# Gout Bout: 2023 Edition

Way back in 2016, I had a period of two or three weeks where I was afflicted with gout. I'd been sprinting in place, trying to stay ahead of my anxiety around work, the stupidity of my situation, and generally not taking care of my body. I spent those weeks sleeping half-nights, waking any time my toe spasmed and hurt too much to stay asleep. It was a really crappy way to spend some time, but it led me to changing a bunch of things about the way I was treating myself.

I backed way off at work, I completely changed my diet, and I took steps to manage my anxiety.

Those changes rolled with me into 2017 when I started playing roller derby and got into some of the best shape of my life. Up until the pandemic started and everything else stopped, I was in good shape. Sure, I was getting the crap kicked out of me at practice, and my feet were sore a lot of the time, but I was making reasonably good choices about food, and my activity level was high enough that gout never came back onto my radar.

Fast forward to 2023 and my relative inactivity and choices around food have come back to bite me in the ass.

Yes, dear readers, I've got another case of gout. It's just as bad as it was in 2016, and I'm having all the same problems sleeping, concentrating at work, and finding a comfortable way to sit. Sometimes it's foot flat on the floor. Sometimes it's foot propped on another chair. It's always hunched over with my mand over my foot when the dogs come near. I love them, but I don't trust them. And maybe Gizmo could get away with putting his, what, ten pounds, on my foot, but don't really think I want to test that.

Walking sucks, standing sucks, and sitting isn't much better, so I try to stay somewhat productive, making dinner, filling or emptying the dishwasher. But it sucks, and I basically just want to take a bunch of tylenol and lie down.

The last time, I took it as a sign that a bunch of things needed to change. I'm looking at my life now, and, besides my diet, I don't know that there's a lot that I would want to change. My job is going better than I could have expected, with no sign that the awesome is going to stop. I want to get back to playing tennis, which is absolutely hampered by my foot when it isn't hampered by my knee. There are a lot of changes I can make to the foot I eat, and that's probably where I'll start. I guess you don't need to have a functioning foot to eat healthier.

Sorry (somewhat!) for the disconnected nature of this post. It's been awhile, and I felt like getting something put up here. No time like the present, and not a lot of other things I can do.

Until next time,

Liam