Gout update

So far, mostly go good

the thophi have not gotten any smaller, nor have they grown.  I took a new photo, this one angled to emphasize the one on my thumb.  It's not quite as huge as the photo suggests, but it's the biggest of the two.  It bothers me the most.  Not because it hurts, but because I know it's there.

My pain and swelling are under control.  I'm back to walking and running like normal. I did have a twinge of pain like an attack was coming on the other day - a few hours after I cheated and gave into the temptation of a brat.  I took some extra cherry and drank a lot of water.  That seemed to help because it didn't turn into an attack.  

It might have been in my mind.  There are few things I fear more than a gout flare up.  Unless you've been there it's hard to describe the pain.  

I have been looking into wheat allergy and gout.  There is some anecdotal correlation, but no studies.  It came to mind because I am very young for a woman who has gout.  The obesity didn't help, but even most obese women don't' get it in their 40s.  Especially one who never drank more than once or twice a year and didn't live off of organ meats.  Not that I need a why, it is already here.  Curiosity mostly.  

I'm determined to stay off of medication for as long as possible.  Right now diet and exercise with some cherry extract daily seem to be working for me.  I was taking capsules, but lately I bought a bottle of liquid extract and have been making my kombucha with it.  And putting it my lemon water.  A tastier alternative to pills.

Where the diet is

It's been a little while since I went vegetarian and it's not always easy.  I do still have the occasional craving for meat and at first I was eating too much cheese.

Actually at first I was just plain eating too much.  As the weeks have progressed I have noticed that I need to cut back on the amount of produce I am buying.  We simply are not eating it all.  I'm spending less and we're wanting to eat less.  This is NOT true if we've had junk food or eaten out.  Then cravings start and the overall food consumption goes up.

I'm sure my family missed the meat and I do cook them some - just not a lot.  I'm not a fan of cooking two meals for the same dinner.  They don't cook - therefore we eat vegetarian.  If one of them wants to learn, then I'll have to find a way to make do with what they cook.  (never ever going to happen - not in a million years )

I've started making/growing my own

yogurt
butter
ice cream
sprouts
kombucha
beet greens

Next up is tofu and as soon as i get a crock - sauerkraut  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

raw milk in my fridge

I've been drinking raw milk (what the butter was made with but not the yogurt)  which comes from grass fed cows and eggs from truly free range chickens.  Saw them all over the farm, no cages for these girls.  Overall I feel pretty good.  The changes have been very positive for me.

I've also discovered foods I didn't know I liked.  I didn't know I liked milk until I drank raw milk.  Tried a new way to cook beet greens and I am in love.  I am now attempting to grow some more from the tops of beets.  Sprouts really fill out a salad.  I already made my own tortillas (corn) but have found new and wonderful ways to fill them with tarziki sauce and veggies, or peppers and spices.  The change has made me very creative

Beet greens in the making - I hope

The gout flare up that triggered this diet change has never 100% gone away, it's not painful, just twingy and it does get much worse after I cheat or eat processed food.  It's under control enough that I don't want to cut my own foot off.  I don't need pain meds and I can wear actual shoes.  Most of the time I just feel a twinge and think "Oh yeah, I have gout in that joint"

freshly made butter

Hopefully diet changes will help, so will exercise and weight loss.  My goal is to control this without taking medications.  pain or otherwise.

I miss meat, but I don't regret giving it up.  I like where I am headed.

alfalfa sprouts

Kombucha scoby

My Tophi

I decided to post a photo of my tophi, however mild, because I didn't see many photos of mild tophi on the web.  The advanced photos are horrific.  I'm determined to get things under control and keep them there, so I never reach that stage.  I'll add a photo, you'll see why.

Barely visible yellow bumps.  They are much more lumpy than they photographed.  Like having small peas under the skin.  Nobody except me would notice them, but I did and I obsess about them.  They are not painful, but left untreated (and likely without diet modification) they can become this

Nope Nope Nope Nope - don't want that.  

This is what I think about whenever I decide to eat something not on my diet.  This is why I am a vegetarian.  I do NOT want to go there.  I work with my hands, so it's terrifying to face the loss - especially in such a painful way.  I can't imagine the hand in the second photo could make a balloon animal.  at least not without terrifying a child!

So, now I'm a vegetarian, making even more careful choices about my diet.  As soon as my insurance kicks in next month I will see a doctor for medical treatment, though I would prefer natural therapies if they work.

Tophi, Gout and OMG! Why did I Google That???

I have gout.  It is hands down the most painful thing I have ever experienced.  If I had to list the 5 most painful things I've ever experienced this is how it would go

5. broke my wrist
4. 4 C-sections
3. 24 hours of labor with contractions starting at a minute long and coming 1 1/2 minutes apart.
2. 2nd degree burns from finger tip to elbow on both arms when a pressure cooker exploded
1. Gout  - about twice as painful as the burns.  I never considered having my hands amputated, but the thought crossed my mind with my ankle a few days into the first attack.  Sleep was out of the question and Vicodin didn't even dull the pain a tiny bit.

My first flareup a couple of years ago in my right ankle.  I've had two more flare-ups in that same ankle, often coinciding with either a bacon binge or the change of the seasons.  This year I had my first flare-up in my toe on the same foot.  It was mild and taking cherry extract + drinking lots of extra water seemed to take it out before I hit the worst stages.

Tophi are related to gout but I didn't have them so I didn't worry a lot.

But now I do.  Because one formed on my left thumb.  They don't show up just where you have gout.  They go where they want to go.  Knew what it was so I googled it it.  My eyes are still hurting from what I saw.

I'll spare you any links to the photos.  Mine is like this - still mild.  On my thumb, not my ear.  Google worse ones at your own risk.

Ok, so now what?  I already don't drink, and I do exercise, so the only things left are diet and medication.  I want to avoid medication if I can.  I have read much about the benefits of a vegetarian diet and gout.  So now I am a vegetarian and will transition to vegan soon.  I do love meat, but not as much as I fear gout.  I picked a good season to switch.  Spring is coming and I can stock up at the farmer's market.  

It's not easy at times.  The family is not vegetarian yet and that chicken I cooked yesterday smelled so good.  I resisted though.  Vegan will be harder to achieve.  I do love cheese.  So much so that I have to keep block cheese out of the house because it's a trigger food for me.  If I have it, I will eat it.  Chocolate and chips can hang around for weeks without me going on a binge.  Cheese has hours if it's lucky.  

So it's veggies and veggies and more veggies.  Not mushrooms though.  I hate them.  In any form.  Same goes with celery.  I wish people didn't think portbella was the go to substitute for main dishes when dealing with a vegetarian.   ewww  Eggplant people, think eggplant.  It's tasty.

Weeks 1 & 2 have passed in my new life as a vegetarian.  Not always easy, but doable.  My goal is to be vegan by week 6.  Give myself time to transition.

wish me luck!