Google "purines". Found in all foods, purines metabolize into uric acid. Animal based purines have a higher probability of causing gout, but vegetable based purines can do that job, too. Not all vegetables are equal in purine content. Legumes, like lentils, are higher in purines. So if your family vegetarians are feasting on legumes, they are feasting on gout food!
Uric acid is the end product of nitrogen metabolism. Most nitrogen is ingested in the form of protein (purines, the building blocks of nucleic acids, have nitrogen as well). Vegetarians tend to have a protein-poor diet compared to those who eat meat, which is chock full of the stuff. Most Americans consume quite a bit of excess protein.
Some people have naturally high uric acid levels in the blood. I am one of them, I am on allopurinol too. If you have high uric acid levels in your blood, welcome to the club!
As do I. Allopurinol inhibits Xanthine Oxidase, the enzyme that carries out the last step of uric acid biosynthesis. You secrete xanthine instead, which is in no way bad for you. It is supposed to lower your serum levels of Uric Acid, though today, after being woken up at 3:30 am by searing pain despite the vicodin, I have my doubts. There are some newer drugs on the market, but I won't try anything that hasn't been out 7 years. Google Vioxx.
Alcohol gives the kidneys a job to do and while doing that, it seems they neglect reducing uric acid. So your drinking isn't helping. Of note here, carbonated beverages seem to exacerbate the situation, too. So beer is not a good thing for a person with high uric acid levels. My last two attacks of gout have been after two beers each time... then ouch!
I suspect the situation is somewhat more nuanced than you describe. What brings on my own attacks is mysterious at best. Yes, I had a martini the night before. But I had two or three beers a couple nights before that. I assume it's some degree of systematic exhaustion (depressing the immune system) coupled with some sort of trigger. Hard to know what brings it on. I always drink copious quantities of liquid to stave off both gout, and its big brother (which also runs in families including mine), Kidney stones.
Google "purines". Found in all foods, purines metabolize into uric acid. Animal based purines have a higher probability of causing gout, but vegetable based purines can do that job, too. Not all vegetables are equal in purine content. Legumes, like lentils, are higher in purines. So if your family vegetarians are feasting on legumes, they are feasting on gout food!
Uric acid is the end product of nitrogen metabolism. Most nitrogen is ingested in the form of protein (purines, the building blocks of nucleic acids, have nitrogen as well). Vegetarians tend to have a protein-poor diet compared to those who eat meat, which is chock full of the stuff. Most Americans consume quite a bit of excess protein.
Some people have naturally high uric acid levels in the blood. I am one of them, I am on allopurinol too. If you have high uric acid levels in your blood, welcome to the club!
As do I. Allopurinol inhibits Xanthine Oxidase, the enzyme that carries out the last step of uric acid biosynthesis. You secrete xanthine instead, which is in no way bad for you. It is supposed to lower your serum levels of Uric Acid, though today, after being woken up at 3:30 am by searing pain despite the vicodin, I have my doubts. There are some newer drugs on the market, but I won't try anything that hasn't been out 7 years. Google Vioxx.
I can feel the attacks coming on, and take action to prevent it from becoming debilitating. Once that happened when I was at Oshkosh. A few beers with my host the night before, then all day sweating at the airshow - I wasn't drinking enough water. You have to pee the uric acid out, sweating it out doesn't help! So I flooded my system with water, cut out all booze and soda (and those delicious Wisconsin micro-brews), and managed to hobble through Airventure without too much pain.
Sorry, buddy, from someone who has been there too. Feel better
-Skip
Thank you very much, and thanks to all who have sent well wishes. And of course, best of luck to you as well. I wouldn't even wish this on someone I didn't like.
