Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; Gout That Wasn't

Hello everyone. About six weeks ago one big toe and one thumb swelled rigth up with a lot of pain. Suspected Gout after everyting I read. Went to the first doctor which was a new Doc to me since moving to a new area. He suspected Gout also. Blood test showed normal uric acid levels but Sed Rate was 25. Took forever for the doctors office to get back to me though. Even after calling them a couple times. Switched to a new doctor which I like. The next test was 24 hour urine test. Uric acid levels normal again. The last and most accurate test was to get a sample of synovial fluid from the joint in the big toe. Negative on the uric acid crystals in the joint. He is referring me to a rheumatologist. I am taking NSAID's which I don't want to do. The swelling and pain just get out of hand if I don't. My pain level was pretty much under control before this happned. Any clues? I didn't think AS hits those joints.

Thanks

Chris

AS can definitely affect the smaller joints. I have juvenile AS and that can affect your toes and fingers, wrists ankles etc. I have it in my fingers and wrists and ankles. So you never know. They will swell too as of course the spine and pelvis don't really swell. I wish they did and we would all have been dx. quicker. Good luck

Simone

Hi, Chris:

I'm sure that they checked for pseudogout, too.(?) The fact that you had two joints affected at the same time also probably rules out either. AS is systemic, and as Simone already said, it can attack peripheral joints that include fingers and toes.

When my LGS was especially bad, this is similar to one of the 'polyarthritis' conditions that I developed at the bases of one thumb at a time, and a big toe just as you describe.

NSAIDs-just bad medicine...

Hope you don't suffer with this for too long,
John

Chris,

I have had exactly this same problem (painful swelling in various peripheral joints, but often with no SI pain). As I have gone stricter on the diet, these minor flares have become rarer, but I have not yet managed to eliminate them entirely. I wish I knew why my left big toe suffered rather than my right wrist or whatever. I have thought in the past that a minor physical trauma may have been enough to start off an AS chain reaction in a joint, but my evidence for this is very fuzzy. I find that if I pop an NSAID the pain disappears very rapidly (though of course it would be risky to make this a habit).
Regards,
Charlie

It's funny you mentioned physical trauma. Don't know if it is coincidence but I had a good spill on the Ice before it happened. Who knows. I guess I will have to try and be very strict for awhile. The NSAID's were easy as I needed the pain relief for the moment. We had a new baby girl this weekend I didn't want to be in pain for this special event. She is healthy as can be. Thanks from the happy father. Hope this pain goes away.

Chris

Edited by chewbacca007 on 03/12/03 05:13 PM (server time).

Chris,

I have been lurking in this forum for a month before I posted. During that time I read through all entries. If memory serves, some contributors mentioned trauma initiated their AS or have experienced flares associated with trauma. In my own experience my uveitis arose 2 days after a conjunctival abrasion. Seems logical that the inflammatory cascade mechanism would be contributory.

Linda

Hi Chris,I had what they called a reactive arthritis episode which lasted 1.5 years and is only just subsiding and sulpazalizine seemed to sort it out.My toes would swell up and my toe nails dug into my feet to make them bleed ."Sausage toes" is what the doctors have nick-named it.AS people will sometimes get this (so I was told) after a bout of food poisoning,such as was in my case.
My ESR is now 3 but I still eat starch and still have AS.

I'm at a dilema. The big toe, thumb and now the heel and achilles tendon are extremely painful. I am strict NSD. Was doing well for a long time with no drugs. Is this a part of AS? The foot just swells up. Had some x-rays taken and will find out the resulst next week.

The only thing that will keep the swelling down are the dreaded NSAID's. What would the best of the worst be? Celebrex or Indocin SR 75 or what? I can harldly walk if I don't take anything.

My new rheumatologist, I just moved, said it could be the AS. He does believe in diet being helpful. That was good to here. He said he was part of some study on diet and rheumatoid arthritis. I'll have to find out more info from him. This was the first time I had seen him.

This is really wearing me down and driving me nuts.

Thanks
Chris

Hi Chris,

I am not qualified to give recommendations on medication. However, with NSD I noticed after strict adherence for several months that dairy all of a sudden became an issue. I recall that Patty had the same issue about the same time as I.

Once I eliminated dairy I returned to my happy pain free self.

Any dairy in your diet? Maybe something else sneaked in.... I recall cauliflower being an issue for me when I did not think it would... did not make the connection for a couple of weeks until I reviewed what I had changed in my diet.

Take care,

Tim

Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it - Helen Keller

Hi Tim,

I've been pretty careful. No cauliflower for a couple months. I had been steering clear of dairy. I've had some dairy after all the inflammation had been going on for a couple months. The ball of the foot of the inflammed toe is also painful. Never had any problems before. It's kind of disappointing since the diet was going so well. No NSAID's for about 9 months.Until now. :O(

Thanks
Chris