I have been under extreme mental stress
for about a year. Is it just coincidence
that I got my first gout attack when this
stress started? Lately the stress has
increased and now I feel like the gout has
spread into the tissues of my body- arms,
feet, shoulders etc. I am going to my
doctor for a blood test tomorrow. He
blames the gout on my diet of protein
foods and drinking beer or wine. I never
knew there was a connection between stress
and gout, but I definately believe it now.
I take 100mg of allopurinol a day, it
dosent seem to do much of anything. Any
advice on what I should say to the doctor?
What about the baking soda, I have hi bp
but take medicine for it. Help
|
painfree
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
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Suggestion For Jhm Posted: 05-19-05 20:34pm
I am sorry to read about your worsening
medical problems at a time when you are so
stressed. But we all recognize that
mental or emotional stress can be a factor
in the development of physical problems.
Here are a few suggestions for you to ask
your doctor.
The only definitive test for gout is to
have a rheumatology expert extract some
fluid from the affected joint and test it
under a polarizing microscope to see the
distinctive image of monosodium urate
crystals. Doctors without that expertise
often resort to testing of the uric acid
concentration in a blood sample, but that
test is so undefinitive that I don’t
understand why anyone still bothers to do
it. Ask your doctor to have your joint
fluid tested.
The symptoms that you describe throughout
your body don’t sound to me like typical
gout. You may have some other problem as
well that should be diagnosed and treated.
Tell your doctor of all your symptoms,
and ask him or her to do a work-up to
determine their cause.
Stress, along with meat, fowl, or fish in
the diet, plus drinking beer are all
factors that can increase the likelihood
of a gout attack. But a much stronger
factor recognized only recently is sleep
apnea. It is also strongly associated
with high blood pressure as well as gout.
Ask your doctor to have you tested for
sleep apnea. If he scoffs at the idea,
refer him to the letter published in the
feb 05 issue of the medical journal sleep,
entitled “gout is an indicator if sleep
apnea.”
i hope that you find these suggestions
helpful. Best of luck.
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