Here in the Colorado high country it’s already obvious that summer is making an exit and is fall just around the corner…and it’s just barely August! It all reminds me that the seasons change so imperceptibly – which is just like getting a gout attack!
My wife Sharon, (The Gout Wife) and I talk about it all the time – in fact she’s the one that called my attention to the fact that this was a good analogy to pass on to everyone struggling to slay the Gout Beast. Most of the time, most people don’t really understand what causes gout (I didn’t!) – but the fact of the matter is, part of what causes gout is the slow changes in the seasons of our lives.
Spring
The course of our lives can be likened to the seasons. “Spring” is sort of like when we were kids; we’re generally young and strong and impervious to the effects of bad food, lack of sleep, toxic crap like recreational drugs, dehydration, and no exercise…sort of.
In reality, it’s just an illusion; at every turn, if we don’t pay attention, the formation of our bodies is being compromised and we don’t even know it. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to stay that your gout actually started when you were a kid – you just hadn’t had any attacks yet.
Summer
Spring sort of turns into summer as far as the flow of our lives go when we hit our twenties; all of a sudden we have to be responsible. What is too bad, is that we’ve been having such a good time doing whatever the heck we wanted to do – BUT, it all comes to a screeching halt when all of a sudden we’ve got deadlines and commitments and…STRESS.
Jobs, wives/husbands, kids, bills, and a million other things suddenly pull us in every which direction. And now those habits of not getting enough exercise or sleep, lack of dietary commonsense, dehydration, and…alcohol (?) all sort of start to take their toll.
But hey, we’re strong, we’re still young, there’s still time…right?
Fall (Gout Season)
For many people the next birthday after 23 is 40 – can you relate? The years have started to take their toll and one day you look up and…summer’s over! What happened? One day it was all blue sky and sunshine and the next it was miserable cold and painful joints. All the years of processed food, no water, too much coffee, way too much stress, not much sleep, and no exercise added up to a miserable week of gout.
And then you hear yourself saying stuff like, “If I’d a known I was going to live this long I woulda taken better care of myself.” Have you said that to yourself?
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I am thankful I found your website and have been gout free for 6 months. Feeling healthier in general, back to the gym and more active overall. Also thankful for my wife! ~ Pete
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And Finally…Winter
This is the good news – in the winter you can relax a little bit. And that’s a good thing…if you do it right.
You can actually regenerate your health if you take the time to get educated about rebuilding your health – I can happily say that I have had the honor of working with many folks in they 70s and 80s that show so much spunk when it comes to sitting up straight and paying attention to what it takes to kill some gout.
Here’s a hint:
- In winter (you can always pretend it’s winter for a day or two) you slow down, eat some healing food, drink plenty of tea and water, and…rest. Part of the plague of gout (in my opinion) is because, all too often, we’re all amp-ed up and operating in our “sympathetic” nervous system mode. Healing comes when we take the time to wind down and go into a more “parasympathetic” state of being.
You see, we are walking, talking, thinking, moving, eating, and generally in motion, “human doings” – all the while, the Innate Wisdom of our body is busy making sure we don’t do something stupid. BUT, when we stop, relax, rest, and sleep, the repair crew kicks in and especially the liver, has a chance to repair and rebuild all kinds of things in the body at the cellular level.
We are a “community” of trillions of cells, working in harmony…most of the time. Just like you get tired and have to take a break, so do your trillions of cells.
☆ Remember! Learning how to look a little ways into the future is how you avoid getting blindsided by how gout changes like the seasons.
“I know your pain. Let me help you kill your gout for good! And teach you to advocate for yourself and take ownership of your gout recovery, by showing you how to live the gout-free lifestyle.” Two decades ago, Bert Middleton found himself diagnosed with gout. Like 8.3 million other people in the United States (approximately 4% of the population), he struggled helplessly with the physical, emotional, social, and financial impact that gout left unchecked can have on your life. Prescription drugs were of limited help… And the terrible pain of regular gout attacks left him unable to enjoy even the simplest daily pleasures. His marriage was suffering. His finances were spiraling due to the impact gout had on his ability to work. And maintaining a social life was often nearly impossible. Tophi surgeries left him in terrible pain. And he found himself depressed … and angry … that gout was stealing years of his life.
Until one day, after hundreds of hours of research and self-experimentation, Bert finally had a breakthrough and created a blueprint for a way of living that would prove to be “the answer” to living gout-free for nearly a decade now. Today, Bert and his “Gout Wife” Sharon devote their evenings and weekends to educating other gout sufferers on how to live the gout-free lifestyle. Showing others his 911 Emergency Response Gout Recovery Plan for getting PAINFUL gout attacks under control in as little as 4 hours. And then, how to make daily choices that keep gout under control for GOOD! So you can finally start LIVING again!