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Published by: Jacob Woodring on December 5th, 2025
For an audible version of this article visit my youtube video and sit back and listen to my lovely voice. AFTER 25 YEARS OF LIVING WITH GOUT – HERE ARE MY TRIGGERS THAT ACTIVATES MY GOUT ATTACKS
After twenty-five years of living with gout, I’ve learned that sometimes one wrong decision can put me in bed for days. I’ve ridden the rollercoaster of flare-ups, misdiagnoses, surgeries, and small victories. Somewhere along the way I finally pieced together what truly triggers my gout. Spoiler: it’s not always food.
Where It All Began
It was the year 2000. I was almost 14, recovering from what I thought was a simple basketball sprain, when my doctors finally realized it was actually gout. Three weeks of guessing and shrugging led to a diagnosis no kid or parent expects. Within two years, I had tophi forming on my ears, hands, and feet. I went from “mysterious ankle pain” to “textbook severe gout case” before I even had my learner’s permit.
The doctors didn’t help much. When adults have uncontrollable gout attacks every month, you’d expect consistent labs, medication adjustments, or at least a referral. Instead, my doses of Allopurinol and Indomethacin stayed exactly the same. No one checked my uric acid levels. No one sent me to a rheumatologist. Kaiser’s in-and-out, 20-minute appointments in the early 2000s failed me in a huge way.
Over time, the damage piled up. I’ve had surgery to remove a golf-ball-sized tophi from my left wrist. There were numerous times that I have fallen in the shower. I’ve gotten stuck in bed, missing days of work and college. I had to fight for a handicap placard. But I’m still here — and I’ve learned a lot.
This is the story of the foods that used to trigger my gout…
and the surprising non-food triggers that affect me far more today.
The Obvious Triggers (Teen Years)
Growing up, the triggers were the classic ones you’d expect for a gout attack.
Let’s start with alcohol — except, just kidding. I wasn’t downing shots at 13. I was (and still am) the designated driver in the family.
But food? That was a different story.
Fast Food
Back then, one McDonald’s run could wreck me. Burger King, Carl’s Jr., fries, burgers — they were delicious but brutal. As the Cleveland Clinic explains:
“Uric acid is a waste product created when your body breaks down purines in food and drinks. Most of it dissolves into your blood, passes through your kidneys, and leaves your body in your urine.” Hyperuricemia (High Uric Acid Level): Symptoms, Causes & Treatment
For a normal teenager, fast food is part of life. For me, it was a guaranteed flare. I had a car, freedom, and a drive-thru menu that felt exciting, but it came with consequences.
Vegetables Like Mushrooms and Asparagus
My parents loved to sneak veggies into meals without telling me. I can’t count how many gout attacks hit after a dish with cream of mushroom soup. Those purine-rich veggies had me limping before the plates were even washed.
Sugary Drinks
Trying to slim down before prom, I swapped soda for fruit juice. I drank it constantly because, like most teens, I hated water. That week ended with a huge gout flare up that knocked me out for days.
Back then, food was absolutely the main trigger. My body reacted aggressively and immediately.
But as the years passed, something shifted.
The Turning Point: My Mid to Late 30s
As I got older, the things that once triggered my gout started losing their power. By my 30s, asparagus didn’t bother me anymore. Mushrooms? Fine. The classic “purine list” wasn’t running my life the way it used to.
In my twenties and my early thirties, I moved from California to Idaho. Those moves have taught me a lot about my gout flare ups and triggers.
I also went through many of different diets and exercise plans. The biggest disappointment was trying to be vegan for a month. Who knew you could get horrible gout attacks just by eating kale? Trying to push myself with walking a theme park in one full day instead of breaking it up in a few also wrecked me. Thinking that I could join a gym and go hard was the universe teaching me about humility.
Instead, out of nowhere, I found myself flaring from things I had never even considered.
My gout became unpredictable. It became less about what I ate and more about what was happening around me.
This is where the real surprises began.
My Real Triggers Today (The Ones I Never Expected)
1. Weather Changes — Especially After Moving States
This is by far my biggest trigger now.
Growing up in California’s dry, hot climate, my attacks were severe but predictable. Later, when I moved to Idaho — a place with actual seasons — the cold hit me hard. I had some of my worst flare-ups there because winter weather and fluctuating temperatures caused my joints to stiffen and swell instantly.
But the real shock came when I moved to South Carolina.
South Carolina is hot, humid, and wildly unpredictable. One day it’s 80°, the next morning it’s 50° and raining. And while I thought leaving Idaho’s winters would make my gout easier… it didn’t. The South brought more frequent minor attacks. While they were not always severe, they were constant enough to be frustrating. The humidity, pressure changes, storms, and sudden temperature swings kept my gout on edge.
On top of the change from Idaho to South Carolina was the lack of seeing a doctor. In Idaho I qualified for Medicaid and I was seeing a rheumatologist. In South Carolina, I do not qualify for Medicaid (most men do not) and I had to see a nurse practitioner with his own clinic. Don’t get me wrong, he is great, but he is not a rheumatologist.
California and Idaho gave me major gout attacks.
South Carolina gives me minor-but-frequent gout attacks.
None of it feels like an upgrade.
I can say that California, specifically in San Diego, my gout was less severe. Granted, I also did a national trial for Krystexxa the year before so….
2. Not Taking My Medications Consistently
If I miss my Allopurinol for even a couple of days, I feel it.
This is a huge difference from when I was younger, when my meds barely changed and weren’t monitored.
Now? Missing doses is one of the fastest ways to wake up with a flare. Part of the major reason I miss medications is not because I do not want to take them. The major reason I miss my Allopurinol or Indomethacin is because of the lack of health insurance and not wanting to go to the Urgent Care for refills.
3. Fast Food — But for New Reasons
Fast food still triggers me, but not the same way it did when I was a teen.
Now it’s less about purines and more about:
- sodium overload
- dehydration
- inflammation
- lack of proper nutrients
- sugar-heavy sodas that pair with fast food
It’s the combination that gets me — the whole “fast food lifestyle” more than any single item. Sometimes life just gets too crazy and you have to buy food on the fly. There are times where you argue with co-workers or family and you need that “relief,” but there are consequences.
4. Soda and Sugary Drinks
Not as instant as when I was a teenager, but still a strong trigger.
Overconsumption sets me up for swelling and pain within 24–48 hours.
5. Stress
Stress hits me almost the same way weather does. My body tightens, I sleep less, I drink more soda, I skip meds and boom, flare. I found ways to reduce my stress and that is by going out to the movies or by going to theme parks.
What I Learned After 25 Years of Gout
I’m an outlier! I was diagnosed at 13 where I was dealing with hyperuricemia before I even hit puberty. I never fit the “standard gout patient” profile, and my triggers never stayed the same.
If I had to rank my triggers now, it would look like this:
- Weather changes (especially in the South)
- Fast food & soda
- Missing medications
- Stress
- Actual food triggers — which are now almost irrelevant compared to everything else.
My gout today has less to do with peas and mushrooms and more to do with lifestyle, climate, and consistency.
Bodies change. Gout changes. After 25 years, I’m still learning mine, but I finally understand it better than ever.
In case you want to read how my gout started young; here is a great article to read.
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