Allopurinol

Allopurinol, also known as Zyloprim or Progout.

This prescription-only medicine is taken by gout sufferers to stave off future gout attacks. It inhibits the production of uric acid which forms the crystals in the joints which cause the pain and damage.

Allopurinol is of no help if you are in the middle of an acute attack of gout, but when the pain and the swelling have left, a daily dosage of Allopurinol can keep the gout away for a while.

Sometimes you can go years between gout attacks.

I have a pharmacy bottle of 100 Progout 100 tablets here on my desk. Each tablet contains 100 mg of Allopurinol. I take one after every meal, as my family doctor advised.  

Doctor's Instructions:

Take ONE tablet daily for one week, then TWO daily for the next week. then take THREE daily thereafter. The tablets should be taken immediately after food.

Allopurinol is marketed by GlaxoSmithKline as Zyloprim, and by Hexal Australia as the generic brand Allohexal. It is also available under the brand name Progout.

Next: Colchicine