I am looking for gout relief suggestions. Anyone have any?

I have found that ‘home medications’ don’t work on gout. Yes, you can change your diet some, but the underlying cause is chemical, and diet just doesn’t make a large enough dent.

My doc has given me two meds at various times:

Allopurinol – advantage: very inexpensive, generic drug, comes in various dosages. Does a pretty good job.

Uloric – very expensive drug, slightly more effective

In either case, you will be on the drug forever. I have been very happy with Allopurinol.

As @elbanditoroso has said, Allopurinol was very effective on my mom’s gout.
You need to stay away from processed foods also as they tend to increase flare ups.
Processed foods include processed meats such as hot dogs, box mixes, canned foods.
Back off on salt or sodium too.
I hear cherries help control gout, but they never worked for my mom.

I used the drug that my MD prescribed me (I think it was probably Allopurinol because it was only a few bucks). It cleared it up in a day or two and I was a happy patient. If you get frequent attacks, there is a different medication that you take daily that prevents attacks from occurring in the first place. These meds use a different mechanism than the ones designed to treat an active flare-up, so you should talk to your MD about the frequency of your gout symptoms. Diet isn’t really all that huge of a factor (I rarely drink and don’t eat red meat) compared to things like genetics. Best of luck and I hope you get relief soon, it’s painful as hell.

This may sound strange but my Dad’s buddy would stop eating dishes with either beans or animal internal organs and it seemed to help.

As @gorillapaws suggested, there are prescription medication that work well, but you do have to see a physician to get them. If you prefer home remedies, some may help. You can look up foods that will make it worse and avoid them. Fast help or slow trial and error help? Your call.

First step:
Elimination Diet

Second Step:
Food Journal once you add in one new food every couple of days.

You should note a marked improvement within the first couple of days.

@elbanditoroso I too have have mixed luck with home remedies; it is hard to tell what is working and what is nature taking its course a lot of time; ‘course the same is true with meds. I am trying very hard to stay off the lifetime drugs, thus the search.
@chyna My intake of processed foods is minimal and cherries did not do much for me either. I did find out quickly that you definitly need to read the labels thoroughly. Most cherry juice is mainly apple juice with a fairly insignificant amount of cherry; probably just enough to satisfy FDA requirements. Best to stick to real cherrys. Thanks for the salt/sodium suggestion. I think that may be my problem this time.
@gorillapaws Thanks for the best wishes, the attacks seem to be coming on more frequently the more mature (read older) I get.
@mazingerz88 Thanks, yeah I have had to do that too. The beans are the harder of the two.
@Sunny2 Yeah, I don’t mind the prescrips. I am just looking for alternatives. Seems like nothing works forever so I try to increase my options. Feels like once I eliminate/cut down on a food it helps for a while then something else brings on an attack. Trial and error is where I am at this point.
@SpatzieLover Thanks, the elimination diet with an actual written journal might give me more insight into additional causes. Yeah, it will be gone in a while. It just is painful to walk the first couple of days.

I’ve read a few things about Sour Cherries helping to reduce the pain of gout due to their anti-inflammatory qualities.

I don’t know how to post links but I did a search on instant relief as it sounds as if you are in pain. Ice on the inflamed area may help, or Epsom salts soak.

I drank fresh ginger every day for other inflammatory illnesses and it did help. I made a tea like infusion with honey and lemon.

Allopurinal does not work for acute gout. In fact, it generally is not given when people have acute gouty arthritis because it can worsen the condition. Also elimination diets will help in preventing attacks, but not in an acute attack.

I recommend seeing a doctor, but the best “home remedy” you can do is ibuprofen or Naproxen.

Thanks @Shippy I keep getting mixed messages on the ice thing. Some say yes, some say not, some say only heat, others no heat. I go with the heat to try to break up the crystals. Same thing with epsom salts although I use that for everything. Advice from my mother growing up. I’m pretty sure she feels epsoms salts and witch hazel can cure just about any disease known to man.
@Rarebear Thanks. Doc says he can put me on one of the lifetime meds like Allopurinol or give me a cortisone injection, which does nothing but mask the pain.

My father-in-law swears by sour cherry juice, @Kardamom.

@bkcunningham does he only drink it during flare-ups or daily on a prophyaxis basis?

He drinks it everyday, @rojo.