kidney stones

hi all, been long time since i posted here.....i've been having kidney stone attacks bout 2 or 3 times a month.... has any one else had this problem & what causes it?????????? jeri

Jeri, I have problems with kidney stones often, and they are painful. I have had problems with them since I was a child and all the ones I have had analyzed were calcuim deposits. I don't think WLS has made them any worse. Darlene

1999... a year I shall never forget... I came home from college at Thanksgiving and the day I was to return, I didn't feel good.. I had some back pain and cramping... my mother told me perhaps I didn't need to go back to Springfield, MO from Nashville... that night, around 1:30, I woke her up... extreme pain! I thought I was going to die! It was a kidney stone. The only thing I can say is : THANK YOU GOD FOR MORPHINE! It took me 3 weeks to pass that stone... my insurance company was out of state and was too cheap to let me be treated... they wanted me to drive 8 hrs to Missouri to get treatment... uhh hello... would you send a young single girl 8 hrs in a car on her own risking the chance she would have another attack? I have never had so much pain in my life!

Jeri My husband used to have a terrible time with kidney stones. Had to have surgery and have them removed. The urologist told him it was not from drinking milk as the myth goes but that it was a deposit of unused/unabsorbed nutrients. Anyway, he told him to keep his kidneys flushed with lots of water and juices. He said orange juice has the same effect as cranberry. You may need to urinate through a strainer and see if you actually pass anything large enough for them to analyze. It would need to be a really fine filter. A kidney stone can be the smaller than a piece of sand and can cause you much pain if it is in the right spot. I feel for you especially after seeing what my husband went through. I hope things get better for you. Melissa

I'm so sorry you have had to join the kidney stone club. Has your doctor had you collect any for testing? You can collect your urine and pour it through a (fine mesh) tea strainer when you suspect you are having an episode. My urologist told me to add pure lemon juice to my water to help prevent stones. Unfortunately, this was not enough for me and I have to take potassium citrate instead. The most important thing is to drink a lot of water!!!! Especially if you are trying to pass a stone. WLS surgery does increase the chances of stones due to our high protein diet and the fact that it is harder for us to drink an adequate amount of water. My doctor told me that a gallon of water is not excessive if I'm trying to pass a stone. I do good to get in my 1/2 gallon each day as required by my surgeon. I was already in a high risk group for stones because of a medication I take for another medical condition. I have been able to reduce that med to 1/4 of the dosage I was on prior to surgery. I have not had a stone episode requiring medical intervention since my surgery and have only had a couple of episodes of passing "gravel". I have not had any episodes at all since my PCP put me on potassium citrate to raise the acidity of my urine. I feel for you and hope you and your doctor can find a solution. Susan

I didn't know that potassium citrate would help, I'm gonna get me some today. I have had surgery twice within a month for stones too large to pass. They were lodged, so ultra sonic water bath wouldn't help. I have the first stone they retrieved (9mm), you can imagine how that one felt when one as small as a grain of sand feels like a dump truck. Darlene

The potassium citrate is prescription. This is a liquid that I take 5 teaspoons of each day mixed in a glass of Crystal Light. This stuff is FOUL tasting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You may be thinking of sodium citrate which is sold over the counter and used to, um...clean you out... Not the same thing!! You might talk to your doctor about a preventive medicine since you are having such frequent bouts. I do know that it is fairly normal to have a lot of gravel or sand after passing (or trying to pass) a large stone. Twice in one month is just nuts. They should have seen the other stone when they ran tests to find the first one. That would have shown them that they needed to go in and retrieve that one too. I certainly feel for you. Kidney stones are worse than childbirth!!

Susan, Can you take the potassium citrate pills? I couldn't get past the taste on the liquid but the pills are no problem. THey are huge but I think they are well absorbed.

The pills my doctor had me taking were huge and did not dissolve. The medicine would leach out to be absorbed by the body and the waxy base would pass through the system intact. I had to take 5 of the capsules each day and because each capsule was larger than an M&M, there was a risk of blocking the stoma. I put by 5 tsp of the potassium citrate in a 16oz bottle of Crystal Light and drink it that way. I get in 16 oz of my fluid and am able to tolerate the taste of the medicine.