Suggest Treatment For Gout, Back Pain And High Cholesterol Levels

Posted on Tue, 2 Jun 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 2 Jun 2015 Answered on

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I believe my 85-year-old mother-in-law may have Gout. She has Alzheimer's also and has been told that she has large kidney stones that are still attached to the kidneys and occasionally give her pain in her back. Most recently in about a week ago she said her big toe was swollen ,red and in excruciating pain. Like four hours later when I called to check on her she said it was gone. I want to say maybe four days later it was back and it was worse. It stayed almost 2days this time. She has a doctors appt on Thursday. She has always eaten very healthy until she developed Alzheimer's. Now she eats hamburgers whenever she can. And since she can't cook anymore my father-in-law takes her for Chinese once a week and they eat the leftovers for like three days. She also has high cholesterol and is under medication for that and she takes Coumadin for her history of blood clots.Does that sound like gout and what can she do short of changing her diet?

Answered by Dr. Prakash H Muddegowda (-4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Uric acid reducing medication will help.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for asking.
I am Dr. Prakash HM and I will be answering your query.
Based on your query, my opinion is as follows:

1. Yes, the symptoms sounds like Gout. Renal stones and first toe involvement strongly suggests gout. However the possibility can be confirmed only when she is physically examined and investigated. It would be worthwhile to check her serum uric acid level.

2. When pain is present, naproxen 500 mg twice daily will help.

3. Allopurinol can be started for now to reduce amount of uric acid after diagnosis is established.

4. Also avoiding alcohol (if any), plenty of water and less amount of meat will be helpful.

Hope it helps.
Any further queries, here to help again.

Dr. Prakash HM

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad