Allopurinol Medication:
The Gout Cure That Can Hurt
2010 Update
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All gout sufferers, and their carers, seek gout cures.The best example is allopurinol medication, which is common and effective. It is a crucial part of the fight against gout, but why do less than 1 in 5 gout patients complete their treatment successfully?Are you at risk of your gout treatment failing? - Do you understand uric acid?
- Do you know the crippling danger it presents?
- Do you know why they must reduce uric acid?
- Do you understand why reducing uric acid can temporarily cause more pain?
As a gout patient, you must understand why you need to endure the pain of allopurinol medication to get rid of gout. Understanding Uric AcidUric acid is vital to humans, but, like many a good thing, too much of it is bad. Too much causes uric acid crystals to form in and around your joints, and under your skin. Many people imagine these crystals to be painful, often describing them as sharp and needle-like. They are actually so small, that they don't cause physical pain directly, but your immune system sees them as virus-like invaders, and attacks them causing inflammation and acute pain. It is not enough simply to get rid of this pain. The Crippling Danger Of Uric AcidMost people need some additional medication to tolerate the pain. This is usually colchicine or other anti-inflammatory drug, but pain relief will do nothing to get rid of uric acid crystals. The inflammation and pain will gradually disperse as your immune system stops fighting the uric acid crystals. But, unlike a virus, your immune system cannot kill uric acid crystals. Instead, it hides them in a protein coating, and they will build up to cause crippling joint damage unless you do something to get rid of them. I've seen a 70 year old man in tears with this pain, and I do not want it to happen to you. Why You Must Focus On Lowering Uric AcidThe uric acid crystals build up gradually, often over several years, and they don't always cause the traditionally painful, swollen acute gout flare. Often numbness or tingling are the only signs, yet under your skin the uric acid deposits increase until they burst through as tophi, or damage your joints, or both. The only way to get rid of uric acid deposits, and avoid the critically painful tophaceous gout stage, is to lower uric acid below 6mg/dL. Though there are several uric acid lowering drugs, and new ones being developed, allopurinol medication is most widely prescribed and currently the most effective, as long as the correct dose is taken every day. Lowering Uric Acid Can Cause PainAt the correct dose, all uric acid lowering treatments will cause uric acid crystals to dissolve. Remember, this is what we must do to avoid skin-bursting tophi and crippling joint deposits. Unfortunately, as they are dissolving, uric acid crystals shed the protein coating, and the immune system starts to attack again, which may result in a painful gout flare. You must be prepared for this, and discuss with your doctor whether you take anti-inflammatory pain relief with the allopurinol medication, or take pain relief when a gout flare occurs. Deal With The Pain Of Allopurinol MedicationAll too often gout sufferers concentrate on finding pain relief and forget about the dangers of a long-term buildup of uric acid crystals. You must understand the dangers of uric acid, how crystals can cause serious damage, often without pain, and how lowering uric acid might temporarily increase pain. Distinguishing between pain relief and lowering uric acid is one of the key aspects of managing gout. Understand it, and you are less likely to be amongst the 90% of gout patients who fail to endure the pain of allopurinol medication to get rid of gout.
More Allopurinol Information
Read more vital allopurinol information:
- Are Allopurinol Side Effects Serious?
- Allopurinol side effects worry many people, so just how serious are they?
- 3 Vital Allopurinol Dosage Rules
- Allopurinol dosage needs to be planned, measured and adjusted for different treatment phases. A standard 300mg dose might be just what you need - but make sure that it is set by diagnosis and judgment, not by dangerous guesswork.
- Allopurinol For Gout Control
- In-depth look at the management of gout using allopurinol.
- Allopurinol Drug Not Just For Gout
- Though mostly used in gouty arthritis, the allopurinol drug has found to be useful for other conditions.
Allopurinol Drug SpellingThe allopurinol drug is often spelled differently, especially with an "al" ending. The spellings I have noticed include: - alipurinal
- alipurinol
- allipurinal
- allopurino
- alopurenol
- alopurinal
All these refer to the allopurinol gout drug.
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Page Created: Before May 2008 - Last Reviewed: 28th August 2008
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