OT 55 cc of fluid drained from left knee this morning and 45 from right

Yes! With water.

 

Sounds like gout. They've drawn fluid off me and it was gout. I know take allepuranol (sp?).

 

Honk twice

 

I struggled with gout in toes for a few years, I thought it was arthritis from pitching fast pitch softball for many years as I would always put a lot of pressure on right toe on my throwing jump.
Finally went to the doc took blood test, found out it was gout and not arthritis, put me on allopurinol and haven't had a bout in 6 years. The med keeps the UA level down.

 

Exactly correct.

 

I'm guessing torn cartilage. I have two cartilage tears in my left knee that I need to get fixed. Any time I try to run it balloons up.

 

I've had torn cartilage that's gotten worse for the last 65 years and no fluid. Docs said I should have my knee rebuilt but they can't do it because of other medical problems. No fluid build up. Just the gout.

By the way, I spend all day yesterday at the hospital because after my last procedure I started bleeding all over the place and they had to stop the bleeding. That's like the seventh time that's happened in the last four years.

Life sucks, and then you die.

 

Sorry to hear about your knees, buddy. Hopefully they are better over time. It may be time to think about changing your diet.

 

Depending on the severity from one person to another, some gout can also be controlled with dietary changes, such as drinking more water, eating less meat, and exercise.

 

That's what I'd been doing last few years and hadn't had a problem. Weather changed and stopped drinking enough water.

Barely eat red meat at all. Chicken and turkey burger. My wife ordered some wine from Washington and I was drinking too. Not even to get a buzz. Just like it. All those at once and whammo.

 

Oh yeah. The years in my 30s of being 400 plus lbs put a terrible strain on my knees. Went from 467 to 317 or so. Back up to 324 after three years. Will go for 275 by summer. 240 by first of 2020

 

Yeah, water is a huge help for gout and ulcers. Several men in my family have those issues.

It sounds like you are doing the right things other than drinking enough water. However, that isn't hard to do once you're acclimated to it.

 

You'll get there.

 

Chicken and turkey burger? Might as well shoot yourself in the head.

 

For whatever it is worth..........I suffered from terrible (debilitating) gout attacks for close to 16 years. My diet seemed to make no difference. I refused to go on allopurinol most of that time because (at the beginning of the issue) my doctor misunderstood how it should be used. He only prescribed it during an attack, which exacerbated the problem exponentially. Finally, his partner convinced me to “titrate” myself onto it when I wasn’t having an attack and I have been pretty much gout free (1 or 2 very minor attacks early on in the process) for 7 years. So I’m a believer. I might also suggest that if you are on any blood pressure medicine that has ANY hydrochlorothiozide in it, to talk to your doctor about switching meds. HCTZ is a known gout instigator.

I also have arthritis in both knees, but it’s especially bad in the left knee. Compounding the problem in that knee are two torn meniscus’s. The orthopedist refused to do arthroscopic surgery because he said it wouldn’t help and that the only “real” solution was a knee replacement, which I was nowhere near needing. His suggestion was to lose weight and strengthen my quadriceps. And he was absolutely correct. I spent a year riding my elliptical exercise bike (until my back could no longer handle it) and have changed my diet. I still get some knee pain (meniscus related) if I overdo the walking but the arthritis is currently at bay. A big help was eliminating virtually all refined sugars and reducing my carbohydrates (complex or otherwise) by roughly 80% (which helped to quickly trim 25 pounds). On the rare occasions I drink alcohol anymore I can pretty much be sure my joints will ache the next day. So diet can and does have an effect, especially as we get older. It sounds like you are on the right track as far as losing weight goes. I think your knees will improve (and love you) because of that. But I strongly suggest you also get on allopurinol and be done with it. It’s cheap and effective. I just thank God for legal weed and the benefits of CBD. That and the changes I’ve made have certainly improved the physical quality of my life.

P.S. I’ve had gout in my toes, ankles and wrist but never in my knees. But the knee is a joint so gout is always a distinct possibility.

 

Could be worse. I'm to blame for some of it myself too.

My uncle damn near took his leg off at the shin when a chainsaw kicked.

The docs saved it...this would have been mid 80s. It gave him constant agony until the day he died a few years back. He was addicted to painkillers and took more and more as they worked less and less.

He begged his doctors to take it off below the knee but they wouldn't because it was a "viable limb" or some such nonsense.


I offered to build him the mini guillotine I mentioned earlier. Get passed out drunk and have someone sober to throw the leg in the fire so they couldn't reattach it.

 

I read sometimes people get it in the shoulder and it is agony.....might try heroin at that point.