One Says Gout, One Says Not Posted: 02-01-06 02:13am
I'm 27 years old, 178cm (5" 10') and 73kg
(161lb) and I don't drink alcohol.
I had my first gout attack 2 weeks ago in
bed.
The pain was... Fatal... Even the
slightest touch from my blanket caused a
spike of extreme pain as if it's not
painful enough.
I broke many bones, tore ligaments.. Got
my finger bitten off by my own dog.. But
nothing even compares to the gout pain.
So the next morning, I went to the
hospital, got my uric acid checked and it
was 7.9, I had redness with a little
swelling on my baby toe joint.
I took the usual drugs, indomethacine,
colchicine, muscosta and miracid (i have
ulcer).
The pain disappeared in 3 days. Then a
couple of days later, the pain started to
come back but wasn't all that painful..
It was just a mild pain around the baby
toe joint area. It was just
uncomfortable to stand or walk.
Then last night (2 weeks since first
attack) I got the same killer pain back
during 2am. I couldn't get any sleep due
to the pain and I also ran out of
medication.
Today, I went to another hospital from my
first gout attack.
This is where the problem starts.
The doctor does not seem to be convinced
that I have gout.
The new doctor thinks it's something else
and wants to check the blood? In the
joint. (like.. Extract fluid from my
joint)
i live in thailand... Although the
medical technology is supposed to be
fairly good, i've been misdiagnosed couple
of times thus have lost my faith in thai
doctors.
I don't want to go through that painful
fluid extraction from the joint just to
find out I do have a gout, which the first
doctor already told me.
Is there any other (less painful way) to
check for gout?
I don't like big needles....
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painfree
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 14 Nov 2004 Posts: 76 Location: ,
Thanks: 3
Thanked:0
Posted: 02-01-06 08:42am
Based on your description of the severity
of the pain, the inflammation, and the
onset while sleeping, it very likely is
gout. But the only definitive way to
confirm the diagnosis is by examination of
some aspirated joint fluid under a
polarizing microscope to look for the
birefringent monosodium urate crystals.
From my own experience, I know that the
brief pain of the needle in your joint is
far less severe than the gout pain itself.
You may find that preventing yourself
from sleeping on your back will prevent
future gout attacks by preventing apnea in
your sleep.
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mewn
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 01 Feb 2006 Posts: 2 Location: Thailand
Thanks Posted: 02-01-06 13:11pm
Thanks!
I guess i'll just go and have them test me
then... If the extraction is less painful
than the gout.. It's worth it!!
Thanks once again for giving me the
encouragement!
