Tingling sharp pains from gout

[A- Lo]

My gout manifested itself differently. Because I have a very strong tingling sensation somewhere between that “asleep” feeling when your limbs go numb, and like walking on broken glass. So it hurts! But I can handle it (barely) without painkillers.

My levels are elevated. But not that much. Uric acid was 7.1 in my blood last year and I was fine (they were part of a normal blood test and it wasn’t a concern then). This year it’s at 6.1 and I tested for it because I’m in pain.

I just wondered if anyone else has had this feeling instead of the red/painful toe syndrome. This is in all fingers/toes and moves around all day, little pings of pain like walking on glass. But nothing is red or swollen at all. Although I do feel sharp pains in different parts of my extremities. The longer I stand, the more it hurts. Not just in toes but in the pads and heel of my foot.

My doc’s been great and has put me on allopurinol first to see how it goes. It has hurt more during treatment (3 days now) but I understand that is the norm as it breaks down the proteins. I’m mostly curious if anyone else has had the pain manifest itself this way, as I’m not convinced it’s gout. It seems like it could be a circulation issue, but it hurts more than when my foot falls asleep, etc. I sit all day at work in front of a PC (getting up whenever I can) and am wondering if that is making things worse?

Thanks for any thoughts!

PS I am not overweight. In fact, I’m quite skinny, 5’8″ 150 lbs, lost 20 in the last month due to gout & proper eating (I CAN say I didn’t always eat properly and have a fondness for an Indian Pale Ale a day). Perfect diet for 6 weeks & feel the same as when it began. I’m on 100 mg allopurinol daily.

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Gout Can Cause Tingling Foot

[Keith Taylor]

It sounds exactly like my gout in the first few years. So much so, that the first doctor I consulted didn’t believe I had gout. He referred me to hospital, where a rheumatologist confirmed my gout with a painless joint fluid test.

Personally, I found that gout attacks subsided quicker if I kept moving. My best trick was to drink water as often as I remembered. I even set a reminder on my PC until I got into the habit. It has the double benefit of having to walk to the toilet more often.

I’m convinced that this will pass once most of your old uric acid crystals have dissolved. You should find that the pain is less frequent and less intense over the next few weeks.

[A- Lo]

Wow! Many thanks, Keith. I will keep you posted…it’s so odd how different it can be with different people. Do you think there is an occasional IPA to look forward to in my future then?! LOL. I predict a lot more of this gout stuff going on with the rise of microbrews – NY is now an IPA “capital” I’m told….
Thanks again,

[Keith Taylor]

Hey, don’t get me started on the beer and gout issue!

Oh, alright then…

I do not believe that beer has a strong influence on gout. People have strong views on it, but there is no strong science. I feel you have to listen to your body, not the rhetoric. A recent contributor claimed falling uric acid when drinking 5 pints of British ale each day.

If drinking beer gives you gout attacks, then stop drinking beer. If it doesn’t, then enjoy it. But be careful of false associations. It is very easy to blame beer when something else caused the gout attack. And, as you’ve experienced, lowering uric acid can cause attacks. So, to test properly, you have to measure uric acid each month. Between uric acid tests, you must record daily gout symptoms. Take alternate months with IPA (or whatever) and without IPA. Repeat until you can see clear results.

Of course, if you are on allopurinol, this experiment won’t work. Once allopurinol has dissolved most of your old crystals, you can eat and drink whatever you like. However, moderation is best. You don’t want to control your gout, then go on binges that promote heart disease, diabetes, or other diseases associated with bad diet.

You can definitely look forward to the occasional IPA in the near future! 😀

[A- Lo]

All great news! Thanks so much, Keith. This forum is a great place!
I think what people fail to realize (as I did) is that it is a looooong term issue to deal with and even if you change your diet habits immediately upon recognizing it, it appears it can take months to get rid of the crystals, even with meds.
In my experience, anyway!

I’m shocked that beer may not affect uric acid, as that seems to be all over the place – but will do the testing and report back. Consistent with your view, I drank a LOT last summer as I had a kegerator and had a uric acid level of 7.1 with no pain – this summer I drank 1 beer per day as an absolute max, uric acid of 6.1 and ended up with gout?!

[Keith Taylor]

The obsession with relating food (including alcohol) to gout is partly an inbuilt human desire to form connections. The Internet proliferation of unsubstantiated nonsense is more sinister. It’s used as fuel to sell unworthy information or treatments.

Misinformation is a well known tactic of fraudsters. Make a false claim, then defy anyone to disprove it. In my opinion, it’s best ignored. Gout information should be referenced to peer-reviewed science. It’s not perfect, but anything else is merely opinion.

Now that I understand purine metabolism better, I’m shocked that anyone should be obsessed with the effect of beer on uric acid. It’s mostly hyperbole, because the only valid test is the one I outlined above. It’s a test that is very rarely done. When crossover trials with alcohol are performed on gout sufferers, they always show mixed results.

Gout treatment must be personal. And that is what professional rheumatologists recommend. Sometimes I can’t help ranting about misinformation. But the truth is, most gout sufferers can be helped. It’s just a matter of focusing on personal gout facts and attitudes. Then we can find personal gout control that works.

By the way, uric acid levels are extremely important to gout management. But, there is no correlation between an isolated uric acid blood test result, and gout symptoms. Just as there is no correlation between the amount of rainfall on your roof, and the pressure of water through your faucet.

Last year you grew lots of uric acid crystals. This year you’re paying the price. Was beer to blame? I don’t know. But, I’d want to review your calorie intake and weight before I formed a working hypothesis.

[GC Gopro]

Tingling toes with Allopurinol

Today I am experiencing what feels like tingling across the underside of my toes on both feet. Taking allopurinol for 15 weeks now, and subsequent flare which lasted for about a week ended 2 weeks ago. Had the sensation only on the gouty toe foot initially, but now both. No swelling or problem with big toe! Is this a common symptom? Thanks for any advice. I think this site provides a lot of help and good advice to people with this problem.

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