Any other beyonders have any common diseases?

[nzwasp]

About a year ago I was diagnosed with some strange disease (only discovered in the last 15 years) and now I have to take a 20mg pill every day to stop having problems when I'm eating certain foods.

About a year ago I started having a sore toe randomly - I thought it was my shoes so got some orthotics, well that didn't help - it wasn't extremely sore and I never thought gout because I didn't think it ran in my family - ended up having an xray yesterday and I find out on monday, talked to my parents and turns out both of my male grandparents had gout and they both had it in their toes.

I have a friend with gout and he seems to think you can eat whatever you want as long as you take the pills everyday...

[rage2]

Originally posted by nzwasp
I have a friend with gout and he seems to think you can eat whatever you want as long as you take the pills everyday...

This.

I had some huge gout attacks this year ever since I started working out again, gout runs in my family, and what do you know I inherited it. Now I'm on allopurinol daily.

Basically, normal person uric acid level is something like 120-240. If your body produces more uric acid or your kidneys can't flush it out fast enough, it'll be higher than normal. Eat a lot of foods that create uric acid, and it'll spike it up and you'll get an attack. Taking allopurinol lowers your normal within the 120-240 range so your diet doesn't change anything.

Fast weight loss will spike your levels as well (which is how I ended up with attacks after losing 25lbs in 2 months). Your tissues stores uric acid, when you lose weight, the concentration goes up, more acid goes into your blood, and attacks. Uric acid spikes from weight loss is typically short term until the concentration levels in your tissues stabilize after you stop losing weight.

The key to staying within 120-240 is to get on allopurinol and check your uric acid levels every 3-6 months. Some people need higher doses of allopurinol to get down to the 120-240 level. Standard doses for allopurinol is 200mg, some people (like my dad) needs 400mg to control uric acid levels. Once you're stable there, eat and do whatever the fuck you want, weight loss as much as you want, and it won't spike up enough for an attack.

There's a pretty decent book on the topic, including what drugs to take to manage attacks during the transition on allupurinol:

https://www.amazon.ca/Beating-Gout-S.../dp/0981662463

Unfortunately, I'm allergic to NSAID's, no Advil or Indomethacin. On Advil I get all rashy, and on Indo, my nervous system goes bonkers, and I get the most insane high ever, so it sucks that I have to use Colchicine for attacks. You have to be careful with Colchicine because you can only take so much per attack as high concentration becomes toxic and your body takes a long time to flush it out of your system, so for large # of attacks that's a bad idea. That and everyone gets the runs while taking Colchicine. These 2 reasons alone makes Indo the go to gout attack meds, as long as you're not allergic to it.

[mr2mike]

+1 for gout.

Mine is managable though.
Stay hydrated and don't drink beer and I'm good.
Also stress seems to be a huge determinant for an attack. Last 3 attacks have been after high stress life events.

[nzwasp]

My toe pain attacks don't last very long (but are very frequent) and are manageable I think unless I do something like kick a ball while I have toe pain then I get a very sharp pain for a while. It might not be gout but since it runs in my family and I have been eating alot of high carbs and sugar and high carb drinks for the last 8 years I wouldn't be surprised.

My toe is never so sore that I can't sleep for example - I always put this down as to why I wouldn't have it.

Originally posted by mr2mike
+1 for gout.

Mine is managable though.
Stay hydrated and don't drink beer and I'm good.
Also stress seems to be a huge determinant for an attack. Last 3 attacks have been after high stress life events.

Im allergic to barley - the main ingredient of beer so I cant drink it anyway, although due to the first problem I have I also am now finding I cant drink wine either.

[Kloubek]

Originally posted by rage2
Fast weight loss will spike your levels as well (which is how I ended up with attacks after losing 25lbs in 2 months).

Firstly, congrats on the weight loss.

I get gout as well. I try to curb the red meat and alcohol, and it has helped some.

The very first attack I had, my foot turned purple and literally swelled up 25% bigger than normal. The pain was the most I have ever felt from any extremity, and I've broken bones, cut myself to the bone, etc. I had no choice but to work, and it took me 20 minutes to walk 100 meters from the parking lot. Gout sucks.

The attacks since have hurt like heck, but nothing like that first time. Over the past year or two, my attacks are far reduced in severity, but on the other hand my big toes tend to be mildly sore almost all the time these days... whereas before they were only sore during an attack.

I also have chronic fatigue/excessive daytime sleepiness, chronic mild to moderate back pain, painful stomach acid issues, and depression. (The latter of which is treated, but at the same time doesn't allow me to have any natural "highs". Basically, if it wasn't for my son, life for me would be virtually meaningless)

And I'm 41. Life expectancy for males in Alberta is 79.

I don't see myself making it there.

[e31]

I have regular occurrences of night terrors. It begins with a cold sweat then progresses rapidly to manic kicking and screaming, followed up with symptoms of an actual fever.

The only cure i've found to this day... More Cowbell.

[revelations]

Not really a "disease" but I go through phases of restless leg (calf) syndrome.

Magnesium, Calcium and Potassium work wonders though. Switching to tea from coffee, more exercise and stretches seem to help.

[J.M.]

Gout runs in my family as well. My dad gets gout attacks in his feet and sometimes his knee. His brother gets them too. They both say it's brutal.

My dad took Indonethacin for years but eventually it stopped working for him and he's been on allopurinol since then.

[mr2mike]

Originally posted by revelations
Not really a "disease" but I go through phases of restless leg (calf) syndrome.

Magnesium, Calcium and Potassium work wonders though. Switching to tea from coffee, more exercise and stretches seem to help.

I was going to say, Calcium and Magnesium for this.


For Gout for OP. Make sure your water intake is up. Sounds like you can keep it at bay which is good, but keep hydration up.

[rage2]

Originally posted by J.M.
My Dad took Indonethacin for years but eventually it stopped working for him and he's been on allopurinol since then.

Yea, that book I posted talks about poor gout management, and it's the fault of doctors not knowing enough as to how to address it. Indo addresses the immediate symptoms, allopurinol fixes the core of the problem. Just taking Indo is a ridiculous way to treat gout.

[C_Dave45]

Serious Crohns and Colitis in my immediate family.
Horrible disease. Affects our everyday life.

[XylathaneGTR]

Mild-moderate Colitis here; under control with lots of remicade and methotrexate - haven't had a flareup in a few years and poopin' really nice. Hoping to try fecal transplants and shit once there's a bit more documented research and trialing behind it. For now, fingers crossed no cancer later, but that's future me's problem I suppose.

[dj_rice]

I developed some weird ass condition 3 years ago lately where in the winter time, if my face or skin is exposed to the extreme cold for short times, literally I become Benajmin Button and my facial skin droops/develops these weird little bumps that looks like hives on my body and my face looks like I've aged to about 70. I don't believe its an allergic reaction as can one be allergic to the cold?

But when I'm all warmed up back to good temperature, my skin/face goes back to normal.

I cannot explain this and never went to the doctor either since I cannot replicate it on demand.

WTF did I develop???????????



As well, I have leg muscle spasms every 2-3 months in both legs (if it happens on one leg, a few days later it will occur in the opposite leg) on my hamstring muscle but they only happen in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping but man do they hurt. I scream like a lil bitch when they come on. Muscle gets rock hard, and spasms like a heart. I just grimace and let it run its course

[G-ZUS]

Originally posted by dj_rice
I developed some weird ass condition 3 years ago lately where in the winter time, if my face or skin is exposed to the extreme cold for short times, literally I become Benajmin Button and my facial skin droops/develops these weird little bumps that looks like hives on my body and my face looks like I've aged to about 70. I don't believe its an allergic reaction as can one be allergic to the cold?

But when I'm all warmed up back to good temperature, my skin/face goes back to normal.

I cannot explain this and never went to the doctor either since I cannot replicate it on demand.

WTF did I develop???????????

AIDS

[C_Dave45]

Originally posted by XylathaneGTR
Mild-moderate Colitis here; under control with lots of remicade and methotrexate - haven't had a flareup in a few years and poopin' really nice.

My son has a Remicade infusion every 2 months. Are you getting yours covered? His is through Blue Cross. Thank God too. $4,000 a pop!!

[Matty_10]

GERD, IBS, cold urticaria (allergy to the cold), white tongue/foggy head/pressure bumps above ears back of neck.

GERD/IBS is a bullshit diagnosis, it's basically a specialists way of saying we have no idea what's wrong with you. Also looking at fecal transplant studies.

[nzwasp]

Originally posted by Matty_10
GERD, IBS, cold urticaria (allergy to the cold), white tongue/foggy head/pressure bumps above ears back of neck.

GERD/IBS is a bullshit diagnosis, it's basically a specialists way of saying we have no idea what's wrong with you. Also looking at fecal transplant studies.

Yeah GERD is what my doctor originally thought and then I had a biopsy during endoscopy and I ended up with this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eosinophilic_esophagitis

[nzwasp]

Originally posted by dj_rice
I developed some weird ass condition 3 years ago lately where in the winter time, if my face or skin is exposed to the extreme cold for short times, literally I become Benajmin Button and my facial skin droops/develops these weird little bumps that looks like hives on my body and my face looks like I've aged to about 70. I don't believe its an allergic reaction as can one be allergic to the cold?

But when I'm all warmed up back to good temperature, my skin/face goes back to normal.

I cannot explain this and never went to the doctor either since I cannot replicate it on demand.

WTF did I develop???????????

Matty_10 mentioned this cold urticaria (allergy to the cold) and it sounds exactly the same according to the wikipedia article on it.

As well, I have leg muscle spasms every 2-3 months in both legs (if it happens on one leg, a few days later it will occur in the opposite leg) on my hamstring muscle but they only happen in the middle of the night when I'm sleeping but man do they hurt. I scream like a lil bitch when they come on. Muscle gets rock hard, and spasms like a heart. I just grimace and let it run its course

Oh I get these as well feels like my muscle is being ripped open in the middle of the night. I never regarded it as much of a problem - it probably happens twice a year. I actually presumed that everyone got something like this.

[bigbadboss101]

Originally posted by revelations
Not really a "disease" but I go through phases of restless leg (calf) syndrome.

Magnesium, Calcium and Potassium work wonders though. Switching to tea from coffee, more exercise and stretches seem to help.

I do a Magnesium Sodium Potassium combo.

[dj_rice]

Originally posted by nzwasp


Matty_10 mentioned this cold urticaria (allergy to the cold) and it sounds exactly the same according to the wikipedia article on it.



Oh I get these as well feels like my muscle is being ripped open in the middle of the night. I never regarded it as much of a problem - it probably happens twice a year. I actually presumed that everyone got something like this.

WTF!! Thanks matty_10 for diagnosing me. That is exactly what it is.