Eric

Age at interview: 87

Brief Outline: Eric first experienced gout in 1986 at the age of 60, when he was on holiday. Eric has continued to get attacks of gout in his feet every few months. He takes colchicine when he has an attack. Eric has had three attacks in the last 12 months.

Background: Eric is married and has two children. He is retired, and previously worked as a Manager for an energy supply company. Ethnic background/nationality: White English.

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Eric first experienced gout at the age of 60, when he was on holiday in the former country of Yugoslavia. He woke up with pain in his foot and could not walk. The skin on his foot looked shiny and was very tender to the touch. Eric felt quite alarmed about being unwell in a foreign country. The Manager of the hotel where he was staying sent Eric to the local clinic, where he saw a doctor. The doctor told Eric that he had gout, and prescribed pure alcohol and aspirin. He told Eric to dissolve the aspirin in the alcohol and to bathe his foot with the mixture four or five times a day so that his skin would harden. [This is not a recommended treatment] The doctor also told Eric to visit his own doctor when he got home. Eric could not put his shoe on, so he cut the top off and put an elastic band round to try and keep the shoe on. He remembers having a miserable holiday because of the pain.
 
On discovering that he had gout, Eric was initially concerned that he would have to live with the pain permanently. When Eric got home, he went to see his GP, who did a blood test and prescribed colchicine tablets. Within a few days of taking the tablets Eric’s attack had gone, but he subsequently had other attacks which he had not anticipated getting. His attacks have always been in his feet, and he believes that the pain is worse than the pain he experienced from various operations including a quadruple heart bypass. He also experiences a side effect of diarrhoea from taking colchicine. His GP has not discussed the possibility of long-term preventative medication with him.
 
Eric cares for his wife, and so finds it difficult to manage when he has an attack. He has a walking stick that he finds useful to help him get around the house, but attacks of gout stop him from driving. Eric sometimes feels frustrated because he cannot do the things that he knows need to be done – particularly in terms of caring for his wife. He keeps a supply of colchicine in the house at all times so that he is prepared for attacks. Eric’s house has been adapted in various ways because of other health conditions he has, and he finds these adaptations – such as the stair lift, grab rails and downstairs shower – useful when he has an attack of gout. His neighbours and daughter also sometimes help with everyday tasks.
 
Eric continues to get attacks of gout every few months. His attacks generally last for a few days, but his longest attack lasted for 10 days. He has had three attacks in the last 12 months. Eric has noticed that drinking more than his usual amount of alcohol seems to trigger an attack, but has not found anything else that affects him.  During an attack, Eric finds it helpful to focus on his knowledge that the pain will not last forever, and he will have relief from it at some point. 

Eric was unhappy about being diagnosed with gout and wondered if the pain he was having would be permanent.

The skin on my foot, the right foot, was sort of shiny and so tender to the touch it was unbelievable and there was no, you couldn’t flex your foot or your toes, and it seemed to spread from, starting there into the ankle until it was; it was really, really painful.

And had you ever heard of gout before?

I’d heard of it, I’ve heard of other people; I knew a colleague who was a gout sufferer and he said it’s something you don’t want.

How much did you know about it?

Very, very little, very little.

So what was your sort of, initial reaction when you went to this clinic and they said you’ve got gout?

Well I wasn’t very pleased about it and I did wonder, “Is this something that’s going to be permanent?” At that stage I wasn’t aware that it was something that came and went, I thought if I’m going to be, a sufferer like this, well I didn’t want to know.

Eric has made adaptations to his house because of other health problems, but they are also useful when he has an attack of gout.

Because of other ailments they’ve fitted the house out, with this chair, I press a button and it stands me up, we’ve got a chair lift that takes us upstairs, we had, I had a shower downstairs, so that my wife can bathe upstairs and I shower downstairs, we’ve had handles fitted to all the doors so that I can use my arms instead of having to use the foot especially when I’ve got gout, so there’s - we pretty well helped ourselves as much as we possibly can. I’m a bit of a forward thinker you know, forward planner and I’ve always recognised that as I get older I’m going to need more help, so I’ve put these things in place.

And do you find that they - I know you said you’ve done some of them because of other sort of issues you’ve got - but do you find that they do help with gout when you’ve got gout as well?

Yes they do, oh yes. Even sort of going to the loo and things like that, we have arms in the loo compartment. Well pretty well all the aids - oh I’ve got a - in the bed, in hospital you have these, what do they call them, sort of, to stop you falling out of bed you know, you have these things - well in my bed, there are two small ones that fits under the bed and then it comes up so when I want to get out of bed, if the gout’s particularly bad or the other problem’s bad, I can put one hand on each and pull myself out of bed, so we’ve fitted the house out really.

Eric says it’s reassuring to know that attacks of gout come and go. It’s not a permanent pain.

Well the only thing that I could try and reassure them that it does come and go, in my experience, so they don’t have to think, as I did initially, “Oh my”, you know, “I’ve got to suffer this” but it’s not the case, take the medication, cut down on the things you’ve been told and it will improve, it always has, it’s never, it’s never stayed for more than perhaps 10 days, was the longest spell, but 10 days is a long time when you can’t walk.

And you said, you know, obviously it kind of, comes and goes, is that something that it helps you to focus on when you’ve got gout, knowing that it will...?

Yes it is, oh yes, the knowledge that; I’ve never really worried about pains that come and go, it’s pains that arrive and don’t go, 24/7 and you know you’re heading for surgery, that’s when I get worried, but other pains, even arthritis comes and goes, and most people suffer with it anyway, when they’re my age, so you dismiss it.