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I think the Allupuriol is going to be out of the question prior to your Africa trip. All the advice/articles I have seen suggest that you would expect it to raise uric acid levels before it starts to lower/control them so we shouldn't think about starting to take it while still suffering an attack.
I say “we” as I've just recovering from my worst attack; not as bad as yours sounds but then again I didn't go and play rugger!
Some people report that they haven't had the Allupuriol trigger an attack when they've started taking it, but really can you take the risk? Attacks are bad enough when you're at home!
My suggestion would be to aim for a diet as low in purines as you can get, cut out alcohol completely (and yes, I know how daft that's gonna sound to a rugby player) AND drink plenty of water. i.e. Let your body work on flushing out what's in there already.
Will you have a vegetarian food option on safari? I struggle to find detailed food advice for my local shopping, the Lord alone knows how you'll find out the purine content of zebra steaks!
I sort of agree that “coordinated motion upon various joints” etc. is a good thing for attack prevention, but wouldn't recommend it during an attack. I have read articles suggesting that warm water (with and without various additives) baths and/or foot soakings are good for prevention and/or cures. Generally the responses to these articles put this down to the general explanation of cold joints are more likely to be affected so warming them up will help, but if it works for you then don't stop!
I have found that my attacks are more likely during extended periods of inactivity (i.e. the dietary naughtiness hasn't changed, I've been less active for whatever reason). Its my belief that the body works better if you undertake some form of regular exercise, and swimming is an excellent one for gout/arthritis sufferers as the weight is taken off the joints while you do it.
The other thing to remember, I guess, about exercise is that you will perspire (or “glow” if you are a girlie) and that should get rid of some of the uric acid in the body.
My theory on this …
1. gout is the body dropping uric acid out of the blood stream into a joint because there's too much to cope with;
2. generally this affects one (or more) specific joints per person (i.e. the big toe on the right foot, or the knee or where ever);
3. the body will, in time, start to try and remove the uric acid crystals from the joint back into the blood stream;
4. during this removal process you can potentially end up with too much uric acid in the blood stream again and there are no guarantees on which joint will get the deposits next;
5. the raising of the affected foot probably means that the unaffected foot, if not raised, has the potential for being affected increased (due to blood flow reasons).
I also think that for many the body will take the opportunity to detox (especially for “regular drinkers') and this will probably mean that the removal of uric acid has competition.
Anyway, that's the theory I dreampt up while being bed ridden for 4 weeks!
