The Devil of Joints

“Gout, gout, gout leave me be”- Author

Humans.. We are DNA-based living organism. You may not regard yourself to be a machine, but one way or the other human is a machine. Some may argue that we are just made of flesh and bones. How could we be possibly a machine? Yes, that is also true we are flesh and bones, but being a machine does it imply to be made from iron, steel and kilometers of wiring? I don’t quite think you think that way too. So, we are machine: a DNA-based computer! I know that sounds crazy, but with a thought processing unit, a machine who can feel pain, sorrow and joy compared to the other machine we know yes we are machine. I am not making that up this is it the real deal. It depends on you whether or not you gulp it! Sometimes we need to change the way we think things.

I don’t usually write and want to write about medical science in my blog because all the things related to my daily life are about it and writing it in my blog is way too much for me to handle. Since I am not the show-off type guy, I do not like to write about it even though there is so much to write about it from simple hand washing technique to abortion pills to post mortem technique and so on. Even though I’m a member of a very popular site for medical students and doctors: ‘Doctors Hangout’ I abstain myself from talking and writing about medical science.

But today I need to break some rules here. Not because I am out of thing to write, but because as of now I’m in a diseased state. A condition so painful which keeps me bed ridden for most of the day and night is one hell lot of a sleepless night. Luckily I don’t have to miss classes because of Id-UL-Fitr, but not so lucky I can’t enjoy the holiday.

Can you imagine how painful it is? So what is this thing which keeps a dragon slayer like me at bay? It is called GOUT. The name sounds funny and lame, but it’s not a joke to have this condition. Last night I was on the phone for almost 2 hours, watched movie, stayed online the whole through and slept peacefully to be woken up with the feeling that my ankle not my big toe this time has suddenly become a battlefield between uric acid crystals and my blood, uric being an acid won over my blood because uric acid is the devil which cause gout.

Cause of this attack: I don’t want and will not blame my sister for sending me the money to buy the high-fat diet (meat) and sweet drinks (Slice & Maaza) which causes me to have this chemical balance in my joints and limp around the hostel. Gout is known to be a ‘rich men’s disease’ and I am not rich. This may be the only reason I like being attacked by gout because all medical student knows that people having gout are rich and me in spite of my poorness for the first time something painful makes me look rich. Good? Yes, but not always because it hurts. For the past week: night and day we ate pork (fats) which disturbs my purine metabolism. Without me knowing anything about their regrouping inside my blood system and slowly travel down by virtue of gravity to my left ankle. I was woken up early morning today to let me know that they will not let me walk for another three to four days. It sucks especially when it is holiday and it hurts like hell right now while I am typing this blog post too.

What gout attack feels like to me: A screw in the joints which got turned a notch every time my pulse beats. Every beat of the heart has been like a power drill just embedding that screw into my joints! Otherwise it is like having a hammer smash your joints every time your heart beat and the more anxiety the higher your blood pressure goes and the faster your heart races thus the more pain gets inflicted.

It creates a chemical imbalance in the joints. It doesn’t just affect the joints either; intense emotional distress taps into the same neural pathways like all other physical pains. I can massage because it is useless and only intensifies. My grandfather (Mother side) once had this and according to my books the tendency to have gout can be inherited. I know I am not going to die because of gout and it is not a disease which will not make me not get married and so dreaded like high blood pressure or blood sugar or even HIV.

During the attack it hurts like hell:
1. It hinders me from walking a normal walking pace.
2. Irritates my emotions.
3. Keeps me from being the active sport-like person that I am.
4. Causes me to complain a lot more than usual.
5. Takes control and forces me to want to cut off my foot.
6. Loses sleep.
I will wake up early in the morning feeling the extreme pain in my ankle because the pain reliever dissolved from my system reminds me that I need to eat better tells my body to trigger my brain to change my diet.

Nature of attack: It attacks suddenly at night causing severe joint pain, usually with redness, swelling and tenderness of the joint. Although an attack my type typically affects a single joint, some people develop a few inflamed joints at the same time. The pain and inflammation are worse within several hours, and generally improve completely after a few days to several weeks, even if untreated.

What I do: I am a fool when I want something, so do I change my diet? Well let’s see..  Lunch we cooked pork yet once again dinner was beef and drinks? I drank one 600ml bottle of maaza. I took all the things if I am a doctor I will ask my patient to avoid. So, since it’s weekend and holiday with enough Mahatma Gandhi in my wallet to buy meat who will not eat pork or beef instead of this masala ridden daal and alu which I called Yellow River?

Yes, I took tablet Dolonex DT a piroxcin tablets, which is analgesic and anti-inflammatory which I keep in stock as I am used to suffering from gout. I drink a lot of water, keep my legs rise. I know I need an Allopurinol tablet like colchicine, but I don’t have that as I can’t walk and can’t go out to buy it. But how did I went out to buy all that meat I ate during lunch and dinner and the maaza I drank? This is madness, which is a disease, maybe I am mentally sick.

(Jorhat 10th August, 2013)