[Suselew]

Thanks, Keith for your thorough response. I am trying to get into a highly rated rheumatologist. There is an incredible waiting period. I am still on the allopurinol and will talk to my PCP on my next visit when I see if my uric acid is still below 5.0. I still have been having pain but only in late afternoon to evening. Tramadol was prescribed because almost every podiatrist suspected it was nerve-based. My pain med doctor assumed that as well. The fact that I have issues with pain several times a week make me wonder if it is gout. And, the lack of any redness or heat is odd. So I’m hoping the rheumatologist can rule gout in or rule out.

[Suselew]

Thanks, Keith. The specialist I saw was an orthopedic surgeon. There are no longer any rheumatologists near my home so I’m going to have to search for one near where I work. This will be the 10th physician/specialist that I’ve seen for this painful problem over 2 years.

I do have a question about increasing my allopurinol. Will that increase my attacks? I’m not sure I could go through what I went through back in mid-July again due to my job. Do I need to increase allopurinol with 4.6 as my latest uric acid level? I’m working on my fourth day of pain that starts in late afternoon. As I write this, I have a cold bag on my toe so I can tolerate the pain while sitting at my desk. It’s a miserable existence.

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