I'm a gout sufferer and yes, I was given a stern warning to take Allopurinol for the rest of my life.
I didn't know what was causing the pain, but it improved within 24 hours. The next attack was when I was 40. I got off the aircraft, declined a ride in the engineers van and set off across 200 yards of tarmac. I made it 100 yards. Nothing could have made me walk any further. I was off for a week with that one. Finally it was diagnosed.
I tried coming off the med when I was c 48, dunno why. I paid the price...carpet slippers to the pub for a month.
Someone on this forum was kind enough to give me a briefing, and the main point for me was that it had started at age 30. If I understand correctly, this implies that it is primarily hereditary with the diet just making things worse.
For thems in the US, the good news is that one can obtain 'generic' Allopurinol for about $4 a month.
Edit to say that in the UK your GP will have your Uric acid monitored and while I'm here I have a yearly trip to an outfit that offers a detailed checkup (ECG, prostate, various blood factors. ) all for $50.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uric_acid