Kidney stones, kidney stones, and MORE kidney stones!!!

Hi Everyone! Well, here we all are, over a year out - and isn't it fantastic?!?! I for one really have no complaints - I am so happy to be alive right now and to be able to enjoy the new me. However, one thing has really caused me a great deal of aggravation - - KIDNEY STONES! Gee whiz - is there anything in the world crappier than kidney stones? Not much. I can really respect women, now more than ever, if passing a large kidney stone is 1/100th the pain of childbirth - wowee! Well, I knew for a while that I formed a large number of stones in my left kidney as the months went on, but I was not prepared for what I am going through now. I PASSED 17 STONES LAST WEEK - that is NOT a typo! And I still have one stuck in between my kidney and bladder. THAT is the most painful part if you ask me. No stones have been larger than 3-4mm, so passing them thank God has been possible without any surgery - up to this point. I don't know about many of you, but early on it was noticed that my hypothyroid was "leaching calcium from my bones", so I was put on a high calcium citrate regimen (around 2000MG daily in one of my shakes), and I have been really good about following this. I have complete labs pulled almost every month, and things were monitored regularly. The doctor did notice high quantities of uric acid in my urine, which is a sign of excessive protein. "Good for me!", I thought, until the stones came! How on earth are we supposed to get-in all of our grams of protein, etc., if we have these kinds of repurcussions? I was told that a good amount of patients do indeed go through a "kidney stone phase", but I never thought it would be so horrible. I travel a great deal for work. Right now I am in Alabama, in a nice hotel, but with all of the kidney pain, it makes it difficult to get comfortable, difficult to eat and drink, and get good sleep - especially hard to concentrate on work. When the pain is bad enough, I take 2 tsp of liquid vicoden - which solves the problem for the short haul. Has anyone else had chronic problems with Kidney Stones following surgery? What are some natural supplements/foods that I can consume that will keep me "in line" with our new lifestyle, without having to sacrifice my calcium and my protein intake? Any ideas? I appreciate any and all comments and suggestions! Warmest regards, Michael Campellone NOW LOST 205 POUNDS - YAYYYY!! 375/170/170

My daughter (who has NOT had the surgery) developed kidney stones while she was pregnant with her first child. She was sure she was having a miscarriage until she got to the hospital and they assured her that all was well. That is when they discovered the stones. She finally passed them without surgery and they were pretty small, but she said it was horrible! After she had actually had the baby, Becky said that the kidney stones were WORSE than labor. I just thought you would like to know that! But this is the first that I have heard that it might be a side effect of the surgery. Which type did you have? I really don't want to go down the kidney stone path if I can help it!

Hi - I had an OPEN RNY Gastric Bypass. After surgery, no matter how hard I tried, I simply did not drink enough water - and that is the most important thing. That, combined with high calcium levels and and very high protein diet, in my opinion, created my problem. This, I am sure, is certainly avoidable if you just make sure and drink as much water as possible and keep your system well-flushed. It is really depressing - but there is so much more to be happy about! Thanks for writing back! - Michael

Hey Michael, Remember Me? Just a note to tell you I know exactly what you are going thru. I had an appointment with my Urologist today. I have successfully passed all the stones after they did the Lithotripsy to break up the 10MM stone I had in my left Kidney. But last night I started having really bad pains in my back on the right side. Doc told me today it was just ghost pain from the left side. Said nothing showed up in the CAT Scan in December and it was too soon for anything else to form.... BUT he read my X-Ray... only to find I am not the norm... I am now passing stones from the right Kidney. He said I know how to do things right... They are analizing the stones I passed so maybe we can eliminate the problem in the future. This is a real pain(literally) but all in all.... I wouldn't go back... I am down 146 lbs. BMI is now 29.7 so I am only considered OVERWEIGHT..... AIN'T Life Grand??? Give me a call sometime. And next time you come thru Vegas..... we will definately get together again... Take care, Your WLS Partner, Same Day, Same Time.... in it together.. Debbie 146 lbs gone forever.... 329/183/140