This post is for all my goutish homies out there who need to read about potential treatment.
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Ho there. Day 85 of not drinking. Also Day 85 of Serious Gout Battles. My last official "flare" was 4 April 2020 or so, and while it didn't reach the incredible heights of March 2020, it hurt enough to where I couldn't easily go up and down tiny wooden Dutch stairs and i started taking colchicine for a couple of weeks.
A word about colchicine: I think my next gout flare would have to be more than medium-bad before I ever take it again. It is such murder on your stomach and bowels and general mobility that it's really only worth taking if you're in unbearable pain. I didn't realize the mobility effects (overall muscle pain, stiffness, fatigue) the first time I took it because my foot was unusable and I was just basically in bed for two weeks, couldn't walk, stand, etc anyway. The pain did kind of go away relatively quickly after I started colchicine, I want to say three or four days.
This was all a bit confused by the fact that, on the day I went to see my doctor to get the colchicine prescription, I hurt my back trying to protect my foot, and ended up in bed for another week. So I just felt shitty and immobile anyway and assumed it was the gout that was causing it.
So this 4 April flareup, I felt equally immobile while taking colchicine and I wasn't until I stopped taking it and a few days later I felt "OK" again that I truly realized how bad it was making me feel. I say I felt "OK" again, but I mean, you know, 50 years old instead of 80: I really had a difficult time getting out of bed or standing up from a sitting position while I was taking it.
So for the next flare, which I sincerely hope never happens, but you know: I'm just going to try and hydrate my way out of it and see what happens. Right now I'm drinking 2 liters of water a day, I should be drinking 3, but 2 is really plenty challenging enough.
Since I've stopped drinking alcohol I'm able to drink more coffee every day, which is supposed to be productive for gout/uric acid trouble. I have two cups of black coffee in the morning and one in the afternoon, would love to be able to sneak another one in there but we'll see. I already pee 59 times a day.
And: the real reason I'm here today blogging: nutrition. I guess it's time to get serious about this, so I will use the shame of public ("public") failure as a deterrent.
BREAKFAST
Two cups black coffee (0kcal)
Two whole wheat tortillas (240kcal)
1/2 avocado (130kcal)
1 tbsp (40g) esfenaj (60kcal)
1 liter water with pure cherry juice
Esfenaj: https://beaufood.nl/esfenaj/
SNACK
1/2 avocado (130kcal)
20g potato chips (125 kcal, OK, yes, no need to comment)
500ml water with pure cherry juice
POSSIBLE DINNER
1 whole wheat tortilla (120kcal)
1 tbsp chipotle hummus (60kcal)
1/2 avocado (130kcal)
1 handful spinach (10kcal)
500ml water with pure cherry juice
ACTUAL DINNER
3 small potatoes (300kcal)
2 tbsp ketchup (25kcal)
SNACK
50g coconut yogurt (70kcal)
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Homemade Pesto
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A vibrant homemade pesto recipe taught to me by my friend Francesca's
mother who came to visit from Genoa, Italy. This is how to make pesto like
an Itali...
21 hours ago
