A failed experiment

I am very grateful that I have a primary care person who is on my side of health issues. We just completed an experiment that failed. I am sharing my experience in case someone else may have this issue.

Back in May I had an attack of gout. Never had it before and still am not sure what caused it. Since then I have had blood tests and found that the uric acid is very high. Gout is caused when the body produces too much and it causes crystals to form in places like the toes, which is what happened in my case.

I began paying more attention to my diet and added yogurt, which is supposed to help. I also added vitamins B12 and C. In researching I noticed that taking a water pill for high blood pressure can also cause gout. After a second blood test showing the uric acid level was still high I decided to eliminate the water pill from my blood pressure medication to see what would happen.

I was aware that a change in medication would take awhile for the body to adjust so I was prepared, I thought. During the following 9 days I kept a record of what it was doing. The readings went crazy and reached a dangerous level. I checked in with my primary care person and we had no choice but to put the water pill back in. I took the medication for the first time this morning and the reading was much better. I know it's going to take a couple of days to get it back to what is normal for me, but it is heading in the right direction.

Ben said, " I am more concerned with your blood pressure then the fact that you could have a gout attack once or twice a year." I totally agree with him. It's been four months since I had the attack so I am not terribly worried that it will come back. If it does at least now I know what is happening and I have medication I can take right away to stop it.

This is the story of my experience and I hope it helps someone.