My Acute Gout Attack Treatment Plan is a simple plan to show you how to block an acute gout attack so you can enjoy your life.

This is not a long-term solution to gout. As I hope you have read in my introduction to gout treatment plans, How To Attack A Gout Attack:

Untreated gout leads to tendinitis, which worsens to osteoarthritis, eventually destroying joints. Lumps in the skin spread to all tissues damaging kidneys, skin, heart, and eventually all soft tissues.

The time to act is now.

After more than one gout attack, you need to reduce uric acid levels to prevent future gout attacks. I show you how in my Simple Gout Attack Prevention Plan. That process can take several months until you are free from the cause of acute gout. Therefore, you might consider learning how to control pain before you start to control uric acid. However, you should not delay that too long, since the only way to permanently remove the risk of an acute gout attack, is to get safe uric acid levels.

There is one further important point before I explain my acute gout pain control plan. Historically, gout patients were advised to delay uric acid lowering treatment if they were suffering an acute gout attack. The latest research tells us that there is no reason to wait, and you can start uric acid lowering during gout flare-ups.

Acute Gout Attack 2020 Update

I have replaced this old plan with a range of plans that address different concerns. So you should start reading Questions for Gout Sufferers.

However, I am retaining old plans while I confirm that I’ve moved all relevant facts and tips to those new plans. So you can read the following. Then subscribe to my update service to get email when I update the new plans.

Acute Gout Attack Treatment Plan

My Acute Gout Attack Treatment Plan is a simple 3 step plan:

  1. Colchicine to stop inflammation spreading. Take one at the first sign of an acute gout attack. If pain persists, take another after 2 hours. Do not take more than 2 per day. Do not take any if you have an infection, or are likely to be exposed to infection, or are recovering from an infection. Do not take if you have left it so long that inflammation is starting to subside. Do not take if you do not want to for any other reason.
    Note that colchicine limits the spread of inflammation, but it does nothing to reduce it. Rather than wait for the inflammation to reduce naturally over a few days, I recommend anti-inflammatory drugs to reduce swelling and pain.
  2. Anti-inflammatory to reduce swelling and pain. Get a gout strength prescription from your doctor for any NSAID that suits you. Take the first dose with Colchicine, or instead of it. Repeat at interval prescribed (usually every 4 hours) until swelling is reduced and gout pain is tolerable.
    Note that even strong anti-inflammatories can take time to reduce the intense pain of acute gout attacks. In severe attacks, I recommend additional, compatible, analgesics to block pain.
  3. Analgesic to block pain. Get a gout strength prescription from your doctor for an analgesic that is compatible with your anti-inflammatory prescription. If you still have gout pain after 2 hours, alternate pain-blocker with your anti-inflammatory, as advised by your doctor.

Please note that:

  • I realize that NSAIDs are a type of analgesic, but I am distinguishing these for their anti-inflammatory properties, over their pain-relieving properties.
  • Acetaminophen (Tylenol/Paracetamol) is a special case NSAID. It is best treated as a pain blocker rather than an anti-inflammatory for the purpose of this plan. Your doctor’s advice can override this.
  • If you cannot tolerate NSAIDs, steroids are another option, but be aware of their effects on the immune system and on bone strength. If steroids are your only option, they will replace both colchicine and NSAIDs. I am not qualified to give medical advice. You should double-check with your doctor about using steroids for gout. You must also be certain of the safety of other analgesics that I recommend as the third step.
  • There are thousands of pain relief combinations. Your doctor’s advice on how to alternate these must always take precedence over this simple plan.
  • If your doctor recommends OTC dose rather than Gout dose, be sure to understand why. Is it for genuine medical reasons, or is it because your doctor does not understand gout pain?

Acute Gout Attack Stopped photo

Acute Gout Attack Prevention

As I explained above, for long-term prevention of gout attacks, you need my Simple Gout Attack Prevention Plan. However, you can also adapt some of the principles of acute gout attack control to prevent, or lessen attacks that might occur in the early weeks of that plan.

The most effective short-term prevention is colchicine, taken at one tablet per day. If you have to avoid colchicine, you can take anti-inflammatories as a preventative. Your doctor will advise an appropriate dose of your chosen NSAID or steroid to take as an acute gout attack preventative. You should not consider analgesics that are not anti-inflammatory as gout pain preventatives.

Always restrict acute gout attack preventatives to the minimum time possible. This should never be more than six months.

Acute Gout Attack Treatment Eligibility

To be eligible for my Acute Gout Attack Treatment Plan you need:

A doctor who advises gout strength prescriptions.
This acute gout attack treatment plan does not help you choose which gout medicines suit you best, or what dose you need. Gout medicine choices are covered in-depth by my personal gout treatment plan, which includes working with your doctor to agree on an acceptable dosing plan that will control acute gout attack pain.
No complications with other diseases.
If you have any other disease, you should consult a rheumatologist who has gout experience.
Acceptance of pharmaceutical solutions.
This acute gout attack treatment plan relies on drugs. If you insist on herbal medicines or non-medicine treatments, you need a more complex plan. I can provide in-depth help for you with my personal gout treatment plan.
Diligence to take gout medicines as needed.
If not, I can encourage and mentor you with my personal gout treatment plan.
Acceptance of long-term risks.
You must accept that gout pain control is a short-term measure. There are fatal risks associated with long-term pain relief drugs, and there are fatal risks associated with long-term untreated excess uric acid. You must commit to following my Simple Gout Attack Prevention Plan, or a suitable alternative, within 6 months.

Personal Gout Treatment Plans

My Acute Gout Attack Treatment Plan is backed by personal public help in my gout forums. To get your personal plan, please post in the Gout Management Plans Forum, now. To stay informed about the progress of my personal acute gout attack help services, I recommend you subscribe to my Update Service:

Enter your email address:

No Charge.
Subscription is free.
100% Safety Guaranteed.
Your email address is safe - I will never share it with anyone else.
No Commitment.
Each of my update emails ends with an Unsubscribe link. So, you can stop updates whenever you like. Then, rejoin whenever you like. You are in control.

For more gout info update services: Gout Info Update Service.

Leave Acute Gout Attack to read How To Attack A Gout Attack.

Please give your feedback

Did this page help you? If yes, please consider a small donation. Your donations help keep GoutPal's gout support services free for everyone.

If not, please tell me how I can improve it to help you more.

Please use the Feedback Form from the Donate button. Or join the discussions at:I will never reveal your email address to anyone else.