I went through that a bout a year ago......yeah, it's more painful than stepping on broken bones.
One of my Dr.'s said that gout is the start of your body telling you things can get worse, IF you don't take care of it right now. I opted to not using drugs (allopurinol & pain meds) to combat this and I've been gout free since then.
Initially, I changed my diet (red meats, alcohol, and generally foods high in purine) which was tough as I love my steaks......but I don't like gout, so I did what I had to do. Another thing that induces gout is high fructose syrups (soda).....I switched to the pure cane sugar products.
Drink lots of water and the best medicine for gout is CHERRY JUICE (from concentrate, it's sour and not all that tasty, but 1 glass a day has done the job) which has worked wonders.
Good luck with this Mooch ol buddy, I've felt your pain.