Gout questions

Can anyone please give me some advice about gout? I'm not sure I even
have it (I was diagnosed with arthritis, but am being told gout is a form
of that). It is affecting my little toe on my right foot, and the pain
extends to the top of the toe and entire top of right side of that foot.
It doesn't act like typical arthritis. It comes and goes, and
I can go for a stretch of days without pain, and then, all of a sudden,
bingo! these last two days have been the worst, and there is discoloration
of the skin on top of my foot. I am hobbling around today, and getting
pain in other parts of my foot because I am walking in such an unnatural
manner. Not good. I went to my local whole foods store, which
has a vitamin/supplement/herbal shop affiliated with it, and someone in
there told me that fasting is definitely NOT good for gout, and that
the liver is involved. I never before had a uric acid problem, but I
have done 4 liver flushes, and after the last one (in May) I did a short
orange juice fast (fresh-squeezed, organic oranges) following the LF.
My eczema worsened from a few small itchy dots on my inner forearm to
a large uncontrollably itchy patch about 3"-4" long, I got shingles,
the effects of which lasted some 5 weeks (my immune system had been
just fine, did not even get a sore throat or sniffle for a whole year
prior), and then right after the foot pain began. Saw a podiatrist, he
told me I had arthritis. A friend today suggested I might have gout. Has
anyone heard that fasting can bring gout on, and what is there I can
do for gout, if that is actually what I have?
thanks in advance Tweet