1. Cranberry juice is good for the kidneys not gout; 2. Even if it is good for gout it tastes worse than what you're trying to cure.
#2 is your opinion, which is fine. But I doubt it's worse than his painful gout attack. https://www.livestrong.com/article/478059-can-drinking-cranberry-juice-bring-on-a-gout-attack/
I still recommend a rheumatologist. He might even have a kidney problem since the kidney removes uric acid.
I recommend losing weight, if overweight, and staying away from foods high in purines. The question was what to do about an active gout attack. Pain killers and anti-inflammatory medications, as was suggested by El Presidente, and cranberry juice are things he can do for immediate relief.
There is no more immediate relief than having a rheumatologist withdraw uric acid from the inflamed area. Other remedies seem to help according to many witnesses in here.
He's likely to get a rheumatologist appointment a few weeks from now, if he calls today. So, no immediate relief. I've been seeing one for the past ~3 years and went through that with 2 of them.
Not true. They see people quickly with immediate and serious problems. I don't know which ones you saw but mine saw me swiftly. I could barely walk.
My first appointment took 3+ weeks. I called and they wouldn't even make the appointment. They wanted to call me back to assure I was really in need and someone they wanted to see. I suffer from Lupus. Before it was diagnosed, I was in a 4 month flare that made it too painful to move, and even more painful to not move. The 3+ weeks was a rush appointment. They initially wanted to give me an appointment several months out. This was in San Diego, not some rural small town. https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/the-waiting-game/ Living with rheumatoid arthritis often means spending a lot of time waiting. This can begin even before diagnosis, as there are frequently long waiting periods for new patient appointments with a rheumatologist. As there is a national shortage of rheumatologists1, it is not uncommon to have to wait six months for a first appointment.
Live in Vegas or I'd be good. Sister is director of nurses or some such shit and my brother works in a medical lab. Both in Portland.
No wonder that! Other doctors too. Who the hell want to go into that business with the government running every facet of your practice and your compensation? At the VA, I get a new provider every visit. Damn near all immigrants. There probably is a reason for this trend.
I go to the VA about four times a week and I almost always get the same provider. I've been to virtually every department the Portland VA hospital has in the 49 years I've been going there. By the way, the Portland hospital has improved in their delivery of service dramatically in every department except the sleep lab in those 49 years. Seems to get better and better under every President although the VA transportation services has gotten a tad worse under Trump. Oh yeah, they're losing personnel in the Dental department so things are slightly worse there. Primary care, Cardiology, Imaging, Specialty clinics, Prosthetics, Hospitalization, Pharmacy and Ophthalmology are a great deal better. The cafe, mental health and sleep lab seem unchanged. Also, the new building the hospital is in is a great deal better than the old one. As a side note, I once had a lead engineer who did the electrical design for the new hospital building. The clinic my brother use to use at Camp Rilea seems unchanged. To all you Veterans out there, flue and pneumonia shots are free for you at the VA as is a VA ID card.
I go about twice a year to the clinic in North Bend. I have not had the same provider since they move the clinic to North Bend from Bandon in 2009. For anything more than prescriptions and blood test, it over the hill to Roseburg or Eugene for cardiologist.
The best Cardiologists and the best Ophthalmologists are in Portland at the VA hospital. I've had two heart surgeries and numerous tests, some of them very involved. I've also had well over 200 visits to the Ophthalmologists including three eye surgeries. We lost one of our best Cardiologists who went to Denver to do heart transplants. We also lost our best cornea specialist who went into private practice. All of our Ophthalmologists come over from the Casey Eye Institute which is renowned for their excellence.
