Hello from a gout sufferer's wife

Janet2

Hello
I'm a gout sufferer's wife. My poor husband has just been in the throes of a 46 day flare up of gout. He's just finished five days of Prednisolone and the pain has eased, his swollen foot is almost back to normal and he has now started on Allopurinol. Here's hoping.
I empathise with all gout sufferers and their families; what a horribly painful condition this is.
Janet

[Deleted User]

Hello Janet

Welcome to the Versus Arthritis forum. The members here are very friendly, offer support, advice, emphasis with you, and give you tips which they have found useful.

At the top of this page you will find buttons which give information on all the subjects Versus Arthritis cover. In the living with arthritis button there you will find details of the many subjects they cover. There is a fact sheet on gout which you can download.

If your husband or yourself would like to discuss any problems with the condition there is a freephone helpline on 0800 520 0520. Just one thing to remember that the helpline staff and our moderation team do not have any medical training.

I am one of the moderation team and we all have one or more of the Arthritis "hanger ons" or look after family with the same.

I look forward to reading future posts from you
Best wishes
ChrisK

Janet2

moderator wrote:

Hello Janet

Welcome to the Versus Arthritis forum. The members here are very friendly, offer support, advice, emphasis with you, and give you tips which they have found useful.

At the top of this page you will find buttons which give information on all the subjects Versus Arthritis cover. In the living with arthritis button there you will find details of the many subjects they cover. There is a fact sheet on gout which you can download.

If your husband or yourself would like to discuss any problems with the condition there is a freephone helpline on 0800 520 0520. Just one thing to remember that the helpline staff and our moderation team do not have any medical training.

I am one of the moderation team and we all have one or more of the Arthritis "hanger ons" or look after family with the same.

I look forward to reading future posts from you
Best wishes
ChrisK

Thank you Chris, that's much appreciated.
Janet

dreamdaisy

Hello, I just wanted to acknowledge your post; I've had a long day, going through a rough time but will answer properly tomorrow. My husband has gout but it's only an occasional event, I am thoroughly arthritic! DD

stickywicket

Hi Janet

I have RA and OA, not gout, but the whole rheumatic family is a dysfunctional, painful one. I do hope the allopurinol helps your husband. A friend had some very painful episodes of gout until put on allopurinol and now says he can forget all about it. I hope it works out like that for your husband too.

I always say I'd rather have this nasty disease than watch someone I love with it. That is very hard in its own way. Remember we are here for both of you

JoeB

I am sorry to read that your husband has been experiencing an exacerbation of gout.

Does he follow a low purine diet ? If not then he should give it some serious thought.

Arthur

frogmorton

Bless you!

It is dreadful to see a loved one suffering and not be able to do much to help ((())) for you.

I have never had gout, but am told it's excruciating so totally sympathise with him.

I hope his new medication sorts him out.

Love

Toni xx

Janet2

dreamdaisy wrote:

Hello, I just wanted to acknowledge your post; I've had a long day, going through a rough time but will answer properly tomorrow. My husband has gout but it's only an occasional event, I am thoroughly arthritic! DD

Hello, thank you for your reply. I hope you are coming through your rough time and feeling a little better.

Janet2

stickywicket wrote:

Hi Janet

I have RA and OA, not gout, but the whole rheumatic family is a dysfunctional, painful one. I do hope the allopurinol helps your husband. A friend had some very painful episodes of gout until put on allopurinol and now says he can forget all about it. I hope it works out like that for your husband too.

I always say I'd rather have this nasty disease than watch someone I love with it. That is very hard in its own way. Remember we are here for both of you

Thank you for taking the time to send me a reply. Sorry to have taken so long to acknowledge; we're still struggling now that he's started the allopurinol as it has brought on another flare up. We know he has to persevere while the drug does its work but gosh it's gruesome. Thank you for your support.

Janet2

ArthurCJ wrote:

I am sorry to read that your husband has been experiencing an exacerbation of gout.

Does he follow a low purine diet ? If not then he should give it some serious thought.

Arthur

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Yes he does follow a low purine diet so we're not sure what more we can do on that front. We're doing so much to try and educate ourselves, I think the more knowledge we have the better we will cope.

Janet2

frogmorton wrote:

Bless you!

It is dreadful to see a loved one suffering and not be able to do much to help ((())) for you.

I have never had gout, but am told it's excruciating so totally sympathise with him.

I hope his new medication sorts him out.

Love

Toni xx

Thank you for your support. It is indeed hard not being able to help much while he is suffering. He started the allopurinol two weeks ago and it has brought on another flare up. We're not disheartened as we have been doing so much to educate ourselves and understand that allopurinol can have this effect while it is doing its job and it might take several flare ups before he can enjoy a more normal life. He can't take NSAIDs but we have learned that he can supplement his allopurional with colcichine and that does seem to help along with keeping well hydrated.