I hope someone reading this has some ideas or suggestions but I have just recently been afflicted with gout; inflammation of the first joint of the big toe, right foot… Let me just say that I felt the pain early in the morning around 5 AM and it kills… walking was a bitch… losing sleep was bad enough.
I looked up “gout” on Google and the killer news was that it appears I am going to have to minimize my protein intake, not good news for someone pushing the iron… What does this mean for my protein shakes ???
My question now is: Are there any other lifters out there like me ? Suffering from gout and having to closely watch your protein intake ? Please let me know as I am hoping to minimize these attacks as much as possible as the pain is incredible (as anyone will tell you who has gone through it)
** Any help from people in similar circumstances is greatly appreciated. My father has/had (?) gout but it seems to have more or less gone away.
Dude, I don’t have it, but I treat it on occasion. You don’t have to knock out the protein to an extreme. Big thing is avoid alcohol consumption, have a bunch of NSAIDS (Ibuprofen, Naproxen, etc) on hand for the very first sign of a gout flare, and talk to your doc. There are some meds that can be used to prevent attacks, like colchicine and allopurinol.
If your body produces too much uric acid or doesn’t get rid of it in the urine, the excess uric acid builds up and may form crystals in the joints. Causes of crystal formation include drinking too much alcohol, taking medications that may increase the uric acid concentration, eating foods that are high in purines (specific chemical compounds found in some foods), and being overweight. The metabolism of uric acid is influenced by genes.