So I went to bed Wed night feeling fine.

When I woke up Thur morning I could barely walk. The area around my big toe on my right foot was red and swollen and felt like someone whacked it with a hammer.

My wife, an RN, came home from work that morning and looked at it and said she thought it was gout. I looked up gout and sure enough, I had all the classic symptoms. It got progressively worse through the day.

Fri afternoon I went to the doc. Yep...it's gout. Kinda the same as kidney stones but the uric acid crystals settle in joints and rip the tissue apart...thus the pain. Basic prognosis: pretty much deal with it. We can put you on meds but they're hit or miss and are mostly long term. No pill you can just take that will cure it.

Today, it's REALLY painful. I'm eating ibuprofen like it was popcorn.

Anyone else ever have to deal with this? Any secrets to feeling better?