WLS & Kidney Stones???

My hubby had RNY in February.  He's doing great except that 6 weeks out he was down with a kidney stone.  Now 6 weeks later he's got a second stone!  Is this from the calcium and vitamins he's taking?  The Doctors don't seem to think so, but he never had them before the surgery.  What have you heard....What's been your experience? 

I've never heard of kidney stones being related to WLS.  I have, however, noted that MANY ailments - physical and otherwise - are often blamed on WLS.  Could he have had these stones had he NOT had WLS?  There's no way to know at this point. 

All you CAN do is deal with the cards he's been dealt.  It would be a very BAD reason to stop taking his supplements, tho, so don't reach that conclusion.  I firmly believe that doctors are human, and capable of errors in judgement.  But right now, if the doctor doesn't believe it's related, well, you may as well go with that.  Perhaps time and more stones would indicate otherwise, but for now, I wouldn't blame WLS.

Thanks Darla,  the stones are being analyzed to determine their make up.  We'll go from there.  I was just curious, since I never had this problem myself with my surgery if others had heard or experienced this too.
Thanks,

I heard they may result  from not getting enough fluids.

I don't think it's directly related to WLS, either.  However, it CAN be related to the calcium.  Taking extra calcium is one reason it's important to drink lots of water every day.

Two years before my WLS, I was in ER with a kidney stone.  I had already been taking extra calcium for several years.  I never did find the stone, but my PCP said it was most likely related to the calcium, so I quit taking it until I had WLS. 

Nancy - I thought I had read something about a connection.  I have cut and pasted an excerpt from a paper I have.  If you want the whole paper (it is 1.3 MB), let me know and I can e-mail it to you.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGISTS,
THE OBESITY SOCIETY, AND AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR
METABOLIC & BARIATRIC SURGERY MEDICAL GUIDELINES
FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE FOR THE PERIOPERATIVE
NUTRITIONAL, METABOLIC, AND NONSURGICAL SUPPORT OF
THE BARIATRIC SURGERY PATIENT

Just as in patients with short bowel syndrome, patients who have had malabsorptive procedures are at risk for oxalosis and renal oxalate stones. Impaired binding of oxalate in the small bowel allows greater oxalate absorption in the colon, contributing to excessive excretion of oxalates by the kidneys. Dehydration also has a role as a result of restrictions imposed on amount and timing
of fluid intake after gastric restrictive procedures.

Treatment of this problem consists of low-oxalate meals, appropriate oral calcium supplementation, and orally administered potassium citrate. Increasing the urinary calcium too high with orally administered calcium and vitamin D supplementation, intended to reduce secondary hyperparathyroidism and treat presumed osteomalacia, can exacerbate calcium oxalate stone formation. Clinical studies have demonstrated an association of O formigenes colonization of the small bowel, or administration as a probiotic therapy, with decreased urinary oxalate excretion and stone formation

I have had kidney stones more times then I can count but this last time I had surgery back in December my urologist said it can be due to WLS she sees many WLS patients come in with stones.  She does some tests and makes sure all my vitamins are balanced just right and that has helped from getting stones.