11th January 2025 - Sodding Gout
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Well I am in the midst of another gout flare up. Sodding gout! Seems 
to affect the right big toe joint closest to the tip. A change from 
the toe to foot joint although that is clicking horrifically. 
Thankfully I have a stock of naproxene and so don't have to battle the 
out of hours doctors or find a way to the pharmacy and back. 

Gout is a git of a condition. It is bloody painful and yet pathetic. 
You wake up to the duvet putting too much pressure on your toe and 
yell in pain. Then you realise you can't bend the toe and how warm it 
feels. Yet there is also a coldness to the toe. It consumes your mind. 
It is almost a good meditation focus although you focus on pain and so 
it is indulgent. 

I have suffered gout for 7 years now. I am thankfully on a 
preventative, allopurinol. It has reduced the number of flare ups and 
the severity of them. I typically get a 'twinge' of gout in early 
December. This is where I feel some pain but I can move around 
easily enough. These disappear quickly and are a 1 day affair. 

The only good side of a gout attack is the feeling when the 
inflammation has reduced and you get the rush of blood. It is great 
and something I look forward to. I still remember the first time I 
felt it. In fairness, I had been suffering for a week before I felt I 
could hobble to the doctors. Joys of living on the top floor of the 
block of flats. It was orgasmic in many respects. 

I still find no rhyme nor reason for flare ups. I have been a 
vegetarian for 28 years and drink 1 soft drink a week. I do drink. I 
do drink more than the recommended units but that is a Friday/Saturday 
thing. I have periods of drinking regularly but no flare ups occur. It 
is baffling and one of the reasons to take a preventative. 

Hopefully I reach the clicky toe stage soon. That means I am back to 
normal. Until then, lots of keeping feet above my chest. Another 
reason why it feels pathetic. Sodding gout!