Kidney Stones (1 Viewer)

Saintvan

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So, I passed my 4th kidney stone in as many years last week. That's not the worst part. My Dr. sends me for a kidney ultrasound yesterday and they locate "at least" 5 more in my kidneys. Good times. Anyone have any magical remedies for helping pass these things?
 
Only suggestion on passing the stones is to drink lots and lots of cranberry juice. It helps.

I had 12 stones in 7 years, IIRC. Anyway it was a bunch. After several visits to several urologists, I found one who did a test, the name of which now escapes me. But it required a urinalysis test based on a weekends worth of output. From that test, he was able to give me a list of foods to avoid.

No other doctor did anything except guess at what to avoid.

What I found was that not all stones are calcium based. I was told to avoid tea, green beans, nuts and a variety of other foods (including beer). It did the trick along with taking cranberry tablets daily. Over 2 decades later, I have not had another stone. Like throwing a light switch.

The problem I ran into was that until this doctor, all the other urologists just wanted to treat the stone, not teach me how to avoid it. This doctor told me that this attitude was common and that each person is different on why their stones form. Only testing can tell you what foods YOU must avoid.

Good luck. Nothing is worse than kidney stones.
 
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I feel for ya...this thread reminds me of a time I was in the hospital to get an abcess removed. It was in Phillipsburg, PA and the hospital was in the process of being shut down (it was about 80 years old). There were only 2 patients on the floor (me and a trucker from Fargo, ND). He had a kidney stone and had an attack and had to be hospitalized. Anyway, I still remember him lying there screaming from pain as the stone passed. The screams just echoed down the halls of this empty hospital. It was one of the most surreal, weird episodes of my life. Ever since, I drink about 1 gal of water a day...I am petrified of kidney stones...I guess I am a urostonephobic...
 
yeah you need to have the stone analyzed, especially since this is possibly going to be a recurrent issue. Kooldak mentioned that calcium isnt in all stones, but they are the principal component about 70% of the time. BUT this doesnt mean to not eat calcium!! It is just that your body does something different with calcium than most people. If you are on Lasix (a diuretic to control your blood pressure), that could be part of the problem, and another one (called hydrochlorothiazide) could be a part of the solution. I dont know your medical problems and current medications, so I wont try to treat you online... But I will say that plenty of hydration should help...remember beer and caffeinated beverages help dehydrate you (but please dont go drink 3 gallons of water).
 
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Thanks for the valuable info folks. I had the first stone I passed analyzed. It was a result of dehydration. Combine the fact that I still don't hydrate myself well enough (very active and don't drink much water) and the fact that I was told you can be genetically predisposed to them (my mother had them), I can guess what the remaining 5 in my kidney are a result of. Needless to say, there are no more caffenated beverages in our house anymore.
 
i was told to avoid tea by the doc, the nurses told me to avoid all brown liquids

i stay away from tea but still drink coffe and have been fine - my stones (16) were from calcium-oxalate
 
It was TEH single most painful experience I have EVER had in my life. KOOLDAK is right though in that there are a myriad of reasons that cause them, for me it was a combo of not enough water, drinking coffee and a high-protein diet.

I was hospitalized as the source of the pain was unknown. Morphine and Demorol did NOTHING, it was the liquid Ibuprofen that finally killed the pain.
 
yeah you need to have the stone analyzed, especially since this is possibly going to be a recurrent issue. Kooldak mentioned that calcium isnt in all stones, but they are the principal component about 70% of the time. BUT this doesnt mean to not eat calcium!! It is just that your body does something different with calcium than most people. If you are on Lasix (a diuretic to control your blood pressure), that could be part of the problem, and another one (called hydrochlorothiazide) could be a part of the solution. I dont know your medical problems and current medications, so I wont try to treat you online... But I will say that plenty of hydration should help...remember beer and caffeinated beverages help dehydrate you (but please dont go drink 3 gallons of water).


Ahhhh...calcium is the major component to all kidney stones. It is what you eat and combine with the calcium that creates the compound, that makes the stone. For example; oxalic acid based foods with calcium based foods form calcium oxalate stones, which are the most common and I have had on numerous occasions until I started lsitening to my urologist. You cannot ever drink enough water. You should drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water per day. There are various shapes to kidney stones. Depending on the shape of the stone has a huge impact on one's ability to pass them without a procedure or without much pain. There is also acetic acid stones, but are much less common, but could be just as painful, depending on the shape. Beer and any type of diuretic are bad news. The obejct is to keep the kidneys flushed with water and not to allow the calcium and acids to combine to form crystals in the urine, which ultimate end up as stones. Anyway, the bottom line is, you need to have your stone analyzed and your doctor then needs to give you a list of foods to avoid altogether and others you may still have in moderation. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER!
 
I just had one recently.

Ive had back surgery, and now this, and I gotta tell ya, they rate pretty much the same as far as pain goes. Holy crap!

I think I missed catching my stone, or it may still be lodged in me. I go back to the doc next week I believe.

Funny thign is, I don't take in a lot of calcium in general. Not a milk drinker and ive calmed down quite a bit on the cheeses, So until I get analyzed, my guess is its something else.
 
All this talk of avoiding tea... does that include "Crystal Light" tea ? Cause I drink that stuff all the time, have for years.. I've never had a kidney stone, don't want to push my luck :)
 

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