Gout is not always easy to identify.
It can help if you provide your doctor with details about your symptoms so that you can get the right treatment. Here are seven gout symptoms to look out for.
Gout, a type of arthritis, causes sharp pains, swelling, and inflammation in joints. People suffering from gout, experience unforeseen and painful “attacks”. These flare-ups happen when there is too much uric acid in your blood. Uric acid is a waste product made by your body when it digests food. When your uric acid levels are high, crystals amass in your joints. This triggers intense pain.
Gout is highly treatable but some symptoms can be quite subtle. Gout is also difficult to diagnose as the symptoms are similar to that of other ailments. That’s why it is important to let up on faint symptoms so that you can get proper treatment and keep the pain at bay.
Be on the lookout for these gout symptoms:
Pain in your big toe
The most common area in your body affected by gout, is your big toe. If you have an excess amount of uric acid in your blood, it can crystalize and move to your big toe. These crystals can leave your big toe feeling warm and cause agonizing pain.
Joint pain
Gout can affect any joint in your body – your knees, elbows, ankles and wrists are all at risk. Sometimes people experience pain in only one joint but often multiple joints are affected. About 25 percent of gout patients experience pain in more than one joint at a time. If you do experience pain in multiple joints, it can be especially hard to diagnose as it can be confused with rheumatoid arthritis which also affects multiple joints.
Gout attacks at night
Gout attacks are twice as likely to strike while you’re asleep (between midnight and 8 a.m.). Your body temperature will be lower and you’ll be less hydrated in the middle of the night which could lead to a build-up of uric acid in your blood.
Flareups
Gout-related pain flares up fast. You might go to bed feeling fine and then be woken up by excruciating joint pain in the middle of the night. The pattern, of having periods of no joint pain disrupted by flareups, is highly suggestive of gout.
These flareups are also known as gout attacks. After the symptoms start, it typically takes about 12 to 24 hours for the pain in the joint to peak but joints can continue to feel uncomfortable for a few days or even weeks. Without treatment these attacks can become more frequent and the pain more severe.
Fatigue
Gout attacks can leave you feeling tired. Some people experience muscle aches and fever. It might feel like all your energy is depleted and your body is recovering from the flu.
Tophi
When you have a lot of crystals in your joints, they will clump together and form lumps and bumps around your joints. These clumps of crystals are called tophi. Tophi is usually present in chronic gout patients and not permanent deformities. With treatment they can disappear.
Kidney stones
Excess uric acid can also build up in your urinary tract and when it crystalizes you will have kidney stones. Kidney stones are not really a symptom of gout but a complication. If you do develop kidney stones, you should ask your doctor to check your uric acid levels.
Takeaway
Gout is not easy to identify so watching out for the symptoms can help you get the proper treatment. While some symptoms, like pain in your big toe and flareups, are highly suggestive of gout, others are more subtle. You want to get treatment as soon as possible if you have gout so that you can minimise the amount and intensity of gout attacks.
