Weekends like the one I had this past weekend don't happen very often. I went out on both Friday and Saturday night. The Friday night outing was a bit last minute but the Saturday one was planned for quite some time. What wasn't planned was that by late Sunday night I could feel a gout flareup coming my way. It finally hit me.

I had my suspicions that alcohol was playing a part in my recent gout episodes. I don't drink hardly at all at home. About the only time I do is when I go out to a bar or restaurant. And very rarely do I ever drink to excess. 'Rarely' showed up this weekend. Friday night we had a blast at the Craig Gass comedy show and then went out for some drinks with friends after the show. One thing led to another and before you know it, it was 1 a.m. and my wife had to drive us all home. Now that wouldn't have been a big deal except for Saturday.

Saturday was Courtlin's birthday/karaoke party. It was at the very same bar that we had such a blast at on Friday night. I told myself, hey, take it easy. Don't go overboard. And I can say that I did take it easy. By the end of the night, I had no issue driving myself home and getting up for an early event on Sunday morning. But the damage had been done. I had ingested too much booze and I was going to pay.

One of the most common triggers for cases of gout is alcohol. That plus red meat and seafood are the most common causes of the painful disorder. Yes, I have medicine that I can take for flareups, but the time is probably here to take preventative medication. It's either that or give up everything that could cause me pain. And what fun is that?

More From 98.1 KHAK