Allopurinol (or allopurinal)
Allopurinol (often called allopurinal) is hailed by many people as a wonder drug for preventing gout attacks. It reduces uric acid levels, thus lowering the risk of future gout attacks.
There is no permanent effect, so as soon as you stop taking it the benefits are lost.
Forgetting the odd day might not matter too much, but it is important to continue taking it for the rest of your life once started. There are no immediate benefits from taking allopurinol - it can take 6 weeks or longer before acute gout attacks are significantly reduced.
Importantly, during this period, which could take up to a year, the risk of acute gout attacks increases.
Doctors will usually prescribe a pain relief drug to be taken alongside allopurinol for six months or more.
What actually happens is that allopurinal reduces the uric acid levels in the blood and so the uric acid crystals in or around the joints start to redissolve causing a gout attack.
Therefore, the longer you have had gout, the longer it will take for allopurinol to prevent attacks.
This is also the reason why you should not start taking allopurinol during an acute gout attack, but if you were already taking it, then you must continue.
Don't keep stopping and starting with this drug - you need to take it as prescribed, otherwise you lose the benefits. There should be no diet restrictions, though you must be careful with alcohol. It causes allopurinol to be excreted from the body quickly, which might stop your uric acid levels being lowered enough. Frequent blood tests are important if you are taking allopurinol, and these will tell you if your allopurinol dose is enough to lower uric acid properly. If your uric acid level is not maintained below 6mg/dL, then discuss with your doctor whether you need to reduce alcohol or increase your allopurinol dose. More Allopurinol Information- Are Allopurinol Side Effects Serious?
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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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