In the olden days, only rich people suffered from gout. When calories became cheap, it made its way down to the lower classes. My father had gout, and now I have it. It has dogged me for 20 years.
Gout is a total monster. It appears with almost no warning and disables you. By the afternoon, you can’t walk on a foot that was fine in the morning. The pain throbs like nothing else. If an angel-white sheet happens to caress a raw part of a gout-swollen toe or ankle, it’s like a thousand wasps stinging one spot.
I have never stopped searching for over-the-counter drugs, homemade remedies, foods, and oils that can reduce the severity and number of episodes. I first experimented with CBD (aka cannabidiol, the medicinal, nonpsychoactive compound in cannabis) after a pot aficionado recommended it to me. During a recent episode of gout in late September, I tried CBD in pill form (created by the Seattle company Haystack 4Life). To my complete surprise, I was cured in a matter of hours. The pain was totally gone. I could walk again. Hallelujah. The sweetest name I know.
