Gouty arthritis is a condition seen as a not very important by lots of people, but the truth is that leaving it untreated for long periods can cause you serious issues later on for instance, the increased levels of uric acid that commonly accompany gout (and are one of the main gout symptoms) can lead to the development of kidney stones, among other problems.
Recognizing gouts presence is important, and it is equally important to know how to notice its symptoms of onset if you have a chronic gout condition, so that you can apply preventive measures adequately and quickly. It is not difficult to prevent gout from manifesting itself strongly, but you have to know how to spot it. There are actually three major gout symptoms you should be on the watch for:
Swelling and redness in the joints: this is probably the most dependable way to spot gout, and it is also one of the most commonly seen symptoms. Normally, when you have got gout in the knees, you can expect your knee joints to swell up quite badly and the skin will likely feel easily irritable. While this is the most reliable symptom for an onset of gout in your knees, it is also the one that manifests itself after the disease has been activated meaning that by the time you have spotted this symptom, it'll be too late to stop gout from manifesting and the best you can do is to eliminate its symptoms as much as you can.
Fatigue: when you are being really affected by gout, you will feel more tired than usual in general, and you will find yourself with less energy for your everyday tasks than you normally have. This is one of the conditions that can alert you of an impending gout flare early enough if you can spot it reliably, though it can be hard to do so for the plain fact that fatigue by itself is related with numerous things and not gout specifically. Still, if you know you are prone to recurring gout symptoms, make sure you stay alert for any displays of weakness.
High uric acid levels: probably the most reliable way to tell if you are about to be slapped by a gout attack. If your levels of uric acid unexpectedly go up too harshly, this most likely indicates that your gout disease has reactivated and is about to hit you. This is the best time to medicate yourself and take other approaches to alleviate gouts symptoms. If you spot the abnormal levels of uric acid early enough, you should be able to address the condition efficiently and not be affected so harshly by it. This, however, means that you'll have to regularly check yourself up at your doctor, having them carry out tests on you for the particular purpose of watching your gout levels. This must be done often as well and while it may feel frustrating, it is still way better than having to deal with gout itself or the flare ups that can keep you up late at nighttime.