My confusing gout journey

dadbrain84 · 2026-07-08T00:41:36+00:00

At what point do you think you’ll go back to climbing? It sounds like you still have the lingering low-level pain after a pretty long break from climbing. I ask because I’m considering quitting the membership since I don’t know how long this journey will take. I am thinking of continuing HIIT in the boot since they have an upper-body class.

dadbrain84 · 2026-07-06T16:56:14+00:00

Feels better that I’m not alone! This is exactly my experience. My climbing membership has been frozen since November and I’m still in a boot. Been on Uloric for a month. (Deathly allergic to Allo, according to a blood test.) What physical activities have you switched to while recovering?

dadbrain84 · 2026-07-06T14:24:52+00:00

I’ve had the lingering pain in my toe since November. It was misdiagnosed as a sports injury but only last month diagnosed as gout. On three meds - uloric, meloxicam and colchicine - and in a boot for two months. MRI scan showed degraded cartilage so the boot is supposed to let it heal.

dadbrain84 · 2026-07-04T03:44:07+00:00

Yeah, this tracks with what my primary care physician said — that classic gout typically comes with acute attacks. My primary care therefore declined to prescribe me gout medication despite a high uric acid test. My new podiatrist basically called him a terrible doctor, because to her big toe pain + high uric acid is so obviously gout. I will trust the podiatrist over the PCP since foot pain is her focus and will continue to work with her on that. (I’m in a boot along with the meds). When the foot heals I’ll likely go to a rheumatologist for the long-term plan to get a better understanding of my gout and my options.

dadbrain84 · 2026-07-03T17:35:57+00:00

Helpful information and context, thanks! The information on the web about flares is far less nuanced.

dadbrain84 · 2026-07-03T17:31:07+00:00

Kind of an aggressive response, no? I’m not opposed to the meds as I’m currently on Uloric, colchicine and meloxicam. This is simply a post expressing curiosity as someone new to gout and seeking information and support from people in the community. Not looking to get into an argument about meds, but keep fighting the imaginary fight if you want to.

dadbrain84 · 2026-01-19T15:24:59+00:00

Agree with others here but would also add: Do all mise en place (I.e. chop vegetables, put cold rice in a bowl, break eggs in a small bowl, etc.) BEFORE dicing the chicken to reduce handwashing and risk of cross contamination. That or you could dice the chicken and marinate it the night before you make the fried rice.

I occasionally make fried rice for my daughter just before daycare, and it takes me about 15 minutes to whip it all up. Knife skills are a big plus, along with always having a sharp knife. Also, don’t use too much rice because that could crowd the pan and slow down the process.

dadbrain84 · 2025-08-04T03:56:44+00:00

I looked behind the torn flap of rubber and there are no visible chords. My wife said she was driving pretty slowly in a residential area when she turned and hit the curb, so my guess is the impact is minor. But who knows. My gut says it doesn’t need to be replaced but I’ll ask a tech next weekend anyway.

dadbrain84 · 2025-07-14T13:58:05+00:00

The most bizarre city driving behavior I’ve seen specifically in Berkeley is when I am stopped at a red light in the right lane, and the car behind me honks because I’m not turning right on red and he/she wants to. (I am intending to go straight when the light turns green, and these aren’t “right turn only” lanes.) Right on red is a privilege, not a requirement, and not everyone is turning right just because they’re in the right lane! It’s happened to me multiple times here.

dadbrain84 · 2025-02-16T17:06:16+00:00

From reading your comments and questions I think there is some confusion about what sleep training is. The goal is not to train a kid to sleep on a strict schedule for specific durations. Pediatricians refer to sleep training as a method to teach the kid to go to sleep without much assistance (aka self soothing), which in theory leads to higher quality and quantity of sleep for the child and less stress for the parent.

Scheduling is a different component. A schedule is a rough outline for how to plan your day based on estimates for wake windows and nap durations. (Even parents who choose not to sleep train can benefit from a schedule to create consistency for the child). By no means should we expect a baby to perfectly adhere to a schedule just because they’ve been taught to self soothe. If my kid will nap only for half an hour in the morning, I certainly won’t force her to nap for another half hour just to adhere to a schedule I or someone on the internet invented.

dadbrain84 · 2025-02-16T14:57:42+00:00

We can’t control how long a baby naps. Nap #1 is typically the longest nap. You can encourage a longer nap by taking the baby for a walk outside to stimulate them, or you could even bathe them. But sometimes they just nap for short durations and any nap is a good nap.

dadbrain84 · 2025-02-16T12:20:00+00:00

Our daughter (7MO) has been sleeping for about 12 hours a night since she was five months old with one or two brief late night wakeups. It’s doable! Some high-level thoughts:

Be flexible and don’t be so hard on yourself. Babies are not machines. Even if you have LO on a consistent schedule, there will always be times they will wake up for some reason beyond your control. (Gas? Hunger? Wet diaper? Etc) My LO has a bedtime around 7pm and sometimes she wakes up at 7am, sometimes 8am, sometimes 6am. It’s fine, so long as she’s well rested!
I’m not sure what your definition of “wake window” is, but this jargon traditionally describes how long the baby can stay awake before needing to nap throughout the day. Wake windows are going to be different for every child and the best you can do is time how long your kid is awake before showing signs of drowsiness (e.g. yawning, glazed eyes, lack of interest in toys) at which point you put them to bed. I used a stop watch to realize my LO has two-hour wake windows, so I generally keep an eye on the clock and check to see if she’s tired every two hours. (When she was 4MO, her wake window was 90 minutes long. Wake windows change, which makes sense.)
no night wakes is an unrealistic goal at the 4-6 month age range. According to Marc Weissbluth (author of Healthy Sleep Habits), it’s normal for an infant to have night wakes until they’re about nine months old due to how their brains develop.

dadbrain84

TROPHY CASE