Learn to Manage Your Gout Between Flares
Learn to Manage Your Gout Between Flares
Oddly enough, uric acid-lowering drugs can actually trigger an acute flare-up of gout, especially within the first two weeks of treatment. "When drugs begin to break up deposits and the uric acid crystals come up into joint fluid, you can get a sudden inflammatory response," says Baraf. To prevent flare-ups, doctors prescribe anti-inflammatory medications along with uric acid-lowering medication. Most experts recommend continuing anti-inflammatory drugs for 6 months or until uric acid deposits have been completely eliminated.
Treatment of gout can become complicated in patients with other serious illnesses, such as kidney disease. However, with effective treatment, experts say, many patients don't have to suffer repeated attacks of gout or the damage to joints that can result from them. Even for patients suffering advanced gout, the effects of treatment can be dramatic.
"We've had patients who were in almost constant pain from gout and really disfigured by the disease," Neogi told WebMD, "and we've seen their tophi melt away with treatment. That's why treating gout can be very rewarding. You really can change people's lives."
Managing Gout Between Flares
New treatment options for gout continued...
Oddly enough, uric acid-lowering drugs can actually trigger an acute flare-up of gout, especially within the first two weeks of treatment. "When drugs begin to break up deposits and the uric acid crystals come up into joint fluid, you can get a sudden inflammatory response," says Baraf. To prevent flare-ups, doctors prescribe anti-inflammatory medications along with uric acid-lowering medication. Most experts recommend continuing anti-inflammatory drugs for 6 months or until uric acid deposits have been completely eliminated.
Treatment of gout can become complicated in patients with other serious illnesses, such as kidney disease. However, with effective treatment, experts say, many patients don't have to suffer repeated attacks of gout or the damage to joints that can result from them. Even for patients suffering advanced gout, the effects of treatment can be dramatic.
"We've had patients who were in almost constant pain from gout and really disfigured by the disease," Neogi told WebMD, "and we've seen their tophi melt away with treatment. That's why treating gout can be very rewarding. You really can change people's lives."
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