As part of my weight gain, I’ve become acquainted with gout. It’s an extremely painful inflammation of a joint (usually a big toe) due to uric acid build-up.
I seem to suffer from (usually) brief flare-ups that keep me off my feet as much as possible. My doctor prescribed a medicine to take for the next flare-up, but I decided against filling it due to cost. Much to my disappointment, I immediately had another flare-up.
I’m fighting this flare-up with a large dose of Naproxen (cheap!), lots of water, and less beer. I also found that one of those vibrating massagers placed on my foot can help. This might be the shortest flare-up yet. It kept me awake for most of one night, but has been much better since.
Prevention is still best. I’m taking a supplement that is supposed to keep uric acid levels lower. I’m drinking more water. I’ve cut back on beer, sugar, and a few other things that are known to cause gout flare-ups. Also, I’ll be giving up alcohol for the month of January. Losing 40 or more pounds would also be extremely helpful.
I am going out drinking tonight. I’ll be safe, and try to stay hydrated. I’m going to spend the next two nights celebrating the end of the messed-up year.
Ugh. That’s a ton of no fun!
I’ve been pondering restarting my own blog. Your earlier post prompted me to reread a few posts I had made but had not published for assorted reasons.
So many of the thoughts I have and that I wish to use to punish the world just fit better in a shorter format than blog posts…