I got it the first time back in 2011. In my right ankle. I couldn't figure out what was going on, it hurt insanely bad, and I finally went to the ER. The doctor came in and looked at my foot, which was two toned, the toes were pale white and the back part bright red, divided about halfway between the front of my ankle and my big toe. He almost immediately said, "I think you have Gout!". My uric acid level has never been really high, the worst was a "highish normal". That first attack was brutal, driving was like torture. I went and got Colcrys at the pharmacy, and went home to let it kick in. It took almost 6 hours to allow me to fall asleep. I woke up at 1am, and 99% of the pain was gone. Over the next couple of years, I not only had attacks in both ankles, i had attacks in my knees, and even my finger once. On top of Gout. I started having kidney stones, and the doctor decided that since the attacks and kidney stones were getting more and more frequent, Allopurinol was prescribed. The first two weeks, it was nonstop attacks, it was like the thing moved around totally at random. The last fullblown attack I've had was in my right big toe, and it was pretty bad. Weird thing is, my uric acid level with the Allopurinol is barely different than without it, but most of the Gout attacks are gone. Any rebound pain I have in a joint gets a Colcrys to knock it out. At this point, I can tell it's Gout with about a 90% accuracy. I don't drink beer, but keeping a food log was totally useless as far as predicting what was triggering my Gout. It's been about 6 years since I've had a fullblown attack. The kidney stones are a not so bad memory. I don't know why or how, but I seem to have very little sensitivity to pain from kidney stones. I didn't feel any of them, except one, until they came out of me, two of them in the Sam's club restroom two weeks apart. The pain, or most of it only is when the stone is coming from the bladder out. Then I feel it and it's horrible, but it only lasts a couple of seconds.
