In 2022, the young Thomas was diagnosed with gout, a chronic inflammatory disease of the joints which generally affects those over 50. He tells of his experience.
- After a first crisis in 2022, Thomas learned that he is affected by gout, a chronic inflammatory disease resulting from the formation of uric acid microcrystals, badly treated by the kidneys, in the joints. Almost 1 % of the French population is suffering from it.
- “At the beginning, I was afraid, I saw myself eating like an ascetic all my life. But my rheumatologist quickly reassured me: I have the right to eat everything, but more with excess. Except that before, Excess was almost every day. ”
- In 2023, doctors announced to him that he is in fact suffering from a genetic disease due to a mutation in the Umod gene, characterized by renal insufficiency. However, it is this very disease, inherited from his father, who sparked the drop. “Thanks to the drop, we discovered this Umod gene. So I gained 10 or 30 years of bad eating habits that would have ruined my kidneys.”
“Goutte, I had heard about books like ‘Kings’ disease, because it mainly concerns people who eat too fatty and drink a little too much alcohol …” Three years ago, after several weeks of pain, Thomas, 35, was diagnosed with this chronic inflammatory disease of the joints, a form of arthritis that usually affects fifties.
“My big toe suddenly swelled. I didn’t worry right away because it looked like a blue, and I used to party. It is only on the return from a festival of several days that I noticed that my toe had tripled in volume and that I could not even set foot on the ground. “ The young man, who lives in Paris, then rushes to the emergency room, convinced that he broke the toe. It is there that a doctor tells him that it is “Either a fracture or a gout crisis”. “But doctor, I can’t have a drop crisis at 30?” “Well if, potentially.”
“Three new gout attacks, while my treatment has an effect”
Benefiting, “In [s]we woe “a health system “amazing”Thomas is sent directly and taken care of by a rheumatologist, who explains to him how to manage his illness. Affecting almost 1 % of the French population, drop is a pathology resulting from the formation of uric acid microcrystals in surrounding joints and tissues. We speak of a drop crisis when this uric acid, badly treated by the kidneys, is in too large quantity in the blood, is deposited in a joint and causes inflammation. “I take a medication every day to bring down this level of uric acid. It is necessary to make blood tests frequently to assess the right dosage and maintain a level always optimal. A bit like diabetics, except that they must do Raise their insulin. “
Gout attacks are like a huge sprain. Except that the pain is throbbing, it never leaves you. Each time, each time the blood passes, it is extremely painful.
The care process starts shortly after its diagnosis. “And it is long: it can take up to a year to stop making drop crises. Regarding me, I still made three or four new crises, while my treatment has an effect.” After the toe, the knee is reached, then the Achilles heel. “Gout attacks are like a huge sprain, the zone double of volume. Except that in addition to being able to set foot on the ground, the pain is nagging. It never leaves you, prevent you from Sleeping. To relieve in the event of a crisis, he is led to take prednisone, a corticosteroid with anti-inflammatory effects. “But there is no question that I redo one. The trap of people who have the drop is that they are better for six months, so they stop their treatment and end up having a crisis. will not be my case. ” He remembers pain.
A rare genetic disease that causes gout
There is, according to Thomas, “Many urban legends around uric acid”but if there is one thing that may bring back its rate, “It’s food”. Patients suffering from gout should therefore avoid strong alcohols, beer (even without alcohol, because it contains barley), cold meats, red meat, chicken, fatty fish, seafood, rice white… “There are everywhere. At first, I was afraid, I was eaten like an ascetic all my life. But my rheumatologist quickly reassured me: I have the right to eat everything, but more With excess. A glass. ” This new drastic diet compared to the previous one, is not always easy to swallow, but the 30 -year -old gets there little by little: he eats “better”does not drink “no longer really”don’t consume “More drugs” and sees it “only positive effects”.
Thanks to the drop, we discovered this Umod gene. So I won 10 or 30 years of bad eating habits that would have ruined my kidneys.
“Funny”when he considered his weaning of alcohol as “A victory over himself”doctors will finally teach him that this “does not change much to [sa] real condition “. In 2023, a year after the announcement of the drop, a DNA test revealed to him that he suffers from a genetic disease due to a mutation of the Umod gene, characterized by renal insufficiency. However, it is this very disease, inherited from his father, who sparked the drop. “I have the drop because I have the kidneys more failing than the average, just like my sister and my brother probably. The kidneys are like a factory that runs at full speed and, each time you overload it, each Excess, there is a worker who dies.
“You have to relearn how to eat”
The announcement of this genetic disease – “So rare that it is a Telethon disease” – was perceived as “A blow” For Thomas, now forced to limit animal proteins to the strict minimum, which damage the kidneys: “I am deprived of the last cute little sin that I had. I found it a little unfair.” Raised with meals for midday and evening, the young man must, at 35, break the received idea that only meat brings satiety. “You have to relearn how to eat, to cook, step by step.” Today followed by a rheumatologist and a nephrologist, Thomas nevertheless strives to see the glass half full: “Thanks to the drop, we discovered this Umod gene. So I gained 10 or 30 years of bad eating habits that would have ruined my kidneys. And then there is so much more serious than my case: my illness does not Handicapped in any way and I have no pain, I just have to pay attention to my diet and take a tablet in the morning.
I’m still quite afraid of dialysis in a few decades. That said, I am convinced that our health system will have found solutions by then. My great hope is to have bionic kidneys one day!
Perhaps even better than before: for a few years, the IT project manager has seriously set to callisthenia, a sport which consists in developing its strength by using the weight of its body as resistance-Pumps in balance on the Hands, “human flag” … “At the end of Covid period, I was 92 kg for 1m80 – I was still a little big, callisthenia brought me a lot of self -confidence, in my abilities. I set myself two gymnastics and J I realized that I could do it with work, everything is more or less possible. We smoke and drink. “
Stay “an anxiety”, Among other things: the evolution of its diseases. “Since I have juvenile drop, I take from 30 years a treatment that people generally take from 50 or 60 years. Doctors are not alarmist, but having to take a life medication worry a little, we do not know the long -term effects. It happened in my entourage.
