I've had to deal with it a for a few years now, it sucks. Cannabis can help with the pain when you do get a flare up but it does not help with the root cause of the problem. When I do get a flare up I take lots of bong rips, and it helps, but it will not make the pain and swelling go away. Anti-inflammatories do help when you have a flare up, but again, they do not deal with the root cause. Also I found the prescription ones can have nasty side effects, the ones I was on originally made me groggy and irritable and messed with my stomach. A much better alternative is to simply take a large does (800 mg) of Ibuprofen - works just as well as the prescription anti-inflammatory drugs, costs less, and no bad side effects. Cherry juice concentrate, or cherry pills, as others have mentioned, also work wonders. There are prescription drugs you can get that will prevent flare-ups, but you will have to get some blood work done first, and they do not work with everyone. When they do work however, they work well and have little if any side effects.
The most important thing you have to do though is CHANGE YOUR DIET. That is the single most effective step you can take. Now the problem with that is there is a lot of conflicting information out there on what works for gout and what does not. In my research I found just about every food you can think of on the 'safe to eat' lists and the 'do not eat' lists. I can tell you what worked for me however.
The biggest thing that worked for me was reducing my sodium intake. At least for me, reducing my intake of micro-brew had little effect. Since I changed my diet I can still drink all the micro-brew I want with no ill effects. Most pre-made foods have an obscene amount of salt in them. Ditch the Doritos chips, the TV dinners, or basically anything that comes out of a box. Stick to fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and fresh meats and seafood. If and when you use canned goods, check the sodium levels. Many companies now make 'low sodium' versions of their products. However do not be fooled by 'low sodium' claims on the label. There have been a great number of times I picked up a can of something supposedly 'low sodium' and looked on the label and found it to actually have very high sodium levels, in some cases, higher than the 'normal' version. Also organic canned goods, especially organic canned beans, tend to have much, much lower sodium levels.
In my opinion I think avoiding vegetable oils helps as well. There are no direct studies linking the two, but vegetable oil is incredibly unhealthy, nasty stuff, and does cause inflammation, and based on my own personal experience I think it helps. The good news is if you cut out processed foods from your diet like I recommended you will be cutting out vegetable oil as well, as it is also found in large quantities in processed foods. For cooking at home stick to the natural oils - olive, safflower, peanut, coconut, butter, and lard. Do not use vegetable oil or canola oil. Get rid of your table salt as well - it is sodium iodine, not true salt. It not only tastes like crap due to the high level of iodine, but it also counter-acts the salt flavor in food. The result is you have to use more sodium iodine to salt your food than you do natural salt. Switch to kosher salt, sea salt, and canning salt (fine ground sea salt) and you will be able to use less salt in your foods for the same flavor profile.
I try to limit my consumption of beef to once a week, and reducing your meat intake in general will also help. My wife and I eat at least one vegetarian meal a week now, and if I feel like I am getting a flare up, or do get a flare up, I don't eat meat for a few days. There are also lots of foods out there that can lower your blood pH, which is what causes the uric crystals to form. Dairy is actually really good for that, so replace meat with cheese for your protein in meals. Eat lots of dark berries cherries, blueberries, blackberries, etc, they all help but cherries seem to be the most effective. Be sure to drink plenty of water too, dehydration will make gout worse.
Anyway I hope that helps. Since I changed my diet I only get flare ups once or twice a year now. There are still other factors that can contribute to it as well, but diet is the big one. Stress can also contribute, so try to keep your stress levels down. If you can, keep off your feet during a flare up too. Physically stress to your joints can also contribute to incidents. Unfortunately my job involves long hours on my feet and can be high stress, so 'taking it easy' has never been an option for me. Good luck, and feel free to hit me up for some gout friendly recipes if you want.
