Friggin' Kidney Stones

[shokhead]

My first one was when i was working at Zodys. Not much pain so i figured it was from the drinking the night before. I'm standing at the urinal to pee and nothing,zero. I'm pushing but it isnt happening. I go to my boss and tell him i cant go to the bathroom. He laughed and said take some exlax. I said no,the other end and the smile drooped from his face and he said go to the hospital right now. So i go to the emerg room and lucky me i get a guy just out of the jungles of nam. I wont go into much detail but he pushed the stuck stone buck up the wrong way until it wouldnt move and since then i've had scare tissue in there. Takes forever to pee,very slow. Anyway the rest of mine have been so painful ONLY morphine kills the pain. After the first came out and sent to NY they told me lay off the milk,cheese and ice cream. I have for all these years but i've been reading that now they think its a lack of calcium. So as it goes they dont know for sure so i still lay off the stuff for other reasons to and drink lots of water and gator aid{i cycle} and its been about 8-10 years since my last.

 

[ChrisJam]

Web site mentioning cranberry risk

The ER doctor suggested I drink lots of cranberry juice, it has helped quite a bit so far. I'll have to ask the urologist about it when I get in to see him. Intreresting comment about the tea. I'm not sure if it is the same, but I've been drinking green tea (brewed) almost daily for quite some time, especially in the wintertime when it is cold out. I had never heard of it having any side effects, but I'll ask the doctor about that too, just in case.

Best wishes on your baby (stone )

Jack

Jack, I'm not a doctor, so you should follow solid medical advice. But I know there are good ER doctors and bad ones. One of my friends is a good ER doctor, and I've heard some stories.

Here's a link to one of the sites that say cranberry products can be risky for kidney stones:
http://www.newhope.com/nutritionsciencenews/NSN_backs/Jun_01/news4.cfm?path=print

If you don't have a problem with oxalates, maybe you'll be fine.

For me in my 20s, it was tea, for sure. I had two minor kidney stone episodes, and then the big one that landed me in the hospital. After the stones were analyzed, I stopped tea, and had no problems till now, a run of many, many years.

Good luck with your urologist!

Chris

 

[Jack Hammer]

Jack, I'm not a doctor, so you should follow solid medical advice. But I know there are good ER doctors and bad ones. One of my friends is a good ER doctor, and I've heard some stories.

Here's a link to one of the sites that say cranberry products can be risky for kidney stones:
http://www.newhope.com/nutritionsciencenews/NSN_backs/Jun_01/news4.cfm?path=print

If you don't have a problem with oxalates, maybe you'll be fine.

For me in my 20s, it was tea, for sure. I had two minor kidney stone episodes, and then the big one that landed me in the hospital. After the stones were analyzed, I stopped tea, and had no problems till now, a run of many, many years.

Good luck with your urologist!

Chris

Interesting read. They tested people taking two 450mg supplements daily, as opposed to drinking juice. I'm curious how and if there is a correlation, how many mg of supplements equals a quart of juice and if the the concentration in the supplement is absorbed the same as juice is. Nothing was mentioned about juice, but I'll definately take it as a heads up and ask the specialist.

Thanks

Jack

 

[zildjian]

The latest studies now indicate that low calcium diets put one more at risk for stone reformation and bone problems. We suggest to our patients with recurrent calcium stones to go with a low protein, low sodium, and normal calcium diets, and to seek long term care from a urologist as that's not my specialty. We'll put severe stone formers on thiazide diuretics to decrease their urinary calcium. Go to a urologist for management, ER only if the pain is acute and so bad that you can't stand it. I don't like giving med advice via the net, but this is pretty general stuff, and it's not like you can go put yourself on thiazide diuretics! Bottom line, no matter what anyone tells you elsewhere, consult your urologist. They probably see more stone formers a week or two than I or any other non-urologist sees in a whole year.
Brad

 

[ChrisJam]

Another link

...but I'll definately take it as a heads up and ask the specialist.

Jack,

Here's another web link for you:
http://www.foodnavigator.com/news/ng.asp?n=62124-cranberry-juice-no


It's interesting about the calcium issue. When I had my first bad attack, the idea was to reduce the calcium in the diet if the stone was calcium oxalate (which mine was). What Brad (zildjian) just wrote is the modern theory. (Thanks, Brad! ) When you see your urologist, ask him if a calcium citrate suppliment would be good for your system. Some urologists like them for some--I repeat SOME--kidney stone patients.

My doctor and I are still waiting for my stone's analysis. It's talking forever. In the meantime, I'm eating and drinking normally.

And a note for the other kidney stone suffers on this thread: Don't self-treat yourself. If you think you have kidney stones, I echo what Brad said--see a urologist, someone who deals with cases like this every week.

Chris