I'm going with obvious information today, but if your new to gout maybe you need to hear this. Drinking water is one of your best ways to prevent that horrid pain. Don't believe me, then don't take my word for it?Google: gout water. This is what I came up with on the front page, If you're going to leave my site, don't worry I'll wait for you:
NYTimes-Why Do I have Gout? "Many doctors who treat patients with gout advise them to cut down on purines and drink more water."
Gout: What Can I Do to Help Myself - "Drink lots of water – between 1.5 and 2.5 litres a day (six to eight glasses) to help prevent kidney stones."
Water does a marvelous job of washing away the uric acid in your body, stopping it from forming into crystals that cause the horrid pain. It should be your first line of defense against the feelings of pain, defenselessness, and fear of walking that can plague gout sufferers. (In my opinion, Allopurinol with a big glass of water is your second one-after you are well committed to drinking the water.)
My personal goal of water consumption everyday is 3 liters. I feel like a 50% bump on the always quoted 8 glasses a day aka 2 liters gives an extra oomph to wash out uric acid. Oh-and I should add-coffee seems to assist in lowering uric acid levels (According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health). If that link wasn't fun to read you can see some of the same basic information in laymen's terms from MedPage Today. According to that link tea didn't really have any effect on your uric acid levels, though as long as it doesn't seem to affect you I use it once in awhile to substitute a few mL to get up to my 3 liters for a day.
Of course there is a study out from Medicinenet and the American College of Rheumatology that basically contradicts that other article. If you've read some of my other entries you know: gout is tricky and seemingly different people get attacks from different triggers.
If you're looking to increase or track your water consumption, might I recommend Argus to you.
If you're looking to increase or track your water consumption, might I recommend Argus to you.
For me personally: getting the heavy dose of daily liquids is far more of a help, the only major drawback is I have 5-6 trips to the restroom everyday. As I recall in the beginning I would wake up once or twice in the middle of the night to empty my bladder as well.
Do you find coffee helps or trigger a gout attack? How much water do you drink in a day? If you drink as much or more than me you must go for a leak quite a bit! Leave me a comment!
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