Reoccuring Stones

[Dawnnia78]

Over the last 15 years I have passed dozens stones myself and have also had lithotripsies along with a scope with lithro done 1month ago. Last week I landed in ER with horrible pain again in my left side. Never would I have thought stones so soon, but sure enough I have 6 again. The largest being 4mmx3mm. 4 of these stones are in the left lower pole. Which I have read are the hardest to pass due to location. Has anyone gone through this right after surgery? I see my urologist again tomorrow. I am at my wits end with these stones. Any suggestions?

[hollyj4800]

I, too, have had stones for several years hoping to finally get some ansers on why. I was reading your above post and wondering how you are doing? Any news?

[Dawnnia78]

Hi Shannon. I have tried the diet, meds, and lot of water over the years and I still get stones. I am finally going to see a Dr at the university here in Chicago. But before he will even see me I have to complete 3 24hr urine tests, with blood work after each one. I start my 3rd test Sunday and will FINALLY be able to make my appointment on Monday for him. They have a clinic and prevention center there, so I am really excited to be able to see what they have to say. I will keep you posted.
Good luck and I hope you can receive some relief:)

[shannon220]

I had lithotripsy and a stent for several stones, one which was 10mm at the beginning of May. I showed two stones on my x-ray just 10 days ago. I'm wondering myself on how they can form so quickly? I'm so sorry for all that you are going through, it's horrible. Do you eat a low oxalate diet? Do you drink water with real lemon juice? Do you reduce your sodium? I'm just wondering because this is some of what I am having to do after two 24 hour urines. I also am taking 400 mg of magnesium and I'm supposed to limit my dairy to two servings a day. I just want to know if others are advised the same as I was? If it doesn't work, my urologist says I will have to go on medication. Do you take medication?

[Dawnnia78]

Thanks Unclebuck! Yesterday after posting I ended up with some pretty serve pain, and today is the same. I slept around 10hours, and still just not feeling well. I called my uro, and he is on vacation. But they are supposed to have one of the others in group call me. GREAT! LOL........It never ends. And it is comforting knowing that others deal with this as well. Not comforting for them, but you know what I mean:)

[Unclebuck257]

At this point, about all you can do is wait and see. I'm betting that those pieces will all pass eventually and then it'll be on to the next stone!! I say that with a snicker (and not snickering at you), and please know that there's a lot of us in that same boat with you. Take care and good luck. It's been a pleasure meeting and talking with you. Please stay in contact with us.

[Dawnnia78]

surgery went well last Thursday. Although I am bruised this time around, feeling a bit better today. I have pasted a few very, very small pieces(Looks like sand) but nothing like I should be. And that worries me some. My luck the pieces are just sitting in lower pole again, and will keep growing:(

[Unclebuck257]

Yes, please do keep us apprised to what happens after you see the new doctor and also what they find and what they tell you. Glad your present doctor removed those 6 stones for you and I'm in full agreement with you regarding what you're going through can and will literally weaken you physically and also mentally. It certainly did to me with my multiple stone  episodes, that drug on for several months!  Good Luck!

[Dawnnia78]

Thank you for your reply unclebuck! Well I went to the urologist last Thursday, and when he did the scope, now 6 weeks ago, he did in fact remove all stones I had. So I have created 6 more since then. He referred me to see Dr Coe out of the University of Chicago. They have a Kidney Stone lab there that treats reoccurring patients like us. I have to complete 3 24hr urine tests, along with blood work before I am able to see him. But, at this point, this is great news. It may be at least a month before being able to see him, so my regular urologist is doing another lithro on me this Thursday. The pain in my kidney has become very bad again. So I am thankful for the surgery at this point.

I have stopped drinking soda, and also gave up red meats along with spinach. But that has been awhile ago now. So I do not exactly know what is causing them. I did however recently move. And I do have well water, but I have never drank it. I only use bottled water for drinking. I do use it to cook with though, so not sure if that could be the cause.

It will be interesting to find out what is causing my stones. I have tried the meds and everything. Nothing seems to work. No one understands the pain and stress caused by these. They truly do take a toll on your body and also your mind.

I will keep you posted after my surgery and how the new dr goes. Thank you again for your reply.

[Unclebuck257]

Hi Dawnnia78..... Sorry to hear what you're going through, but yes, I've suffered with these nasty stones for well over 30 years now and some were multiple stones at one time in the same year, and then more stones at different times of that same year. In my case, here I was drinking all this water and still getting these multiple stone episodes of stones. I did some serious looking at what might be causing me to have this many stones, this frequently.

It turned out that when I checked, I realized that my multiple stone episodes really started when I moved into my present home, which is located out in the country and I have a private well for my water out here. I stopped drinking the tap water out of my faucet and only drinking bottled water and the number and frequency of my stones dropped back to a manageable, normal level. Even water for my morning coffee is bottled water. By manageable I mean about 1 a year, which is pretty normal for me. At least my multiple stone episodes stopped for the most part.

In order to see what caused my increase in stone production to possibly eliminate as much of it as possible, I had my stones analysed and it showed that iron was a big part of their makeup, along with calcium.  At the same time, I found out after checking that my well water was high in iron content too. As I say it worked to some degree for me so getting your stone or stones analysed might be an excellent idea if you haven't done that already. Good luck at the Urologist's and please let us know what you find out.