Eagle Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 You know all those people who tell you as you age that getting old beats the alternative? THEY LIE! Thursday morning, I awoke to excruciating pain in my left hand. The hand was useless -- it hurt to move it in any direction, it hurt to move the fingers at all, and I couldn't even close the fingers to touch my palm (let alone actually make a fist). I hoped it would go away, but it didn't. Friday it was even worse, so I called the VA hospital and got an urgent care appointment even though the clinics were mostly closed in preparation for another COVID-19 vaccination over the weekend. The doc in primary care agreed with me that the symptoms seemed like a spontaneous fracture, but by then it was 4:00 p.m. and she was concerned that if she sent me for x-rays they wouldn't get looked at until Monday or Tuesday. So she personally walked me down to the emergency room, which has its own x-ray lab and where they can look at the x-rays on the spot, and turned me over to the ER docs. So they took x-rays. The good news was that there wasn't a break. The bad news was that my hand still hurt. So the ER doc had blood drawn. She had a suspicion. The blood test results came back normal, but she stuck by her suspicion. She thought I had gout in my hand. (Who knew you can get gout in a hand? I've only heard of gout in the feet.) I was under the impression that gout is chronic, and I told her I thought I'd rather have a break, because that can heal and I'd be done with it. She said she could have me feeling better in a couple of days if it was gout. She prescribed a nine-day course of Prednisone, tapering down from 3 pills a day for three days, to two pills a day for three days, and ending with one pill per day for three days. So Friday I took the first three as soon as I got home (per the doctor's instructions). The hand was a little better Saturday morning, when I took the next dose of three pills. By Saturday afternoon, I was able to use the left hand to work my headlight switch and the turn signal lever, and to help steer the XJ. The hand is still tender and sore, but not nearly as bad as it was Thursday and Friday. As Roseanne Roseannadanna used to say on SNL (back when it was funny and worth watching), "If it's not one thing ... it's another." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 my grandmother would get flareups in her hands too. it sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olddude Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 I think this is all part of getting old. Getting a pain here and there for no reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ωhm Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 I don't mind being old, I just don't want to get any older. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 My grandfather had gout pretty bad sometimes. Occasionally, he couldn’t even get his shoes on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiser54 Posted March 7, 2021 Share Posted March 7, 2021 What's the root cause? Deficiency in diet? Could a supplement help? https://goutpatients.com/what-causes-gout/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ollie Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 Interesting.......sounds as if your VA moves better than mine. With you its gout........ me its arthritis I didn't know you could get arthritis in your lower back and no place else. Well, I did. VA cured me with a 10 cent pill, thank the Good Lord. Having Comanche Fun, Ollie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeatCJ Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 You can get gout in any joint, or all of the joints. I have been having kidney stone issues for the last year. Just recently went to see a urologist. He had me do a more complete urine sample, 48 hour collection. It came back that my uric acid is high, so now that's going to be a problem, too. So I need to make a follow up appointment. From my understanding, gout and kidney stones usually aren't controlled by adding something, more often it's reducing. Protein, oxalate, sugar, sodium, are all offenders for my type of stones. Protein and sodium are also offenders with gout. Ugh. My dad had severe arthritis. After 57 years of meds, his kidneys wore out. They wanted him to stop taking the meds. So he couldn't get out of bed. He decided limiting the pain was more important than extending his life, so he went back to taking the arthritis meds. We talked about it, he told me he had a better, longer life than he had expected, and the doctor warned him when he prescribed them that eventually, he would ruin his kidneys. He figured still being able to walk when he was 83 was worth it. He always said "Getting old ain't for sissies." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now