medicalgrowman
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I work outside cleaning pools in the 100F+ heat, so I have to drink lots of water all day!
(And then I have to pee alot too!)
(And then I have to pee alot too!)
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 Also I found the prescription ones can have nasty side effects, the ones I was on originally made me groggy and irritable and messed with my stomach.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.
I went to dr. ohio's office today and asked him about this and he said you are more then likely extremely dehydrated, make sure to drink a half to whole gallon or more of fresh clean water every day, if you can make sure it's structured water, also a week to 2 weeks of good exercise, doesn't have to be strenuous, and you should feel much better, also berries and other alkali foods should help as well.......and the cannabis oil really will help many many issues that some people just seem to find impossible to believe....hope this helps...get well
see a Dr rite away if nothing helps. that my unEducated 2 cents, hope ya get better soon!
The international institue of health and medicine; recommends 3.5 liters of water a day for a 150 pound man......this is to maintain healthy brain function....and it's 2.5 liters of water for a 110 pound female. 3.5 liters of water is roughly 1 gallon........water intoxication occurs for a 150 pound man at 3 and a half gallons of water in a day and much more for a heavier person............if youve ever tried to drink 3.5 gallons of water in a day you'll no its dam near impossible.........Holy hell! "make sure to drink a half to whole gallon or more of fresh clean water every day" ??? Never, never drink that much fluid in a day. It will cause: "Water intoxication, also known as water poisoning or dilutional hyponatremia, is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside safe limits by over-hydration."
thanks to whichever mod fixed my comment!! =PP..............I get very irritated by ignorance that is project as truth tho.....much loveThe international institue of health and medicine; recommends 3.5 liters of water a day for a 150 pound man......this is to maintain healthy brain function....and it's 2.5 liters of water for a 110 pound female. 3.5 liters of water is roughly 1 gallon........water intoxication occurs for a 150 pound man at 3 and a half gallons of water in a day and much more for a heavier person............if youve ever tried to drink 3.5 gallons of water in a day you'll no its dam near impossible.........
Right? I think she's fairly well recovered, but she sent me a photo which I can never erase from my brain of the effects. You *know* it had to be bad when she asked her husband to take her to ER, though. The way we were brought up we don't go to the doctor unless it's showing bone or come off completely. LMAO! I just couldn't believe it when she told me what she'd done and then said, "Well, I read it on the internet."Seamaiden OMG that is too scary to be funny, The most I have ever heard for some one to take is like a tsp in a glass of water for antacid relief, I brush my teeth with it daily, and I don't think I'd be able to handle 2tblsp, no matter how much water.
What is it in our culture that if a little is good more MUST be better.... I hope she recovered well!!
Cheers for sharing that story.... Cora
I've been a heavy drinker of MicroBrew style Beers(Ales) for many years.
(I can't stand budweiser, coors, miller etc.)
Recently, I have developed painful swelling in one of my toes and the foot also swells-up.
I'm thinking it's most likely GOUT.
I guess I'll have to severely cut-back on the beer!
Has anybody here used mmj or oil for treating Gout?
Please share your experiences!
Thanx!
Try making some of the balm, fuckin shit is awesome and I use it daily for arthiritis.
And what is gout a form of arthiritis.
That goes for processed meat and soda pop, there budBalm is on my list of things to make. I might drink ONE glass of ale but anything more and I am taking a BIG chance. Gout is no joke. Gout and opiates. Just say no.