Question:
A warning - Kidney Stones

On Wednesday I will be exactly 3 months post-op. During the past week I have been to the emergency room twice for severe abdominal pain. The only comparison I can make to the pain I was having would be the pain of contractions from childbirth, except that it was constant, I felt like my insides were being ripped out. I thought I had a bowel obstruction or some other complication from surgery. The first visit was a complete waste of my time. The doctor said my symptoms seemed like I had a kidney stone, but all the tests they did didn't show one. I had blood work, urinalysis, CT scan and regular x-rays and they showed nothing. So they sent me home with no medicine, no follow-up orders, nothing. Well, pain came back saturday night and after 4 hours of writhing in pain my husband took me to another emergency room where they did x-rays of my kidneys called an IVP. These showed that I do infact have a kidney stone and so the doctor gave me pain killers and I will be following up with a urologist on Wednesday. The kidney stone was apparently caused by dehydration after surgery. It can be very difficult to get in all your water after surgery, but it is so important that you do. The pain from the kidney stone hurt worse than anything I went through with the surgery. So drink, drink, drink and if you do begin to experience severe abdominal pain, make sure to ask specifically for IVP x-rays so you do not have to suffer needlessly.    — Dawn P. (posted on August 4, 2003)

August 4, 2003
Same thing happened to me, except that I didn't have to go to the hop--my family practitioner caught it. After a few days of MAJOR hydration and painkillers, it went away but I'll tell you...that pain is enough to motivate me to drink all my H20 EVERY day. By the way, aparently the weight loss and increased protein increase the chances of kidney stones, so drink, drink,drink. The good news is that most kidney stones attacks pass/subside on thier own without requiring surgery. Cheers-
   — gamboge

August 4, 2003
You dont have to be a post op to get kidney stones. A good friend of mine is MO and in the last 3 years must of had 5 or 6 bouts of stones:( I have known her over 2o years and she never drank water saying it was not thirst quenching. Theres something in pop that causes stones, according to her doc. She never had WLS but her doc said being MO increases the risk of stones. Very painful between that and her bad knees and feet she says dshe is falling apart at age 35. I wish she would consider WLS.
   — bob-haller

August 4, 2003
I have a history of kidney stones so before I could have my surgery I had to promise my doc that I would DRINK, DRINK, DRINK. I've had 6 in my lifetime and they are the nastiest things I have ever experienced (labor was a piece of cake in comparison). Thank you so much for addressing this ~ believe me, this is something nobody wants to go through! Be very aware of your body and what it tells you - watch for the warning signs! My kidney stones always started with some discomfort on one side of my lower back (around the kidney). It could go on for days or weeks. Once the stone left the kidney, the pain would start to radiate around my side and then into my abdomen. As it moved down, the spasms were excruciating. If this happens to you, increase your fluid intake from the first sign of trouble! The only thing you can do is drink and drink and drink some more to flush it out. I drink more water now than I did pre-surgery so I'm praying that I've seen my last kidney stone. And one more thing - high protein diets and diets high in calcium can be a contributing cause of kidney stones, according to my urologist. And since we WLS patients eat more protein than anything else, all the more reason we need to make sure we're getting enough fluids!
   — MomBear2Cubs

August 4, 2003
I think it is interesting that these bouts with kidney stones dissappeared on their own. I had them several years ago and I had to go to the lithotriper to get rid of mine. While I had them I had MAJOR bouts of kidney colic (vomiting and pain) that left me in the hospital for a few days. The kidney colic would not leave permanently until I finally got the stones dissolved and flushed out... BE CAREFUL with those stones.
   — Eleanore Davis