Letter to My Trainer
Dear Hannah:
I am having my second major gout outbreak since I was diagnosed with the disease two years ago.
An angry red ball filled with uric acid has disfigured my right toe, pushing it out of alignment. It hurts to walk. It hurts to lie in bed.
I’m walking like Walter Brennan in To Have And Have Not, only slower.
I’m not sure I’ll be able to get my gym shoes on, and I know I won’t be able to do exercises that require pushing from the toes or the ball of the foot.
Nevertheless, I will see you at 9:00 today.
Filed under: glamorous, Zeldman
17 Responses to “Letter to My Trainer”
Comments off.
Jeffrey, I thought gout disappeared a century ago… and I thought only poms got it? Hope you get better quick, old man.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gout :
My perception, until I came down with it, was that gout was a disease of 17th Century earls, caused by too much port and venison. I don’t eat meat, haven’t touched alcohol since mid-1993, and last I checked, there are no earls among my forebears.
It’s actually arthritis caused by the body’s inability to rid itself of purines found in such healthy foods as spinach and mushrooms.
I went off my healthy food regimen while in Philadelphia over the weekend, and apparently this is the result.
My father and a good friend of mine both went through periods during which they suffered from gout. They both described the pain as being horrible.
My sympathy to you, and may the pain be gone after returning to a healthy diet.
Hardcore! Talk about kicking ass without using your foot.
Sucks that you have to go through this.
A gout outbreak a month into a fitness regimen is like a beautiful, sexy, totally drunk ex-girlfriend showing up at your door one month into sobriety. (Only in that it is a test of your commitment.)
Have had both happen. Gout was far more painful, and tougher to deal with.
There’s never good timing for pain, but it’s definitely really bad timing when you are doing things to improve your overall health. And when pain sabotages your efforts and will to improve physically (and mentally), it just crushes you.
Sorry to hear that this is happening to you, again. =(
Bon courage, mon vieux!
I had an episode of that last summer. I read that Cherry extract was supposed to help and I think it did speed up recovery for me – that and a whole lot of ibuprofen. :)
Purines also come from your own body burning fat while at the gym. This brings a whole new level of meaning to the saying beauty hurts, doesn’t it?
Two words: POTASSIUM and WATER. The potassium should dissolve the painful uric acid crystals, and the water should dilute the concentration and help flush it out.
When this happens to me, I consume as many bananas as I can stand to eat, then I drink water all day long until I’m peeing like a crystal clear mountain spring. Usually that means I eat six bananas in ten minutes, followed by 64 ounces of water. I continue to drink another 32 ounces or more ever half an hour, and eat another banana ever hour or two. And for the love of pandas, don’t walk on it.
Six hours of this usually gets me walking again with very little noticeable pain. A full day of this usually gets me back to normal but sore.
Thanks, folks. Not letting it sabotage my health. Had a good workout with my trainer. We just avoided exercises that would have hurt the sad toe. Will work out with trainer again tomorrow. No excuses.
Interestingly, ran out of bananas two days ago. Coincidence? Thanks for the leads!
Caramba!
Try bromelain and see if it helps.
http://www.mygoutremedies.com/how-bromelain-is-a-great-natural-gout-treatment-resource
I’ve recently been experiencing my first bouts with gout myself. I feel your pain… litterally. The best thing I can tell you is to go to the doctor, have them put you on colchicine and that will get you over the acute flares. If it becomes a longer term issue there are other things that can help with that too. There are “home remedies” like black cherries (extract, juice and just the plain ole fruit) and potassium but in my experience they aren’t all that effective.
Surprisingly, yes, working out can cause acute flares, due to the breakdown of proteins inside the body. If working out is something new, it could just be your body needing time to adjust. Since you don’t eat meat it might not be used to the purines that working out released.
There are studies being done, that are suggesting the vegetable based purines (you mentioned spinach and mushrooms) aren’t associated with gout flares. It’s mostly yeasty things (beer and sweetbreads), meat (except for chicken for some reason), and fatty fish. Also since I’m assuming you’re vegetarian you might want to steer clear of the beans for a while. On the flip-side, dairy seems to help it, like yogurt.
Just input from a fellow gout fighter.
Cody:
Thanks for sharing. I am taking colchicine for the flare-up; it has reduced the pain and swelling. This is my first flare-up since I was diagnosed two years ago. If the workouts caused it, oh, well. My body will adjust.
I appreciate your info. Thanks, and best of luck to you, too!
In regards to potassium, a potato contains more than a banana. (According to many sources; other ones put bananas first, but they don’t seem as reputable.)
Hope you feel better soon!
ibuprofen is definitely the best OTC painkiller for me. It helps me a lot to deal with my muscular pain.;*;