Wow! Drugs are so cool. And look after your bodies kiddies...

I woke up this morning having had a decent nights sleep compared to the last two. And although I had to get out of bed slowly the pain was much better. I got showered and headed into work. I still had to take the local bus as I couldn't handle the walk to the normal bus stop. The driver was the same one as yesterday and he commented that I looked much better and it only took me half the time to board and get seated.

Throughout the day the treatment worked wonders. As I hobbled more speedily around the building various people popped out to give advice. Apparently gout is very common here in Aus. It seems that everyone in the office either has it or has a close relative that does. The most common advice I heard was "Eat cherries, lots of cherries, they'll fix it up" and "Don't eat pineapple, that can cause an attack" One guy recommended drinking Port and I told him what the doctor has said about avoiding fortified wines. He said it had always helped his. I can only guess it either numbs the pain or everyone is different!

It's widely regarded as an "old mans" disease, but that's only because there are two types. If it's genetic you can get it any age - in our office the youngest sufferer i've met so far is 24, there's 2x26, 1x28, 1x29 and 2x30 younger or equal to me! The other sort is caused by obesity and/or poor diet which takes many more years to occur and this is the "old man" strain. Basically, if you abuse your body for years on end you may well end up giving yourself this horribly painful affliction - so don't.

This advice was all good, but then I discovered another worrying factor. It can also be caused if there's a problem with your liver. I'm now worried incase that's the cause. I only vaguely remember my grandfather suffering from it and I'm sure my dad hasn't. What if it's not genetic? I've not abused my body for years, so that would be the only other cause. I'm a little worried. I've never had a very high regard for my own wellbeing before, but now that I've finally found love with TT I'm pretty happy. I don't think I want to die of some liver disease.

On a plus side, it's never to late to change anything. I've got to wait until Saturday for tests, and whatever the results may be I noticed a few holes in my diet. I don't get enough fibre or drink enough water. Also, several strains of live yoghurt are very helpful and I've not touched that shit in years. I stopped by the supermarket on the way home and stocked up on some missing items. I've also resolved to eat three meals a day even though I find it a horrible chore eating breakfast and lunch during the week.

I find it amusingly ironic that even if I do have something major wrong at least I'll be healthier than ever before....