New to Gout

[Deb Michael]

Hi,
I have been recently diagnosed with gout. I had a bad reaction to colchicine and now prednisone is messing with my BP so that seems to be off the table. The rheumatologist is waiting to find a prophylactic before starting Allopurinol. I am supposed to start Celebrex. I understand there most likely will be attacks once I start Allopurinol. Celebrex will most likely interfere with my BP meds as all nsaids do. I was wondering about the use of curcumin/turmeric or just “gutting it out”. My gout appears to be hereditary, my diet is very good. I’ve had my uric acid checked twice: 7.5 (I had just tried the colchicine) and then 8.6. I would appreciate any other advice. I’m going to see my family doc this week as the rheumatologist is not paying any attention to my BP.
Thanks, Deb

[nobody]

Hi!
Gutting it out would be tough, but it can be done (best have proper pain drugs on hand though!). Any NSAID could be used after an attack start rather than as a prophylactic if that’s better for your blood pressure.
Also see if you can get a blood pressure drug that helps without gout rather than making it worse! That along with allopurinol might make it easier to get rid of gout without taking loads of NSAIDs.
If everything that drives down inflammation messes with your blood pressure, chances are tumeric will do the same thing (that or you won’t take enough to make a difference) so I wouldn’t mess with stuff that comes in uncontrollable doses.

[Deb Michael]

Hi,
I don’t think I understand your response. My BP is under control with current medications. NSAIDs are known to mess with BP which they do with me. It’s not the BP med causing the issue as far I know. My body just tends to be sensitive and nsaids reduce the effectiveness of them. Why do you think curcumin would create the same issue? Do you have experience with it? It is not known to effect BP from what I’ve read. I agree I would rather use nsaid when I needed it, not as a regular thing. Rheumatologist is insisting I need it all the time.

[nobody]

You definitely don’t need it all the time. Only using it all the time would prevent attacks (or make them milder), which may in turn prevent the need for ther higher dosage necessary to stop a serious attack after it’s started.

Curcumin would probably create the same issue since very different anti-inflammatories create it. The side effects of curcumin are poorly known, in part because people very rarely take an effective dose (if there even is such a dose). A small amount will be useful as a mostly harmless placebo if nothing else but if you ever try taking a lot, be sure to monitor your BP (and get your kidney and liver function tested as well in the event of prolonged use).

I understood your BP situation. I’m telling you some BP drugs make gout worse (or even cause it) while others allieviate gout and work well in combination with allopurinol-type drugs.
Such a combination might be especially useful in a case where the patient can’t take anti-inflammatories. But the effectiveness of this combination depends on the reason why uric acid is elevated, something which can not be determined with a simple blood test.

[Deb Michael]

Thanks for the information. It appears the BP meds I take May protect against gout. Maybe it would have come out years ago! Either way this is the path, I’m hoping it all works out

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