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Trying to conquer the hurty toe

16 March 2010 No Comment

Few things within the realm of common occurrence is as painful as gout. If anything. Waking up to a throbbing, swollen and painful big toe sounds awful to most, but unless you’ve experienced gout for yourself it is difficult to comprehend. I woke up to another bout of gout this morning, but it is not nearly as intolerable as a truly chronic outbreak. But it still hurts a lot. The explanation I use when talking to others about this condition is to imagine having a big toe that is throbbing with pain so badly, that even a bed sheet moving across your toe is agonizing. In fact, it can be so bad that even though I am in pain, it does not compare to my first bad case five years ago, when I had to use crutches for a couple of days. When it strikes my right big toe, I cannot drive, which really blows.

Besides the nagging pain and inhibited movement, the other terribly frustrating aspect is finding the root cause. There is an abundance of conflicting information out there, but everyone likes to point to meat and beer intake. Since I only consume meat once or twice per week, at most, maybe it is certain types of craft beer that is to blame. But after lengthy research, I believe I am just really susceptible to gout when I am dehydrated. Alcohol can be the cause of this, but more indirectly. I’m fairly diligent about hydration, especially if I have some beer. It may actually be triggered by certain foods, like mushrooms and cooked spinach. I sure wish I knew; but I do know eating lots of dark fruits, drinking cherry juice and tons of tea and water, combined with eating yogurt usually does the trick. My goal is to always use natural remedies and never take prescribed medication. Cherry juice, in particular, is the most oft-used cure. It’s full of anti-inflammatory properties. Thing is, I never know when the duration of gout will cease. So, today, I am treating this as best as I can and am hoping it just goes away soon. I want to go to the park with my daughter this afternoon, play ping pong tonight and visit the St. Patrick Day festivities on Wednesday in Dogtown. When it goes away, it is kind of sudden, so we’ll see. Hope I’m not stuck at home for long.

Ok, it is our lunch time, then nap time for her – and back to my job search for me.

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