One morning about two weeks ago as I rolled out of bed, I stepped down and felt some of the worst pain on my foot that I've ever felt. I've clumsily bumped my foot or stubbed my toe into furniture before, so I chalked it up to that. Although, I couldn't figure out how I could have done it in the middle of the night without knowing.

I limped around for about a week, at which point I knew there was more going on. I went to the doctor, but since I couldn't even pinpoint how or when it happened, he had trouble diagnosing it as well. I also told him the pain had been "spreading" up and down my foot, starting at the ankle, to the side of the foot and then the big toe. He said once you injure one part of your foot, it's prone to spread to the whole foot. Then, in passing, he mentioned something kind of scary as a possibility--gout. I've never had gout but I know people who have and needless to say, they didn't enjoy it. He hooked me up with some anti-inflammatory medication and a lovely compression boot, which I wore for a couple days last weekend. It seemed to help.

Then I went home and looked up symptoms and causes of gout and surprisingly, or maybe not surprisingly, it revolves mostly around diet. I eat lots of red meat and probably too many processed foods along with sugary drinks. Bingo. So I've started right away taking stock of my eating and drinking habits. I drink some, but not a lot of alcohol so I'm probably good there. I need to drink more water and less soda, but what I thought was an acceptable compromise between the two (Hawaiian Punch, lemonade and other similar sugary and acidic fruit juices) are actually contributors to gout when consumed in excess. Ouch. No more eating ice cream five or six times a week. Plus, I obviously need more exercise. If you're looking to find out more about gout, Medicinenet has some good info to check out.

Consider this my public outreach to hold myself accountable in making these changes so that 'putting my foot down' won't be so difficult in the future. If you've experienced gout or other prolonged foot pain, feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

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