Last night around 8pm I had just finished dinner and sat down at my computer. I suddenly got a crushing pain in my left big toe. It literally came out of nowhere and was really intense like someone was slamming a brick on it. It got worse over time. I've ruled out sprain or dislocating it because I think I would have remembered injuring it. The pain came out of nowhere!

Over the course of the night and all day today, it has begun to swell and I can barely sleep or walk. The joint on my toe is swollen and red. I cannot believe a toe can hurt this much. I have some leftover vicodin from an oral surgery so it's the only thing keeping me going through the pain right now.

As for diet, I eat a lot of fresh vegetables and red meat (steaks and burgers). I am also a big beer drinker, and have been for many years. I'm male in my mid 30s.

Yesterday at this time I didn't even know what gout was, and now today I think I am one of the unfortunate sufferers of this disease. A friend is out getting me some tart cherry concentrate. Going to give it a go.

A couple questions: Does this sound like gout? The sudden onset has me very concerned. How long does the pain typically last? This would be my first attack and the pain is the 2nd worst pain I've ever experienced (first would be an infected and impacted wisdom tooth).

Trying to avoid the doctor. Don't want to pay for $500 in tests just so they can tell me something I already know.

Thanks for any replies.

EDIT 6/30: So I've been drinking the cherry juice, taking the vitamins, and drinking a ton of water. Pain seems to be subsiding but the swelling definitely is not. Also, I was completely unaware the tart black cherry concentrate was a laxative and I ended up drinking the entire bottle. Oops. Last night was not very fun. Haven't been to the doctor, but did have a nurse friend take a look at it. She said it didn't look like gout, more like I dislocated my toe. Playing it safe for now and will continue with cherry juice/vitamins until I can get to a doc for a real diagnosis.