"public" victory.

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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