I was diagnosed with a mild form of gout 3
days ago. I'm not really sure I have the
gout. I thought maybe you folks could
help shed some light on my suspicions that
i've been misdiagnosed.
I have never had a typical gout attack,
i.E., pain in big tow accompanied by
swelling, redness and excruciating pain.
My symptoms are in my fingers. Fingers
on right hand are swollen and middle
knuckles enlarged. No redness or
excruciating pain. I have a nodule on
the middle knuckle of my left hand that is
not painful at all. I don't even know
when it appeared. Just happened to
notice it one day.
My right hand swelling and soreness has
been that way for a year. It wasn't
until a couple of weeks ago that my back
doctor referred me to a rheumatologist.
He suspected ra or oa, not gout. As a
matter of fact when an er doctor told me
he thought I had gout one time when I had
bad knee pain, my back doctor laughed and
said no, it's not gout. He injected my
knee with that "rooster cologen" stuff and
the pain left, never to return.
I've never had pain in my big toe. Also,
the radiologist who just recently read the
xrays of my hands said he thought it was
osteoarthritis, not the gout causing the
disfigurement. My doctor said no, he
thinks it's the gout. When I asked how
high the ur was in the blood, his response
was "high enough." so tell me what is the
actual number that would indicate I have
the gout? Should I get fluid drawn from
the knuckle to get a 100% diagnosis? If
so i'll consult another doctor.
Also, my rheumatologist is having me take
a 24 hour urine test. Is that to see if
I have ua in my tissues?
Thanks for your help. I'm just trying to
get to the bottom of this.
