Naresh

Age at interview: 62

Brief Outline: Naresh was diagnosed with gout in 1974 when he was 25. He has had attacks in his feet, knees and arms. Naresh takes 100mg allopurinol every day, and manages attacks by taking naproxen or colchicine. He has had three attacks of gout in the last 12 months.

Background: Naresh is married and lives with his wife and one of their three children. He is retired and previously worked in as an Engineer. Ethnic background/nationality: Asian British

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Naresh was playing cricket in 1974 when he started to get pain in his toes. The pain began to get worse and he thought that it must be due to a physical injury. When Naresh got home he discovered that his foot was swollen so he made an appointment with his GP. The GP looked at Naresh’s foot and told him that it was probably gout. He arranged for Naresh to have a blood test to check his uric acid levels, and prescribed some painkillers. He also suggested that ice might help to relieve the pain.

Naresh did not know much about gout, but his GP told him that it was caused by uric acid crystals. He advised Naresh that it might be advisable to avoid certain foods, such as oily fish, and to drink plenty of water.

The blood tests showed that Naresh had high levels of uric acid. His symptoms were better after about 10 days, but three months later he had another attack. His GP prescribed colchicine, and later naproxen, for him to take during attacks, and allopurinol for him to take every day. Naresh did not like the idea of taking long term medication, but his GP told him that if he did not take anything it could cause permanent damage to his joints.

Naresh was born in Kenya, and had never heard of gout there. However, his father had gout when Naresh was a child. Naresh was shocked to be diagnosed with gout at the age of 25 because he thought it was associated with older people, and his father had been diagnosed when he was in his 50s.

Naresh made some changes to his diet. However, the dietary advice he was given in relation to his heart condition conflicted with the advice he was given about gout.
Naresh felt that the pain of gout was like someone poking a knife into him, and it was too painful to have a bed sheet on his foot. He was sometimes unable to attend social events such as family visits or weddings, and felt angry that he could not do the things he wanted to.

Naresh is now retired, but was working when he was diagnosed with gout. He sometimes had to have time off work, and felt under pressure from his employers. Naresh used to enjoy playing cricket, but could not play sports when he got attacks. He also began to get attacks in his knees and arms as well as in his feet.

Naresh has had three attacks of gout in the last 12 months. He takes 100mg of allopurinol every day, and manages his attacks by taking colchicine or naproxen.

Naresh thought the pain in his toes was from a physical injury. His toes were swollen, red and very painful.

The first time it happened was 1974. Actually I was playing cricket at the time, you know, and I was starting to get some kind of pain in my toes, the right and left, both, you know. So I thought probably, maybe, it was physical things, and then it started gradually, it started beginning – getting worse, you know. So when I come home, it’s just swollen right, so I thought it must be something happened, or twisted. Then after that, I went to an appointment with the doctors, and the doctor looked at it and he, looked at it, it was already red, and very painful. So it was so swollen, you know. So he said that to me, “I think you’ve got gout”.

Naresh felt that he had no choice about taking preventative medication because his doctor told him about the risks of long-term problems if he did not.

It's not curable, but if you take the medication it will help you so I mean it will be still all your life, you know. But the doctor said if you don’t take any medication it will get worse, and it can affect your joints. I mean permanent damage. So I had no choice, I have to take the medication.

He said if you don’t take much care it can affect your kidney also. And cause kidney stone and things like that. So it scared me at the time, because it can damage your kidney.

Naresh was worried about the financial impact of being off work during attacks.

It does have a bad effect financially, you know, two or three weeks, you know, and because of the kids at that time, you’ve got to pay the mortgage and all these things you know. It was very difficult time for me. But - so my wife is still working and helped me, so I just managed at the time, you know. 

Yeah but it sounds like it was quite a worrying time?

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Worrying time, yeah. Because I’ve got some kids also, and they're growing up, you know, and they want these things, you know. And if you’re going sick, doesn’t get much money at the time. So it was affecting me financially.