason I mentioned polymialga rheumatica. It CAN cause the exact same symptoms as gout but generally will go away on its own. I was misdiagnosed with gout when I had the other.
It doesn't really sound all that similar, although there is some overlap in symptoms. Shame on the doctor who misdiagnosed you.
So, why not just take 3 pills and get it over with? I had bunion surgery, only to find out that I had gout. Colchicine was prescribed, but I could have done without the 6 weeks of recovery from the surgery.
The ortho doc said they used to just prescribe colchicine and the instructions were to take it until you had diarrhea. Now, they’ve decided that 3 pills will do the trick.
Synovial fluid? In gout, that can be tested for urate crystals, although it isn't 100%. Also serum uric acid will be elevated, but may not be during flares. I can see mistaking it if it was in your feet, where polymialga rheumatica doesn't often occur and gout very often does, but if it was in your upper body where PR usually occurs and gout occurs much less often that would be really weird. I've never heard of anyone else being misdiagnosed in this way. I don't doubt you but that's a pretty unusual misdiagnosis.
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