Gout tools and practical planning resources

Start with urgent symptoms

A hot, swollen joint can be caused by infection as well as gout. They can occur together. Seek urgent assessment for fever, feeling unwell, or worsening symptoms, and use emergency care for severe illness or rapid deterioration. No online questionnaire can rule infection out, including when there is no fever. S03 S05

Choose a resource

• Could this be gout? helps you organize a symptom history for an assessment. It does not give a diagnosis or probability.
• What you can do next separates new symptoms, an established flare plan, and longer-term questions.
• Flare and urate record provides fields you can copy into your own notes for an appointment.
• Measured purine reference contains the full food and beverage tables, with units and source details.

Keep medicine decisions with the care team

These resources do not choose a new medicine, calculate an individual dose, clear interactions, or prescribe supplements. Kidney and liver function, the exact product, and other treatments can change what is suitable. S02 S03 S10

You can use a simple record now

A notebook or document with dated symptoms, treatment as taken, and blood results with units can support a review. Separate what a clinician confirmed from what remains uncertain. A meal and a flare occurring close together do not establish cause.

Related pages

• Could this be gout? Symptom assessment
• What you can do: practical next steps
• Flare and urate record
• Purine content of foods: complete measured reference

Sources

• S02: 2020 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Management of Gout
• S03: NICE NG219: Gout, diagnosis and management, recommendations
• S05: 2023 EULAR recommendations on imaging in crystal-induced arthropathies
• S10: DailyMed: Colchicine tablets prescribing information