HealthInfo Canterbury
Medications for gout
You can use medication for a short time to treat an acute attack of gout. You may also need to take medication long term every day to prevent gout attacks and to prevent complications such as damage to your joints or kidneys.
Treating an attack of gout
There are various treatments to help relieve the pain and swelling of a gout attack known as anti-inflammatories. These include non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs), colchicine and a class of drugs called corticosteroids, most often prednisone.
All anti-inflammatories can have serious side effects especially if used for more than a few days. This is especially important if you have other health conditions and are on other medicines.
Your doctor will discuss the medications with you and give you advice on what's most appropriate for you.
Medication to prevent gout
If you have had more than two attacks of gout in a year, complications of gout or a strong family history, your doctor will recommend you take medication to lower the uric acid in your blood. This will reduce your chance of getting acute gout and long-term damage.
The goal with this medication is to keep your uric acid levels below 0.36 mmol/L. You will need blood tests to check your levels.
- You usually start the medication at a low dose and increase it slowly to reduce side effects.
- It can take weeks to months to work and you may get gout attacks when you are first taking it. You may need to take an anti-inflammatory medicine with your preventer for the first few months.
- It's important to take your urate-lowering medicine every day, even when you feel well. Continue taking it while you have a gout attack.
- Urate-lowering medication is an ongoing, long-term treatment that you have to continue taking for many years.
- Allopurinol is the most commonly used urate-lowering medication.
- If you can't take allopurinol, your doctor may prescribe another medicine such as probenecid or febuxostat.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed July 2021.
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Review key: HIGOU-18727
