I was reminded of my age earlier this year. (Pre-Pandemic) Not by some small sign. There was a huge billboard that just said, “It’s official! Your ass getting old and rusty!” I’m going to tell a story about a health condition that has been plaguing me for years now, but please read because I’m going share with you how this may relate to some issue you may be experiencing. (I watched my sister suffer from an attack recently and thought, let me revisit this post I started soon after my last attack!) Best-case scenario, I’m going to tell you how you might be able to avoid it!
I spent a week in intense pain. I think I felt worse than I have ever felt outside of a pinched nerve that for a while was a reoccurring issue that based on my research is probably related! (Nerve pain. The king of all pain! Dare I say, worse than childbirth!) With my Daughter experiencing nerve pain, I have been online lately researching causes. Of course, the mother of all causes is always INFLAMMATION. But getting to the root of what causes the inflammation has definitely been at the top of my research topics.
What started out as what I THOUGHT was a shoulder I had slept on wrong, quickly elevated into what I eventually determined was a multi-joint gout attack. The first I have ever experienced!
It started with two fingers years ago. (Mid 40’s) Those fingers alternated and originally were diagnosed as an infection as a result of a shady manicure for which I was prescribed antibiotics for my “staph infection” I didn’t have, which I had an allergic reaction to and ended up in the ER about to die!
Twice it was misdiagnosed as an infection before a doctor that actually knew her sh#t said, “You have gout!” She looked at my finger that at the time resembled an Italian sausage! It looked like an undertakers finger! (Why are their fingers fat?) Most people get their first attacks in their feet. I’m not sure which is worse. I imagine the feet! Although I was in pain, I was mobile.
Gout, considered a lifestyle disease is typically triggered by certain foods. (I’m starting to believe most diseases are lifestyle diseases or that you can at least avoid or reverse them with lifestyle changes!) The last attack was following a trip to Maine where I had lobster several times a day. (Poor me, right?) Considered the rich man’s disease, gout definitely had the wrong girl. I checked my wallet.
Gout, caused by excess uric acid, (a byproduct of processing certain foods) is a waste product from the liver sent to the kidneys where it is “supposed” to be removed, but instead forms crystals in your blood and ends up in your joints! Often the immune system attacks causing inflammation a/k/a a gout attack! Gout, like damn near every other chronic disease is associated with inflammation and unchecked can cause permanent joint damage and loss of mobility. Please don’t let me lose mobility. My grandson will use me as a home for his plastic dinosaurs!
Gout is also believed to be linked to your gut health. Pretty much everything is. The good bacteria in your gut convert the uric acid into a substance that dissolves in water that can then be removed through urine. That is obviously not happening which brings me to proper digestion. It is believed that in most cases, it is not the over-production of uric acid, but the body’s inability to expel uric acid. In other words, “Houston, we have a problem!”
In any event, it is not to be ignored. It’s a risk factor for even more serious issues that can include heart disease and strokes. My body is sending me warning signs. It always does, so pay attention.
Gout typically rears its ugly head around my age at the time. As with almost all issues, diet is a huge factor. At the time, I was in full swing with my hormonal cravings and depressed binges consuming wayyyyy too much wine and fries.
This particular week I had actually been good. In fact, I was on the path to a more health conscious diet consuming mostly vegetables and whole foods. I had very little wine as I had cut back substantially months before. What I was guilty of was not drinking enough water. I had been super busy for weeks and rarely got up from my desk to take a water break, so in this case, dehydration was also a factor. I had flown across country twice in a few days that contributed further to my dehydration.
So let’s talk about dehydration and how it can compound the negative affects of aging and increase chances of a GOUT flareup! My gout which usually only affects a single joint and typically the same few, was imposing unbearable pain. Think of the worse toothache you have ever had and then imagine that pain in five joints at once! My thumb looked as if was about to give birth!
The attack, which worsened on the flight (pre-Rona) despite the several cups of water I had on board, attacked thumbs, my right elbow, my right ankle and my left shoulder.
I was a mess. I was in pain and popping Tylenol like Tic Tacs, which as we all know in excess, can cause liver damage (A vicious cycle) and I was saving my liver for wine! And being the anti-pill popper that I am, this would just not work for me!
I could not grasp anything without intense pain. I couldn’t hold a pen. It took two palms to hold a water glass. (I looked like a toddler drinking!) I couldn’t tie my shoes, comb my hair, and apply deodorant or lotion. It was a struggle to get dressed. Zippers were out! I’ll stop there! It gets worse! Driving was scary as my driving ankle was the one affected. I couldn’t tweeze my eyebrows or cook. Everything was a painful challenge for one straight week. The pain was intense.
I felt 1000 years old. I imagined what it must be like for people who live in constant, chronic pain. I cannot imagine. I have friends with arthritis and other so called age related diseases that live a life of managing their pain. I had no desire to manage. I needed to eliminate!
I never wanted to feel that pain again and I needed to figure out how to age without pain and suffering, because it is possible! I will do whatever it takes NOT to feel that old again! I had not had any gout related issues in over a year. I had forgotten that pain. Perhaps because painful as it had been in the past, it was one joint and a painful inconvenience. This multi-joint attack had rendered me helpless!
I have since been educating myself on the prevention of flare-ups and researching ways to eliminate it from my life.
Once again, I’m running into the same information. The top anti-inflammatory influencers according to a report from Harvard doctors – are vegetables, fruit and nuts! Basically plants and healthy fats! Another case for improving our diets!
“What do heart disease, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, gout, asthma, and other chronic conditions have in common? Inflammation!” Proper nutrition, minimizing stress and better sleep seem to pretty much be the answer to all of our problems. Maybe your issue isn’t gout. Maybe it is rheumatoid arthritis. Pain is pain! Inflammation is a key factor in both. Maybe you don’t have either, but if you want to avoid it, you must get inflammation in check. It typically increases as we age!
Chronic inflammation results in persistent activation of our immune system and that is all bad. We want our immune system to battle things like this damn Covid virus. So do we really want to waste immune function battling inflammation? Use your food and lifestyle choices to do that!
Try getting more fiber which is found in nuts, vegetables, beans, lentils, omega-3 fatty acids. (Found in salmon, flax and, you guessed it LEAFY GREEN VEGETABLES!) Throw some cinnamon and other anti-inflammatory herbs and spices like ginger and turmeric in to the mix. Evidence suggests that minimizing inflammation through changes in the diet reduces our risk for not only gout, but a number of other ailments and diseases. At the top of the list as always is eliminating sugar (Sadly sugar is a substance at the root of almost all that is bad!) Cutting back on meat and any other acid forming foods and beverages is also a good idea.
I am telling you, if you do not suffer from it, you do not want it to happen later! I wouldn’t wish that pain on my worse enemy. I don’t have one at the moment, but if I did!
The moral of the story is we need to consume a whole food, REAL FOOD diet and get moving! (Which will help with the stress and sleep part!) It really is the same ending to pretty much every story!
For more info, check out Shelly Manning’s, “The End of Gout”
My brothers gout was so bad that he couldn’t drive to work! Whenever he was at work it was difficult to walk in or out of his office. Sometimes he had to crawl. This is really serious, check the foods you eat!
Thanks for sharing. Gout is extremely painful. I’m very anti-drug but the pain was so severe I caved on my stance. The pharmacist told me next time I felt a flare-up coming on to chug apple cider vinegar. Unfortunately, I thought it was something else at first and then traveling for eight hours so I missed that opportunity! But I have tried it and I believe it helps! But eating right and staying hydrated is key! Oh and I have travel size packets of ACV now in my zip lock baggie!
I had to stop drinking Arizona Teas, Green Tea is my favorite. After several flair-ups I finally figured it out. Also had to quit asparagus. Crap….
Thanks for sharing! Interesting. In my research, I found some conflicting information but one study from Univ. of Maryland suggested reducing or avoiding BLACK tea as it contains purines that are associated with increased risk of gout. But the same article suggests that decaffeinated green tea, full of antioxidants could potentially relieve symptoms. I’m not a doctor, but looking at the ingredients in Arizona tea, I would avoid it for the high fructose corn syrup alone! Arizona Beverages had a class-action lawsuit against them for claiming their tea was all-natural. Another lawsuit claimed that their Ginseng Green Tea had zero Ginseng. It may not be the green tea triggering your flareup but one of those other artificial ingredients.