How To Tell Gout From Arthritis

Signs And Symptoms Of Rheumatoid Arthritis And Gout

Common signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis include:

• Joint pain, tenderness, swelling, or stiffness experienced for at least six weeks
• Morning stiffness lasting for at least 30 minutes or more
• More than one joint affected by swelling, stiffness, or pain
• Symptoms experienced in small joints, such as in the hands or feet
• Same joints on either side of the body affected
• Dryness and pain in the eyes along with sensitivity to light
• Dryness and gum irritation in the mouth
• Small lumps under the skin
• Shortness of breath and scarring of the lungs
• Inflammation of blood vessels

Common signs and symptoms of gout are:

• Intense joint pain, especially in the large toe
• Lingering discomfort even after the intense pain has subsided
• Inflammation and redness of the affected joint
• Limited range of motion

If a fever develops or the joint feels hot to touch, see your doctor right away. Gout can be successfully managed as long as your doctor is aware of your condition.

Why Do Gout Attacks Happen More At Night

Gout attacks happen more at night and in the early morning rather than during the day. You may have an attack start during your sleep. The reasons this happens are not entirely known, but some of the leading ideas are dehydration, lower body temperature, and changes in hormone levels during sleep. Talk to your doctor about ways to prevent gout attacks during your sleep.

Nsaid Gels Drops Or Patches Are Good Options

When you use a topical it gets absorbed through the skin so it has to penetrate far to get to the cartilage, says Dr. Colvin. Topicals may not help as much as oral NSAIDs, but theyre good for people who dont want to take a pill, and they have fewer side effects like gastrointestinal bleeding. And research shows they can help: In one study, when people with osteoarthritis used NSAID gels, drops, or patches, half said their pain fell by 50 per cent or more over 12 weeks.

Looking for other ways to lessen joint aches? Avoid eating these foods that can trigger arthritis flares.

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You Probably Need More Vitamin D

People with low levels of vitamin D are at a higher risk for autoimmune diseases, though Dr. Blum notes that low D isnt the sole trigger for arthritis. Still, it could be one piece of the puzzle and could help explains why researchers have found that people with low blood levels of vitamin D, which boosts immune function, are at higher risk for RA. One great free source of vitamin D: sunshine.

Here are the sure signs youre not getting enough vitamin D.

Can Gout Be Prevented

The good news is that gout can be prevented. The goal of treatment is to lower uric acid levels to a level that prevents gout attacks. Your uric acid level can be checked with a blood test. For most people with gout, the target uric acid level you are aiming to achieve with treatment is:

Less than 0.36 millimoles per litre :

For some people with more severe gout, the target uric acid level will be less than 0.30 millimoles per litre . Talk to your doctor about treatments that can help you reach your target uric acid level, including:

Medicines: There are medicines that can lower uric acid levels in your blood. These medicines need to be taken every day, whether you are having an attack or not.

Alcohol: Cut down the amount of alcohol you drink and avoid drinking a lot of alcohol at one time . Talk to your doctor or visit www.alcohol.gov.au for Australian Government guidelines on recommended alcohol intake.

Weight loss: If you are overweight, lose weight gradually. Make sure you have a healthy diet as crash or starvation diets can actually increase uric acid levels. See a dietitian for advice.

Purine-rich foods: There are many misconceptions about diet and gout. For example it is commonly thought that foods such as citrus foods cause gout. There is no evidence that this is true. However several studies have shown that people with gout are more likely to eat certain foods.

Read Also: Gout In My Big Toe Joint

How Is Gout Treated

Gout can be effectively treated and managed with medical treatment and self-management strategies. Your health care provider may recommend a medical treatment plan to

• Manage the pain of a flare. Treatment for flares consists of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs like ibuprofen, steroids, and the anti-inflammatory drug colchicine.
• Prevent future flares. Making changes to your diet and lifestyle, such as losing weight, limiting alcohol, eating less purine-rich food , may help prevent future attacks. Changing or stopping medications associated with hyperuricemia may also help.
• Prevent tophi and kidney stones from forming as a result of chronic high levels of uric acid. Tophi are hard, uric acid deposits under the skin. For people with frequent acute flares or chronic gout, doctors may recommend preventive therapy to lower uric acid levels in the blood using drugs like allopurinol, febuxostat, and pegloticase.

In addition to medical treatment, you can manage your gout with self-management strategies. Self-management is what you do day to day to manage your condition and stay healthy, like making healthy lifestyle choices. The self-management strategies described below are proven to reduce pain and disability, so you can pursue the activities important to you.

Time To Call The Doctor

A gout attack will usually go away in about 3 to 10 days. But you can feel better sooner if you treat it. To be sure that you have gout, see your doctor. Theyâll examine you, and they might do some tests.

These test help your doctor know if you have gout, or something else with similar symptoms:

• Joint fluid test. Fluid is taken from the painful joint with a needle. The fluid is studied under a microscope to see if the crystals are there.
• Blood test. A blood test can check the level of uric acid. A high level of uric acid doesnât always mean gout.
• X-ray. Images of the joints will help rule out other problems.
• Ultrasound. This painless test uses sound waves to look for areas of uric acid deposits.

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Gouty Arthritis: How To Make The Diagnosis

Malik, Schumacher, Dinnella, and Clayburne compared the sensitivity and specificity of the above criteria with synovial-fluid analysis.18 Results showed the following predictive values: Rome, 76.9% ACR, 65.6% and New York, 70.0%. There is little variation among the criteria, with sensitivity values ranging from 66.7% to 70.0% and specificity from 78.8% to 88.5%. False positives included 50% of patients with joint aspirates of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposition crystals, which indicates a disease known as pseudogout. Others had rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis. According to Malik et al., Unilateral first MTP pain or swelling, tophi reported, hyperuricemia, and response to colchicine within 48 hours had positive predictive values greater than 60%.18 While the criteria aid in diagnosis, positive criteria should not be considered diagnostic without joint-fluid analysis of the affected joint.

When Is Surgery Considered For Gout

The question of surgery for gout most commonly comes up when a patient has a large clump of urate crystals , which is causing problems. This may be if the tophus is on the bottom of the foot, and the person has difficulty walking on it, or on the side of the foot making it hard to wear shoes. An especially difficult problem is when the urate crystals inside the tophus break out to the skin surface. This then can allow bacteria a point of entry, which can lead to infection, which could even track back to the bone. Whenever possible, however, we try to avoid surgery to remove tophi. The problem is that the crystals are often extensive, and track back to the bone, so there is not a good healing surface once the tophus is removed. In some rare cases, such as when a tophus is infected or when its location is causing major disability, surgical removal may be considered.

Since it is hard to heal the skin after a tophus is removed, a skin graft may be needed. For this reason, we often try hard to manage the tophus medically. If we give high doses of medication to lower the urate level, such as allopurinol, over time the tophus will gradually reabsorb. In severe cases, we may consider using the intravenous medication pegloticase , since it lowers the urate level the most dramatically, and can lead to the fastest shrinkage of the tophus.

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Can You Remove Gout

It ought to be fairly noticeable why youd need to get gone gout, but is it feasible actually?

Sure is usually, but theres not a one-size matches all solution.

In the next section, well end up being going over whats worked ideal for us!

You wont want to lose out on this free video clip.

NOTICE: Id highly recommend going to your doctor or seeing a specialist about this situation, since we arent experts. See our medical disclaimer for more details.

We dont know what will work for you, but we know whats worked for us and others

Joint Pain And Stiffness

PsA and gout both cause red, hot, swollen joints. If you have acute gout, which is an episodic disease, the pain and stiffness is intermittent. It will last from one to two days to one to two weeks, with periods of no pain, says Dr. Singh.

Psoriatic arthritis, on the other hand, is associated with chronic progressive pain and swelling. Long-term untreated gout, however, can lead to chronic gout which is difficult to differentiate from PsA, adds Dr. Singh.

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Why The Hand Can Be Affected By Arthritis

The hand can develop arthritis because:

• It contains a lot of joints. The hand and wrist are formed by several and different bones that connect to create a joint.
• All the fingers have three joints except the thumb, which has two. One or more may be affected.
• Ligaments connect and offer the bones support. Tendons also are connective tissues that attach the muscles to bones for movement of the bones.

With hand arthritis, any of these vital parts may be affected additional to:

• The base of the thumb where it meets the wrist.
• Knuckles.
• The top finger joint that is closest to the nails.
• The middle joints of the fingers.
• Small bony nodules may form at the top of the fingers or on the middle joint of your fingers.

The Role Of Imaging Tests

Both RA and gout can cause joint erosion, so rheumatologists will order X-rays to look for this. X-rays can also detect the beginnings of tophi, but Dr. Portnoff says theyre not an essential part of the diagnostic process for gout because a patients clinical history, physical exam, and uric acid testing will identify gout.

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Treatment For Gout Vs Psoriatic Arthritis

If you have both PsA and gout, you will need to treat both conditions. There are separate medications to treat PsA and gout. In general, PsA is treated with medication that suppresses your immune system while gout requires treatment with medications that lower uric acid in the blood and controls gout flares, says Dr. Singh.

For gout patients: The goal of gout treatment is to first reduce the inflammation causing flare-ups by using such medications as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs , corticosteroids , and oral colchicine. Once an acute gout flare is under control, your doctor may prescribe medication to control your uric acid levels, including xanthine oxidase inhibitors , uricosuric agents, and enzymes that break down uric acid.

If there is suspicion that a patient has both gout and PsA, sometimes treating the more acute symptoms of gout first allows for more clear assessment of other arthritis involvement, and the need for additional treatment for psoriatic arthritis, says Dr. Kohler.

For psoriatic arthritis patients: There are many drugs available to treat PsA. The ones your health care provider recommends will depend on your most troublesome PsA symptoms. Treatments and medications for psoriatic arthritis include:

Because both gout and PsA have risk factors related to your lifestyle and diet, patients with PsA and gout can benefit from adopting healthy habits, including:

Gluten Dairy Soy And Corn Can Also Trigger Inflammation

Dr. Blum notes that these foods can irritate and even damage the gut for some people, triggering body-wide inflammation. In people with arthritis, the gut is damaged, so eating foods we know are hard on the gut can make things worse, she says. Her suggestion: Cut these foods out completely for three to four weeks, then gradually reintroduce them to see whether your symptoms worsen when you have them.

Our experts answer once and for all: is milk actually good for you?

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Another Option: Drugs Engineered From Human Genes

A class of medications called biologicsdrugs such as etanercept , golimumab , and adalimumab are engineered from human genes and are usually an option if you havent responded to DMARDs. They work by targeting specific parts of the inflammation process rather than suppressing the immune system in general , so they tend to have fewer side effects. One inflammatory target they zero in on is TNF or tumour necrosis factor, a chemical your body makes that drives the inflammation process in RA, says Dr. Marchetta. Unfortunately, biologic drugs are also more expensive than traditional medications.

How Will Gout Affect Me

Attacks can vary from person to person. Some people only have an attack every few years, while others have attacks every few months.

Without medication attacks tend to happen more often and other joints can become affected.

Having high urate levels and gout for a long time can lead to other health problems, including:

• narrowing of the arteries – which can lead to an increased risk of stroke or heart attacks or other heart problems
• osteoarthritis, which occurs when the urate crystals and hard tophi cause joint damage.
• an increased risk of developing kidney disease or worsening of the condition if you already have it
• kidney stones
• an increased risk of some cancers, especially prostate cancer
• mental health problems, including depression
• underactive thyroid
• erectile dysfunction in men.

If you take medication to lower your urate levels, and have a healthy diet and lifestyle, most of the damage and complications caused by gout can be stopped.

Treatments for gout are incredibly successful. There are two main parts to treating gout, which are:

• treating the acute attack
• treatments to prevent future attacks.

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One Size Wont Fit All

A drug may stop working after several years. Some people have to try several before they find the one that works best, says David Daikh, MD, PhD, director of the rheumatology fellowship program at UCSF. We dont know why some medications stop working, says Dr. Marchetta. Theres just an individual variation of response.

Now Its Your Turn To Understand What Is The Difference Between Gout And Cellulitis

Theres today a large number of us who no longer undergo gout because we tackled it at its cause. Of simply trying out the symptoms Alternatively.

Im one of them.

Remember, I got gout for exactly the same factors you own it today.

An unsafe gut microbiome recommended that bacteria that should have been getting rid of another of my bodys uric acid just wasnt.

That bacteria got diminished to the point that my kidneys were trying to deal with the acid on their own.

And they couldnt cope.

Nor can yours.

It wasnt that I was suddenly generating an excessive amount of uric acid. Its that my gut has been no able to help my kidneys remove it from my own body more lengthy.

Plus the transformation from gout to no gout nearly believed as promised.

You can possibly imagine it yourself.. what it would be like to simply never have any gout ever again.

Take my word for it, its wonderful!

No flare-ups, no pain, no being laid-up in bed for days waiting for the pain to subside.

No wanting to know if some potential event will be messed up because Im laid up in agony with another strike.

Just as pleasing is the fact Ive in addition substantially decreased my hazards of troubled diabetes, kidney failure, heart disease and some cancers.

Shellys program lays it all out for us. No special knowledge is required. I found it easy.

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Tomatoes Can Be A Trigger Food

Tomatoes, which can increase uric acid levels, could be a gout trigger for some people, a study from 2015 found. They were the fourth most common food trigger after seafood, alcohol, and red meat. Another theory why they can be irritating: Tomatoes are high in lectins, compounds that can irritate the gut and raise inflammation, says Dr. Blum.

You might also want to avoid these surprisingly unhealthy foods.

Maintaining A Healthy Weight

To prevent development, you will need to focus on losing weight if you are obese or overweight.

Eating a healthy diet is critical when it comes to preventing arthritis. Anti-oxidants, plant-based and anti-inflammatory foods go a long way. You must also keep away from added sugars and unhealthy fats. These can contribute to being overweight and can also worsen inflammation. Staying away from such foods can prevent several forms of arthritis.

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What Are The Symptoms Of Gout

The most common symptom of gout is pain in the affected joint, such as the big toe. Gout flares often start suddenly at night, and the intense pain may wake you up. In addition, your joint may feel swollen, red, warm, and stiff.

Gout flares usually occur in one joint. They can be triggered by:

• Certain foods.
• Physical trauma.
• Certain illnesses.

Flares typically get better over a week or two. In between flares, you usually dont have symptoms. Some people may have frequent flares, while others may not have another flare for years. However, over time, if left untreated, your flares may last longer and happen more often.

Some people with gout may be more likely to develop other conditions or complications, especially with the heart and kidneys.