Everything You Know About Allopurinol

Allopurinol is strong, so strong. The strongest! Men, this prescription med works so well on uric acid. Yes, so very well! It's going to lower how much you have. Win. You're going to take it by mouth, men, most of the time. Injections of it are out there, though! You'll get tablets in different doses, like 100, 300, and 500 mg! Yes, you guessed it. Men, many of you are going to start at 100 mg each day. When you've got mild gout, expect a maintenance dose of 200 to 300 mg! You'll get an IV of this when you're getting chemo. And your dose? It's 200 to 400 mg, usually, but goes to a max of 600 mg in a day!

It's already clear to you, men: this one's a common gout medicine. Allopurinol's going to give you immediate gout pain relief. That said, you've got alternatives to allopurinol for gout. Gout inflammation medicine is widely out there! What's more, but this med works as a kidney stone treatment too. You'll see natural remedies for kidney stones and gout pain too, obviously. Just understand how this med works before doing anything with your doc!

How It Works

Allopurinol is one strong XO inhibitor. So strong! It's going to block xanthine oxidase, men. That's an enzyme in your body, of course! It'll tackle uric acid too. Yes, this med lower how much of it you make! Remember, men, you know uric acid comes from purine metabolism. This strong med's going to prevent purine synthesis too, yes. Men, you know it's because it's so similar to natural purine, but it acts differently.

Many of you absorb this med in about 2 hours. This is 2 hours after you take it. Yes! Your enzymes are going to metabolize it. It'll turn into oxypurinol. That's what your kidneys excrete over 18 to 30 hours!

Best Uses

You know what the best use is, men. You do! It's a great gout med, so great. Yes. It's so great, so great! This med's going to stop future gout attacks for you. Hold your horses, though. Men, allopurinol isn't meant to treat your symptoms during one of these attacks! This med even works for getting rid of kidney stones. You'll get it when you need chemo too, men. It'll handle the uric acid here also!

Many, many men get this one for seizures too. Yes, men, it's a seizure med! It'll also handle many, many infections, stop ulcers from coming back, and get rid of pain from things affecting your pancreas. What a win. Men, this med even helps you when you've had a kidney transplant. Yes, you guessed it: it prevents rejection! There's more. It's going to increase survival rates after heart bypass surgery too!

Side Effects

Obviously, men, allopurinol's got some side effects. You're going to deal with nausea, vomiting, and headaches. You'll feel very, very drowsy a lot too. Diarrhea and skin rashes? They're also common, so common! Don't be surprised to see changes in your taste and an upset stomach too. Abnormal liver function tests appear with this med too! Men, keep your guard up for that! You'll need to call your doc for persistent or severe side effects. That's referring to upset stomach, feeling drowsy, and diarrhea, of course! Do it for even mild skin rashes too.

Hold up, men. This med triggers rare side effects also. Two of them are tingling and numbness. Pee problems are out there rarely too, like bloody pee, painful peeing, and not peeing nearly as much. No, not nearly as much! Your doc needs to help you with these as soon as possible. Don't delay! Finally, liver problems are rare on this med too. But men, you know they happen! Watch for fever, chills, stomach pain, weight loss without explanation, losing your appetite, and itching. Call up your doctor right away if any of those appear. Don't be a loser, do it!

Precautions

Men, you've got to get your doc on board here. They need to make sure this one's safe for you. So you know what to do. Go over your whole medical history. Yes, all of it! Allopurinol's not safe when you've got things like high blood pressure, kidney disease, liver disease, heart failure, and diabetes. Obviously, men, you need to avoid driving. This med has a bad, bad influence on your reaction time! That's why you can't drink alcohol when you're taking it too.

Men, men, listen. You know that you're at a high risk of bleeding when you're injured on this med. It's down to the lower number of white blood cells this med triggers! You'll see more infections because of this too. The fix? Get regular blood tests! See your doc a lot! And remember, take this med with lots of water to stop possible kidney stones. It's going to be easy to get 64 to 80 ounces a day. Yes! Win.

Medication Interactions

Yup, it's here. Men, this med's got over 50 interactions. And out of those? Yes! There are 16 major med interactions. Huge ones! So men, your task is clear, so clear. List all of the meds you take. This means the prescriptions, yes, but also OTC drugs and supplements. Your doc's going to check over this and save you from med interactions!

Here are some examples you know about. Men, antibiotics like amoxicillin interact with this med. Blood thinners, some chemo drugs, diuretics, and immunosuppressants do too! Other gout meds have to be changed a lot also. Men, you'll get new doses or other meds entirely. Your doc makes the best choice for you. Yes, the best choice, the very best!