Toe still hurting …. and it's been 3 wks. And on medicine!!

[Kathy]

Please explain to me why my toe is still very sensitive at joint site and still aches even though I’ve been taking the colchicine 2x/day since End of March?
I joined your website and have been reading intermittently about gout.
My uric acid test came back 9.4mg and I plan on taking allopurinol for at least 1 yr. then hopefully try to control it thru diet.
It is kinda discouraging though cause I am very active and I thought by now the pain would be gone and I could resume my normal activities.. which I am, but I’m wondering if that is what’s causing my discomfort. Is it normal to have lingering pain and inflammation this long and even while I’m taking this medicine colchicine? Also, does this medicine upset your stomach?
Thanks for all your help,
Kathy

[Keith Taylor]

Hi Kathy,

I notice you say you’ve joined here. You will get faster responses, and better information if you log in to GoutPal before you post. If you are experiencing difficulty with that, please click the orange Support button, and let my support team fix your technical problem.

I don’t know how long you’ve had gout, but it always gets worse as time goes by. I was just thinking about that earlier today in response to people (like me!) who leave it too long before treating high uric acid. We suffer in so many unnecessary ways. Delays to treatment mean gout attacks get more frequent, more intense, and last longer. Once we start uric acid lowering treatment, it takes longer to get rid of old crystal deposits.

Kathy, all I can suggest is to stop delaying, and start your allopurinol now. It takes several weeks, even months, to get rid of old uric acid crystals and remove the risk of more gout flares.

Colchicine never stops gout pain – it just stops it getting worse. But, nothing stops flares becoming continuous, so you end up with your lingering pain and inflammation. Colchicine won’t get rid of inflammation either, so you need to support it with anti-inflammatories in all but the mildest of attacks.

Colchicine is a potent poison, and it will upset most people’s stomachs to varying degrees. If it is too bad, your doctor might be able to prescribe additional medicine to help. Whatever pain treatment you end up with, the best way forward is to get uric acid as low as you can, as quickly as you can. After a few weeks, you don’t need anything for gout pain.

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