Gout

[Adam]

I had my first attack back in the fall of 2007, went to the doctor after a couple of days of being crippled. I laughed in a co-worker's face when she suggested it might be gout; I thought I'd broken my toe somehow.
I had to go back and tell her she was right.

I've had about three or four attacks since then, and have learned to recognize the symptoms before they get too bad. I'm a steak guy, so I have to be careful not to eat it too often. My attacks have been brought on by physical trauma to the foot, though. Sudden sprints for example.

The other thing is, and this is going to sound crazy to some of you but it works like medicine for me. If I feel the symptoms coming, I eat dark cherries and it works in the same time frame as the medicine I was prescribed on my first attack.

A year and a half ago we were in CA and I had an attack the day we went to Disneyland. We stopped and bought some dark cherries on the way into DL and I ate about half a pound of them. By mid-afternoon, after having walked for a few hours, I was fine. As I noted though, I've learned to recognize the stiffness that hits the night before, and if I have a couple servings of cherries I have avoided the attacks.