The main symptoms of arthritis are pain and inflammation around the joints. This is also the same for gout symptoms. In order to determine if your arthritis is indeed gout, you may need to have fluid drawn from around the affected joints for microscopic analysis. Another symptom is elevated uric acid levels in the blood. Excess uric acid is the cause of gout attacks. You may first notice symptoms when you’re resting at night or during your sleep. Often times patients will awaken suddenly to an acute pain in the affected area. If you’re suffering from any type of pain in or around your joints, whether it be from your fingers or your toes and anywhere in between, it’s important to be checked out by your doctor.