Gout Medications

Allopurinol is one of the most prescribed gout medications and treatments in use today. Doctors have favored it for years in an attempt to control uric acid levels.

So, why do physicians place so much trust in allopurinol? How does it work? Is it effective? Are there any harmful side effects? If so, what are they?

How does Allopurinol work?

Allopurinol is in a drug classification called xanthine oxidase inhibitors. Hypoxanthine is a purine in the body, so the inhibitor helps prevent the increase of purines in the body.

Is Allopurinol effective?

I have used allopurinol in the past, and it had a limited effect,at least as far as I was concerned.

Allopurinol will not stop a current attack, in fact, I was warned by my physician, allopurinol takes time to work, and he stated initially I would suffer severe attacks.

Allopurinol is specifically designed to stop recurring attacks, not the actual symptoms of gout. My doctor prescribed Indomethacin to counter that problem.

I did get a very severe attack shortly after going on allopurinol. I was still having painful attacks after a few months.

Allopurinol will not make a big difference if you continue to eat gouty foods. I was only eating chicken for meat before I went on allopurinol. My doctor stated I need to eat more varieties of meat than just chicken, even though I was not having hardly any attacks while just eating chicken. I ate pork, beef, and occasionally venison after I started taking my prescription and I began to have horrible attacks, so I went back to chicken.

Are there any harmful side effects?

Although rare, there are potentially serious harmful side effects from taking Indomethacin. After questioning my physician on the side effects, he stated these side effects are very rare and usually occur when a person takes too high a dose of allopurinol over a long period of time.

Serious side effects include, allergic reaction, hypersensitivity, renal failure, and hepatitis. Less serious side effects would include fever and rash.

Allopurinol is also known to cause a disease called Stephens-Johnson syndrome, a very rare skin disease that is life threatening. According to wikipedia statistics, SJS risk is one in a million. So, I would not consider SJS a risk that would keep me from taking allopurinol.

If taken as prescribed, allopurinol can decrease your incidences of gout, but you still have to watch your diet. It is not a free ticket to eat as you wish without the painful consequences.

While there are side effects, you will have to determine whether you wish to deal with possible side effects. Discuss your concerns with your phsyician. Other options do exist.

Resources:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a682673.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allopurinol

Allopurinol is probably the most common of all gout medications. However, it is not the only option. Colchicine is another popular choice among physicians.

How does colchicine work?

The FDA has stated that colchicine is acceptable for gout treatments. Without getting into all the scientific and technical terms, the drug produces anti-swelling effects.

This medication is not just used for gout. It has been used in some anti-cancer research because of it has been found to "poison" cancer cells. It is also used in a few other rare diseases.

Colchicine side effects

Colchicine has toxic effects after being taking. Every time I've taken colchine I've experienced the some of these side effects shortly after the gout symptoms started subsiding. These included vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.

Once these symptoms start, you must stop taking it. To continue can lead you to renal failure and even death from respiratory problems.

As with my case, usually the gout symptoms will start to subside by the time you begin feeling the toxic effects.

Should you use colchicine? I prefer not to as I don't care for the side effects and there are other gout treatments that don't provide you with uncomfortable reactions to medications.

Aleve
Ibuprofen
Motrin
Bromelain
Celery Seed Extract
Quercitin