Allopurinol is used mainly as a long-term daily treatment to prevent gout attacks or flares. It helps to prevent permanent damage to your joints.
Allopurinol can also be used to prevent some types of kidney stones and may be used in people receiving cancer chemotherapy, to prevent high uric acid that can occur with some types of chemotherapy.
- Allopurinol reduces the amount of uric acid your body makes. Uric acid is produced in your body when you digest and metabolise some types of food and drinks.
- Usually excess uric acid is passed out in urine, but when uric acid levels are too high, crystals can form around joints causing inflammation, pain and damage. This is known as gout.
- The crystals can also cause lumps under your skin called tophi.
Checking your uric acid levels
- To reduce gout attacks, it's important to keep your uric acid level is below 0.36 mmol/L.
- When your uric acid is below 0.36mmol/L no new crystals form and crystals that are in your joints can dissolve.
- If you have tophi, the goal is to get to a uric acid level below 0.3 mmol/L.
- Uric acid levels can be checked with a blood test, either at your clinic or pharmacy.
Brand changeNote: From March 2024, the brand of allopurinol tablets will change from DP-Allopurinol to Ipca-Allopurinol. Find out more about the brand change. |
Video: Deciding to take allopurinol for gout
(Health Navigator Charitable Trust, NZ, 2023)
Video: Starting on allopurinol for gout
(Health Navigator Charitable Trust, NZ, 2023)