When in May 2007, my co-worker and I were heading toward the supermarket in Klawock, Alaska. I noticed him limping like how I would, so I asked him what the deal was. He explained that he had a case of gout. After this trip, or sometime after, I got gout and decided to take the pain to a doctor. I say a doctor because I was in the process of switching from Kaiser to Blue Shield. I found a suitable doctor and there I found out that my blood tests came back high in uric acid. In simple terms, high uric acid means gout.
(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gout for more information)
I've always been a fan of red meat, and shell fish. For some odd reason, my existing gout attack was triggered by high concentrations of sodium. It is probably the fact that I've been eating bigger portions of food that contain high salt intake. A week ago, I was working out, running, and trying to stay fit. Once gout happens, all that just goes away because I can't move. Let me explain to you what I feel.
Gout...
...hinders me from walking a normal walking pace.
...irritates my emotions, making me more likely to snap.
...increases my blood pressure.
...keeps me from being the active, sport-like person that I am.
...causes me to complain a lot more than usual.
...takes control and forces me to want to cut off my foot.
...loses sleep. I will wake up early in the morning feeling the extreme pain in my toe because the pain reliever dissolved from my system.
...reminds me that I need to eat better.
...tells my body to trigger my brain to change my diet.
This is only some of things I go through when I get a gout attack. More later...maybe.