Free printable
Questions sheet
A one-page version of the questions list, with space to write answers. Print it and bring it, along with your flare tracker.
Last reviewed
How to use it
Print this page, or download the one-page PDF. Write the answers in the space under each question during your visit. The questions come from Questions to ask your clinician, which explains why each one matters. A question list is not advice and not permission to start, stop, or switch a medicine.
The sheet
Questions for my clinician Date: ______________
Get urgent care for a hot, swollen joint with fever, if you cannot bear weight, or if it is unlike your usual flares. Do not save these questions for a routine visit. Educational only; not medical advice.
- Which joint is this? Is more than one joint involved? What do you think is going on?
- Could this be an infection, or something other than gout? What would make you want me seen sooner?
- What is the plan for this flare? If a medicine is part of it, which one, and what should I do if I cannot take it?
- What is the long-term plan, if I need one? Is a urate-lowering medicine part of it, and how will we follow it with blood tests?
- What should I do if another flare starts, including at night or on a weekend? Whom do I call? Do I keep taking a urate-lowering medicine I am already on?
- What should I avoid, or be careful with, given my other conditions and medicines? Kidneys, stomach, bleeding risk, diabetes, heart problems, pregnancy, and anything I was told not to stop on my own.
Bring: when it started, fever or not, whether you can bear weight, past gout diagnosis, and the names of all medicines you take.
goutresource.com/questions-sheet.html
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