Gout at WDW

[Jonell]

My DH seems to have a gout flare-up in his feet every time we visit WDW. This results in him having to rent an ECV and be in pain during the trip. He wants to avoid an ECV if possible during our June/July trip due to the crowds. He's on 3 different types of medications for gout including a med just for flare-ups. I bought him a super comfy pair of Sketchers Go-Walks shoes to wear. Does anyone else have this issue and any tips on how to deal with it while at WDW? THANKS!

 

[Heluvsme]

My FIL swears by cherry juice. It can stop a flare up in a matter of hours. It's tart, it's concentrated, and it really works.

 

[Kay1]

If worse comes to worst, maybe a regular wheelchair would be easier to maneuver through crowds and he wouldn't have to use it all the time - just during pain flare-ups.

I hope he feels well at Disney.

 

[Skywise]

Gout attacks tend to be caused by large changes in uric acid levels in the blood which can happen practically with any change in physical activity or diet... I don't know WHY that would happen in WDW

The worst part of the gout attack isn't the attack itself so much as the body's response to it as it attacks the crystal, fails spectacularly and then throws more antibodies at it and that's what causes all the swelling. The trick to getting a "quick" attack is to minimize the body's response.

If your husband isn't already taking NSAIDs or anti-inflammatories regularly (like indomethacin and advil) and its okay for him to have them, have him start taking something like advil regularly the day the trip starts. This will minimize your body's response and keep the swelling down or may cause it to "ignore" the uric acid crystal altogether. (Cherry juice is a natural anti-inflammatory and is believed to work for gout on a similar principle. But I've never had good success with it)

Drink LOTS AND LOTS of water. It's very easy to get dehydrated in the Florida sun and that will up the concentration of uric acid in the blood (which is a change in uric acid levels and that can cause a crystal to form.)

One thing I'm experimenting with right now is megadoses of vitamin C. Atkins (of Atkins diet fame) thought 8000mg/day was a good treatment for gout when people were on his diet (some studies have shown that large doses decrease uric acid in the blood) I don't do quite that much but take 2000mg in chewables once at breakfast and once at dinner and seem to have dodged some attacks. (I am not a doctor, consult your physician/pharmacist for actual advice and drug interactions, blah blah blah...)

One last thing - I "play it safe" on my trips at the beginning and then go hog wild on the last day or two. It usually takes about 24 hours for a gout attack to show up so I figure if I'm going to get one, I'll get it for the plane ride home!

Good luck!

 

[Jonell]

Thanks Guys I had no ideal about Cherry Juice. Also, he tends to start the indomethacin when the flare-up starts. I will tell him to start it before the trip.

 

[Jedana]

My FIL swears by cherry juice. It can stop a flare up in a matter of hours. It's tart, it's concentrated, and it really works.

seconding black cherry juice. DH used to have gout and it worked.

But it's kinda slimy. They also sell black cherry pills (at a place like GNC) that work about as well.

 

[anonymousegirl]

I would definitely ask his doctor for his recommendations. I know nothing about gout, but I do know that home remedies sometimes conflict with meds. So please check with his doctor!

 

[DvcDoc]

I take Allopurinol to treat my gout prophylacticly, and Colcrys if I have a flare up. The Aoolpurinol seems to keep it under control 99.8% of the time. If I feel an attack coming on, I start the Colcrys every 4 hours to kill it. So far that has worked for me. I've also not had luck with the cherry juice, but I've heard of folks that have.

 

[Skywise]

I would definitely ask his doctor for his recommendations. I know nothing about gout, but I do know that home remedies sometimes conflict with meds. So please check with his doctor!

Seconded on this.