Hi there! Thank you for your question. The treatment for gout could be divided into short term (acute) and long term management. There are 3 medication groups for acute flares; 1st line: NSAIDs eg. Diclofenac, 2nd line: eg.colchicine and 3rd line: glucocorticoids eg. Prednisolone.

Long-term Urate Lowering Therapy (ULT) is the collective term for the long term management. ULT when there is to prevent recurrent acute attacks or disabling attacks. There are 4 examples of Long-term Urate Lowering Therapy (ULT); Allopurinol, Febuxostat, Uricosuric drugs e.g. probenecid and Raspuricase.

Colchicine is used to treat short term gout (acute flare ups). It is often given if a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) cannot be tolerated. A NSAID is a medication that reduces pain, inflammation, and fever. Colchicine can have the same in affect in gout, but does not relieve these symptoms when caused by something else.

Colchicine should be given in lower doses to reduce the incidence of side effects. For colchicine, gastrointestinal side effects are the most common. For example; diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, unusual bleeding and bruising, cramping and abdominal pain, muscle weakness, shortness of breath, recurrent infection and kidney damage.

Allopurinol is a urate-lowering (antihyperuricemic) medication. Tit works by increasing the elimination of uric acid by the kidneys, reducing the production of urate, and breakdown urate into a chemical that is more easily be eliminated. The most common use of allopurinol is to treat chronic gout Since it is a uric acid reducing medication .

This will reduce the reoccurrence of gout flare ups. Some examples of the side effects of allopurinol; vomiting, diarrhea, drowsiness, headache, muscle pain, changes in sense or taste, fever, sore throat, and headache with a severe blistering, peeling and red skin rash, nausea, upper stomach pain, itching, loss of appetite, weight loss, dark urine, clay-colored stools, jaundice, pain or bleeding when urinating, urinating less frequently or not at all, joint pain or flu symptoms, easy bruising, unusual bleeding, or purple or red pinpoint spots under the skin and severe tingling, numbness, pain, or muscle weakness

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