1. The Flare Starts Fast. What Led To It May Have Been Building Quietly.
Uric acid can accumulate and form needle shaped urate crystals in or around a joint. Those crystals may be present before the joint becomes painful. A flare happens when the body's immune system reacts around them, producing the heat, swelling, redness, and extreme tenderness people recognize immediately.
That is why a foot can feel normal at bedtime and unbearable before morning. The symptoms can switch on quickly even though the conditions behind them developed earlier. Once you understand that, the idea of a consistent routine between attacks makes more sense than waiting until the joint is already demanding your full attention.