After the blood-letting, the medicine man read the signs and then turned to young Ricademus with an ominous prediction for his future--crystals will grow and you will know great pain.
Some of you may remember the story of the near-deadly kiss I received when I was 14. The resulting illness and blood work revealed I had extremely high uric acid levels. It was not due to diet, it was just my genes. The doctor explained that uric acid causes gout and I would likely have attacks unless I was extremely careful.
I was a kid and didn't give it much thought. Well, that's not completely true. When a future girl friend's mother tried to nag me into eating things I didn't like (liver, nasty gravies, etc.), I would smile and say I wished I could, but it would give me gout. It was fun to watch her reaction. She didn't know what to say--who ever heard a 15 year-old kid talk about getting gout???
Too few years later I limped around with what I (and my doctor) thought was a sprained ankle. I thought I hurt it playing soccer. Eventually we figured it out it was gout. I'd gotten a little dehydrated, which elevated my uric acid levels and allowed gout crystals (little shards of glass) to form in the ankle--which was weird, because gout normally targets the big toe. I resolved to drink lots of water (rather than take a pill every day for the rest of my life) to keep that from happening again.
It worked well.
Then in August I had a kidney stone. In October I hurt my knee. At the start of January my elbow started to hurt (a LOT). After another misdiagnosis, I remembered uric acid and asked my doctor if it could have caused each of those problems. It did. Drinking a lot of water is no longer enough. I have to start taking a prescription every day to keep my uric acid level in check. I have no problem taking pills, but I don't like that this is forever. I hope I remember.
If you take a daily pill, do you have a routine that helps you remember? Do you keep the bottle next to your tooth brush? In the kitchen? With your secret stash of chocolate???
If you are supposed to take something daily, I hope you remember it every day so you receive the full benefit. Take care of yourselves!!!
hheheheh... gout:)
ReplyDeleteRick, I'm so bad of daily pill. thats why I can't take 'pills' as our contraceptive coz surely i will get pregnant in no time. And even the daily vitamin of my children I always forgot:) nurse think i'm a caeless mom...hehe
i'm the worst when it comes to taking daily medication. cant think of any way to help one to remember. i've tried sticking them on the mirror with duct tape because ye know, everyone looks into the mirror at least once a day, everyday. but it so happen that (i) duct tape is really an a*shole. (ii) i said A Mirror, it happened to be the side mirror of my car WHAHAHAHA.
ReplyDeleteso yeah..... i'm sure iPhone/android phones have at least an app for that. hmmm.
my coworker has gout and he swears its the most painful thing ever and dangerous for him too since he gets it unexpectedly as well and sometimes he'll be driving when it decides to act up. i'm so bad when it comes to medications but i'm glad that i can remember to take my medication for my depression every night. if it wasn't for my boyfriend setting a schedule for me that he knows both he and i will remember i probably would forget each and every time.
ReplyDeletei do hope that your gout doesn't act up so much. i'm sure it's a very unpleasant experience. i'm actually dealing with body spasms due to my low potassium levels and when it happens it's unbearable.
Nice to see you back at blogging Rick! Sorry to hear about the daily medicine routine you are now on though. Alexandra takes a med every 12 hours of her life. I think it just gets to be second nature after awhile. Here is the strange thing - the med she takes has a side effect of causing gout.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what gout is but it sounds all kinds of NO FUN. Sorry to hear about the daily pill. Perhaps set a daily reminder on your phone?
ReplyDeleteOh wow Ric! I hate taking prescription medication as well, I have excess acidic production in my stomach and have to take the prescription form of Nexium. I remember to take it each a.m. when I brush my teeth, this works on Mon-Fri as I wake up later on Saturday and have a tendency to forget taking it!
ReplyDeleteAww hope you're OK! I had to take something every day before. I just programmed a reminder on my phone.:)
ReplyDeleteRick!! I'm so happy to hear from you again! I was about to email you and just ask how you are doing! Oh no, gout at your young age is not fair, I always thought it was an illness of "older" people... I have light low blood pressure but luckily I don't have to take any medication!
ReplyDeleteI'm so bad when it comes to taking pills, unless I'm not in pain or something I really like to push that behind my mind. Hmmm, maybe you could place a piece of paper on the door or someplace you often pass in your house, so you could see that and it reminds you of taking the pills. Like a "Have you taken your pills?" poster on the enrance door, so you see that whenever you leave the house? XD
I really hope you're doing okay! Thx for always poking me at fb, and that I'm so bad with replying, haha!
I don't need to take anything daily, but I do make it a habit to pop my Omega-3 tablets. It's easy for me coz my dad puts a huge bottle of it on the dining table so no one can ever miss it, lol.
ReplyDeleteI take birth control, and if I don't take it it might be as bad as kidney stone and it lasts forever too (ya know, cuz you can't exactly refund babies), so I put it by my night stand and I always see it before I go to bed! good luck Rick!
ReplyDeleteDangit ! That sucks. I keep my perscriptions by my toothbrush. I forget sometimes, sometimes im just lazy but at least i always see the bottle and it reminds me to take my meds.
ReplyDeleteAww Rick I wish you do remember to take your meds everyday! I don't have a daily medication (I don't even take vitamins) so I don't know what to advise you.. Although I read somewhere before that if you keep doing something for at least 14 days then it already becomes a habit sooo stick around for that 14 days! Good luck! :)
ReplyDeleteAww take care of yourself, too, Rick! I just try to take it the same time every day. Sometimes I do forget haha. Putting it in your phone or planner or whatever it is you use everyday is good, too.
ReplyDeleteThat prophet should not be allowed to be around kids. "GREAT PAIN!!!???" What a way to ruin a kid's childhood. Haha. Good thing it didn't upset you then :)
ReplyDeleteon not forgetting, hmm..I think the toothbrush strategy would do the trick :)
Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that you have to take daily medication for controlling your level of uric acid. I'm bad at remembering to consume things daily. All my pills and supplement always have got leftovers coz I simply forget about them completely after a while even though they're just on my desk. So I can't help you on this.
ReplyDeleteI actually had to google gout to know about the crystallizing and how painful it is so I really really pray that your pain be alleviated soon.