I've only been into the craft beer scene for a year or so and love it. I've also just gotten into home brewing and love it too. I've got my third batch in the primary now. But here is my problem. I'm 57 yrs old and never experienced gout until about two years ago but has gotten worse recently. After reading about gout and through the process of elimination everything is pointing the beer (yeast) being the main contributor. I've been taking Allapurinal (sp) for about a month now but it doesn't seem to being helping much. It is a painful situation and will get much more painful if I really have to cut back on the beer. Has anyone else here had any dealings with gout and if so, any helpful hints? Thanks
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BBL_Brewer
Well-Known Member
I haven't had that problem and hope I never do, but if the yeast is contributing you might be able to combat the problem by filtering your beer to get all the yeast out. Of course you would have to force carbonate if you filtered it. Might not hurt to try it and see if it helps, anything is better than no beer.
brewthunda
Well-Known Member
I get it every year or so. I take a ton of folic acid - like 20 tablets - and it goes away.
from what I know about gout my entire diet would have to be discontinued . . . think I would hang myself
Shouldn't you be asking a doctor not a bunch of internet beer geeks? Myself included in the geeks crack.
Jacob_Marley
Well-Known Member
“Hello, I’m Jacob and I’ve got gout” < everyone claps > "Hello Jacob!"
Gout and I have an ugly history together.
I think I must have been a very horrible person in a previous life ... crossing the Alps on elephants and laying waste to whole towns and villages or something.
I’ve lit candles and made cash offerings to the missions box at church ... didn’t help.
I’ve read that gout is one of the top couple most painful medical afflictions ... more than arthritis ... more than burns. Those who have suffered the worst of it know this to be true.
For those that have not had the pleasure ... gout is where uric acid crystallizes in the bloodstream and forms into what are like tiny glass fragments that lodge in the joints of the body - usually the legs and feet. There, like little shards of glass they cut the joint up releasing blood into the joint and surrounding tissue and causing massive swelling ... and because the crystals are made of acid, it is also like pouring acid into an open wound ... but that’s not the worst of it, the killer is that the immune system sees the acid crystals as invaders and launches a massive nuclear retaliatory strike against the joint with the intention of completely annihilating the invaders ... it’s scorched earth policy to the extreme. That final scene in Doctor Strangelove with the mushroom cloud ... that’s the result.
The list of foods that can set it off is lengthy ... so lengthy it is absolutely absurd ... possibly the very most notorious is alcohol. It both increases the production of uric acid into the blood stream while simultaneously reducing the body’s ability to eliminate it. Even worse, beer contains yeast which is one of the other trigger foods for gout.
You can NOT drink alcohol during a gout attack.
I assume you’ve gone online and seen the lists of the food to be avoided. Read multiple lists so you get a more comprehensive knowledge of the triggers. Make sure you understand some of the less commonly quoted ones such as beans (legumes), spinach and other greens, yeast (yup, that means bread), and others ... there’s all sorts ... seafood, fried food, any "reductions of meat" so soups made with meat & stews, all meat especially red meat and especially turkey, canned fish, some fresh fish ... The list of trigger foods is so ridiculously long that it is actually, literally easier to make a list of what you *can* eat.
Also, make note when a food seems to set it off for you ... sometimes oddball things.
Sometimes Cheetos (those cheese curl things) for me.
Two of my very favorites are absolutely verboten ... anchovies and chopped liver (not together ... though that might be interesting). Pastrami with chopped liver on rye, grilled in butter ... "oh William, the pain"
During gout, staying hydrated is very important - drink lotsa water. Both in general to keep gout from occurring but especially during an attack.
Definitely do not drink anything with alcohol ... that includes Nyquil.
Once the joint starts going ballistic ... DON’T walk on it or use it ... you’ll just tear it up more.
Get a wheelchair or one of those four-wheeled walkers that you can sit on to move around ... even an wheeled office chair will work. Keep a urinal and extra water near your convalescent bed. You’ll probably also find that during an attack sitting on a chair causes it to go berserk ... this is because the pressure on the back of the leg from sitting backs-up the blood into the joint and forces it further into the tissues ... try elevating the leg high when sitting. Bed is actually the best position ... not that you’ll sleep ... even draping a sheet over a foot that has gone ballistic is excruciatingly painful.
When you are in a non-gout state ... and the gout gods are smiling upon you, you will be able to eat normal food as well as alcoholic beverages fine. But always be aware ... when you feel it start that is the time to pull back on the reins as hard as you can. Once it gets going, the countdown to the missile launch begins ... then it’s usually only a matter of time.
Somewhere I have an excellent treatment to get yourself to sleep during a gout attack. Sleep can often be almost impossible. I’ll try to find it and post it.
Gout and I have an ugly history together.
I think I must have been a very horrible person in a previous life ... crossing the Alps on elephants and laying waste to whole towns and villages or something.
I’ve lit candles and made cash offerings to the missions box at church ... didn’t help.
I’ve read that gout is one of the top couple most painful medical afflictions ... more than arthritis ... more than burns. Those who have suffered the worst of it know this to be true.
For those that have not had the pleasure ... gout is where uric acid crystallizes in the bloodstream and forms into what are like tiny glass fragments that lodge in the joints of the body - usually the legs and feet. There, like little shards of glass they cut the joint up releasing blood into the joint and surrounding tissue and causing massive swelling ... and because the crystals are made of acid, it is also like pouring acid into an open wound ... but that’s not the worst of it, the killer is that the immune system sees the acid crystals as invaders and launches a massive nuclear retaliatory strike against the joint with the intention of completely annihilating the invaders ... it’s scorched earth policy to the extreme. That final scene in Doctor Strangelove with the mushroom cloud ... that’s the result.
The list of foods that can set it off is lengthy ... so lengthy it is absolutely absurd ... possibly the very most notorious is alcohol. It both increases the production of uric acid into the blood stream while simultaneously reducing the body’s ability to eliminate it. Even worse, beer contains yeast which is one of the other trigger foods for gout.
You can NOT drink alcohol during a gout attack.
I assume you’ve gone online and seen the lists of the food to be avoided. Read multiple lists so you get a more comprehensive knowledge of the triggers. Make sure you understand some of the less commonly quoted ones such as beans (legumes), spinach and other greens, yeast (yup, that means bread), and others ... there’s all sorts ... seafood, fried food, any "reductions of meat" so soups made with meat & stews, all meat especially red meat and especially turkey, canned fish, some fresh fish ... The list of trigger foods is so ridiculously long that it is actually, literally easier to make a list of what you *can* eat.
Also, make note when a food seems to set it off for you ... sometimes oddball things.
Sometimes Cheetos (those cheese curl things) for me.
Two of my very favorites are absolutely verboten ... anchovies and chopped liver (not together ... though that might be interesting). Pastrami with chopped liver on rye, grilled in butter ... "oh William, the pain"
During gout, staying hydrated is very important - drink lotsa water. Both in general to keep gout from occurring but especially during an attack.
Definitely do not drink anything with alcohol ... that includes Nyquil.
Once the joint starts going ballistic ... DON’T walk on it or use it ... you’ll just tear it up more.
Get a wheelchair or one of those four-wheeled walkers that you can sit on to move around ... even an wheeled office chair will work. Keep a urinal and extra water near your convalescent bed. You’ll probably also find that during an attack sitting on a chair causes it to go berserk ... this is because the pressure on the back of the leg from sitting backs-up the blood into the joint and forces it further into the tissues ... try elevating the leg high when sitting. Bed is actually the best position ... not that you’ll sleep ... even draping a sheet over a foot that has gone ballistic is excruciatingly painful.
When you are in a non-gout state ... and the gout gods are smiling upon you, you will be able to eat normal food as well as alcoholic beverages fine. But always be aware ... when you feel it start that is the time to pull back on the reins as hard as you can. Once it gets going, the countdown to the missile launch begins ... then it’s usually only a matter of time.
Somewhere I have an excellent treatment to get yourself to sleep during a gout attack. Sleep can often be almost impossible. I’ll try to find it and post it.
Jacob_Marley
Well-Known Member
HOW TO GET TO SLEEP DURING A GOUT ATTACK of the foot or ankle
One good trick for how to get some sleep when gout is bad:
This is for if the gout is in the toe, the foot joints or the ankle ... especially the toe.
This is the procedure to get to sleep ... do this at the time you are are going to attempt to sleep.
Take whatever meds you intend to use now.
Colchicine if you have it.
Ibuprofen ... prescription sized dosages of 800 to 1000 mg are best (this would be 4 or 5 standard over-the-counter tablets)
Sleep aids such as Ambien or Lunesta, or an antihistamine such as Benadryl (not Nyquil with alcohol though).
(Have somebody) get everything you might need for the night conveniently at bedside so you won’t have to get up again. A urinal, water, any food, anything else. Have a large towel handy. Have any assortment of small soft pillows etc assembled so that if you have to prop the foot or ankle, you can.
Sit on the edge of you bed so that you merely have to lay back to be in position to sleep after the procedure.
Get a large bucket or basin that is large enough to accommodate your foot and reasonably deep.
Get a *second* supply bucket of very, very hot water (hotter than you could use on your skin).
In the first (“soaking” bucket, fill it with enough hot’ish water to just cover the affected part, this needs to be water that is hot enough that you can barely stand it. Note that your hand is much less sensitive to heat than your foot is, so be aware that it is your foot that will tell you the temperature that you will be able to tolerate ... but make it hot enough so that you end up having to “ease” your foot in gradually due to the hot temp. (note that you can check with your hand to insure that the water temp is not going to be injurious to your skin).
The water should be hot enough to be just at the limit of your foot being able to tolerate it because of the heat.
Once you get the foot all the way in, the water will gradually cool ... as it does, use the *second* bucket of very hot water to carefully and gradually add more hot to the “soaking” bucket to keep the water temp up as high as you can stand it, but that you can still get your foot into and does not scald you. Continue adding more hot water as the water in the soak-bucket cools. Continue soaking until all the hot water has been used and the soak bucket finally loses most of its heat. This whole procedure should last 15 to 25 minutes total.
Then, remove your foot from the water, dry it *very* carefully with the towel as desired, and without moving it around or disturbing it, lay back and try to get to sleep.
One good trick for how to get some sleep when gout is bad:
This is for if the gout is in the toe, the foot joints or the ankle ... especially the toe.
This is the procedure to get to sleep ... do this at the time you are are going to attempt to sleep.
Take whatever meds you intend to use now.
Colchicine if you have it.
Ibuprofen ... prescription sized dosages of 800 to 1000 mg are best (this would be 4 or 5 standard over-the-counter tablets)
Sleep aids such as Ambien or Lunesta, or an antihistamine such as Benadryl (not Nyquil with alcohol though).
(Have somebody) get everything you might need for the night conveniently at bedside so you won’t have to get up again. A urinal, water, any food, anything else. Have a large towel handy. Have any assortment of small soft pillows etc assembled so that if you have to prop the foot or ankle, you can.
Sit on the edge of you bed so that you merely have to lay back to be in position to sleep after the procedure.
Get a large bucket or basin that is large enough to accommodate your foot and reasonably deep.
Get a *second* supply bucket of very, very hot water (hotter than you could use on your skin).
In the first (“soaking”
bucket, fill it with enough hot’ish water to just cover the affected part, this needs to be water that is hot enough that you can barely stand it. Note that your hand is much less sensitive to heat than your foot is, so be aware that it is your foot that will tell you the temperature that you will be able to tolerate ... but make it hot enough so that you end up having to “ease” your foot in gradually due to the hot temp. (note that you can check with your hand to insure that the water temp is not going to be injurious to your skin). The water should be hot enough to be just at the limit of your foot being able to tolerate it because of the heat.
Once you get the foot all the way in, the water will gradually cool ... as it does, use the *second* bucket of very hot water to carefully and gradually add more hot to the “soaking” bucket to keep the water temp up as high as you can stand it, but that you can still get your foot into and does not scald you. Continue adding more hot water as the water in the soak-bucket cools. Continue soaking until all the hot water has been used and the soak bucket finally loses most of its heat. This whole procedure should last 15 to 25 minutes total.
Then, remove your foot from the water, dry it *very* carefully with the towel as desired, and without moving it around or disturbing it, lay back and try to get to sleep.
Well, now I'll add gout to my list of the fears of aging. I thought it was just a guy on a commercial carring a 10L E-flask.
Good luck to you guys managing it, while managing your taste for good beer. I know my friends with celiac are hating the tast of sorghum.
I thought it was just a guy on a commercial carring a 10L E-flask. Good luck to you guys managing it, while managing your taste for good beer. I know my friends with celiac are hating the tast of sorghum.
