I ate and drank my way into this. I’ll have to eat and drink my way out. Reminds me of the line from the Jimmy Hendricks song: “there must be some kinda way outta here, said the Joker to the Thief”.
Gout is a pain in the toe, for me, the stabilizing knuckle of my left foot big toe. It is caused when the purine levels in the blood stream get too high and crystallize around a joint. It gets inflamed and feels like you’re walking on glass. I was diagnosed on February 3rd of this long winter. I didn’t go to the emergency room right away; I’m male after all. But when the pain got bad enough for me to consider, even desire, narcotics I went to the local treatment center convinced I had broken something. Terri, my thoughtful and compassionate wife, told me it was probably gout. I assured her it wasn’t. If we had wagered anything I would have lost.
The treatment is fairly simple. Cut back on the animal protins and other purine rich foods, discontinue use of alcohol (spicifically beer and spirits) and eat more complex carbohydrates and drink tons of water. As I said at the top, I was going to have to eat my way out of it. YouTube content providers promised ways to get rid of it in 24 hours or a few days. They lied. After dealing with this for 4 months and just now I can tell you it doesn’t clear up that fast. It takes time for the joint to heal even after the purine levels go down in the blood. Mine are just slightly above normal. My foot pain is almost gone and I’m regaining strength and flexibility in that foot. But it’s taken time and been painful.
It’s now summer. My feet are all better. They feel better now than they have in almost a year. I got back on the road today and ran / walked a 5K. It felt great! In eating and drinking my way out of gout I put on about 15 pounds. Time to get back at the business of loss. I still want to be halftheman I used to be.
Half The Man 