Maties! I’m shedding Long John Silver image M

Y gout is finally on the wane, seven days after the first twinge, and I can now walk without people thinking I’m auditioning for Long John Silver and asking where my parrot is. “It’s behind you!” Previous bouts have been mild and treated by friends as a bit of a joke.

“Too much rich living,” I was told. Chance would be a fine thing.

This time the pain was so severe I passed out and a paramedic answered my wife’s 999 call to make sure I was still a viable proposition. Apparently I am.

This vicious affliction was for centuries viewed as a disease of the privileged, because it was associated with rich foods and an excess of red meat, claret and port, that were only available to the wealthy.

Now we can all afford to abuse our bodies and anyone can be affected.

It’s caused by high levels of uric acid that form crystals around joints.

I am on a daily dose of drugs that will hopefully stop it returning although, my doctor says, that an initial reaction to taking the drug is for gout to try a last hurrah, a bit like getting a cold after having the flu jab.

A misconception is that only men are susceptible.

Maureen down the road suffered from it so severely she bought her own set of crutches. Her husband Jim says, apart from medication, cherries appear to help keep it at bay.

Julie Sykes, of Shepley, says: “My partner has suffered terrible with gout and was prescribed tablets until he came across Cherry Active.

“It’s a miracle worker and he no longer needs meds. It’s available from Amazon and is taken daily.”

Former Examiner colleague Christine Battye got gout in her toe, then it moved to her arm joints. “My fingers turned septic causing me to make visits to A&E and I went through hell.”

She was on medication and husband Ken devised his own preventative treatment after research on the internet: Two sticks of chopped celery, half a diced cucumber, half a sliced lemon, one teaspoon of ginger spice and one of cumin powder, all mixed in a juicer.

“I usually drink one half one day and the rest the day after. It’s worth a try.

“And it has worked for me since last March. Dare I say that, or am I tempting providence?”

Once you’ve suffered gout, you’ll try anything.

Keep taking the juice, Christine. And anything else that you believe works.