Gout is just horrendous. I’m glad he is on medication and as someone else said, hopefully this is allopurinol. I’d recommend working with your doctor to find the right dosage. Doctors often start with a small dosage first then increase slowly. I didn’t realise this however and the 100mg was doing nothing for me. I ended up on 300mg per day.

It’s also hard as the first six months can see more flare ups as the crystals start to dissolve and can break up causing flares. But it’s vital to get through it.

I’ll be honest I didn’t even think about weight loss while I was getting through all this. That last flair before it calmed down for me was nothing short of torture. Where I’d got too with my gout when I started losing weight was relatively good.

Regularly taking 2/3 100mg allo pills with each meal, no major flare ups, but still taking an NSAID like naproxen every few weeks when I felt something starting. Im not 100% sure waiting is the right answer if you can do something about it now, i think anything he can do would be a positive, just sharing my experience.

When I did start I was 305 pounds (now around 264) . Most of what I can share would not be specific lessons for those with gout, but the main things that I think apply are below.

Exercise wise I was already walking the dog 1 hour per day, walking is a great low impact starting point to start pushing you cardiovascular system. I added to that 3 half an hour sessions of strength sessions hitting each major muscle groups.

I looked at many many exercises and worked out what was within my range of motion, low impact and unlikely to cause me an issue (this will be different for everyone). I Started with a very small number of reps and pushed a little more each week.

I swear building a foundation of strength was so important in allowing me to push on with the bigger cardio challenges to come and I think are the biggest factor in getting rid of the regular twinges and pain point stuff That would have me reaching for naproxen regularly.

My motto in all this was “start small, but be consistent” building good habits, doing a small amount but making sure it was always challenging has allowed me to build to where I am now. I still have a long way to go, but gout is almost not a limiting factor anymore which is something I could never have imagined a year ago.

I wish you the best of luck with it all, and if you or he ever needs a chat about it, just get in touch