Recurring kidney stones & chronic constipation

[Totakeke]

Hi,

I'm an 18 year old male who has had chronic constipation for 1 year. A few months after my constipation started, I also started having "UTIs" very frequently, even though I am not sexually active and I maintain good hygiene down there.

After about my 6th "UTI" in a row in just several months,  I decided to just stop taking the antibiotics. Just days later the pain went away and the symptoms were gone. Then they came back about a week later.

It was when this happened that I began to suspect that maybe it wasn't an infection, but a kidney stone - or recurring kidney stones. When the chronic constipation started a year ago, I also began to have difficulty peeing. I have to strain sometimes to get it to come out. The pee is really clear, like 99% of the time. It has no color. And when I'm done peeing, at the bottom of the toilet there is always what looks like green "dust". It always sinks to the very bottom.

And about once a week, I have to pass a kidney stone, and its' extremely painful. The weird thing is that I don't get any of the symptoms of kidney stones, like nausea or extreme pain in my flank. The pain only occurs at the tip of my pee-tube when it's finally coming out.

Okay, and that's just the kidney stone part - let me start on the constipation/metabolism parts:
I'm always constipated, I go weeks without a bowel movement. I don't take laxatives anymore as those haven't worked for me, or just give me really bad diarhea and cramps. Plus, I'm still a teen, and I want to grow - diahrea will not allow me to absorb the nutrients that I need.

Let me mention some of my other symptoms/known illnesses
-Extremely skinny, bony, and look emaciated - my ribcase sticks out. I only weigh 108 lbs, and I'm 5'6
-Dark eye circles, even if I get plenty of sleep
-Hashimoto's hypothyroiditis: been on Levothyroxine (synthetic T4) 100mcg for half a year, feel absolutely no difference in my constipation.
    My doc started me on Cytomel (synthetic T3) a few days ago. No difference with it yet either, though it may be too soon to tell.
-My apetite is very infrequent. I used to eat every 2-3 hours before my constipation started last year. I've had a very fast metabolism all my life, until this constipation started.
-Bloating/gas, especially when I take fiber supplements (which I have tried and really just make things worse)
-My bones just feel really weak. I frequently have to hold onto things with my hands because my legs don't feel like they can support the rest of my body on their own.

Some notes:
-I always wait 4 hours before eating anything with iron/calcium, and I do wait 1 hour before eating at all
-I exercise regularly, every single day for at least 30 minutes
-I take probiotics and enzymes with EVERY single meal, without fail. It's become ritual for me.
-I don't have any of the other symptoms of hypothyroidism, such as fatigue.
-I eat well, and never eat junk food. My diet consists solely of fruits, vegetables, grains, fish, and meat on some occasions.

Basically I just want to know if hypothyroidism can cause kidney stones, because I'm scared that by focusing solely on treating my thyroid, I've been ignoring possible kidney disease, which I've read can be fatal and cause heart attacks (and I HAVE gotten really bad chest pains recently for apparently no reason)

I just hate how badly my life has turned out... I was such a happy person before my life took a sudden turn for the worse a year ago... I was accepted into an amazing university, and attended for a few months... before dropping out because I just couldn't handle how badly my health was becoming. I truly felt like I was going to die, and wanted to at least be with my family before the moment finally came. But I didn't and still don't want to die!! I've been trying everything imaginable to get better and nothing seems to work. Not even doubling/tripling my dose of levothyroxine worked.

If someone has an answer and can help, please let me know... I want this nightmare to finally end. I want to know what is occurring in my body, so I can fix it, because I've been to over 5 doctors now and none of them can find what's wrong..

Thank you.

[den18]

this is exactly how my life has turned out as well. My chronic constipation started around 3 years ago now, and I have had recurring kidney stones for 2. Before my constipation i ate quite badly, and had a few extra kilos. Now, i eat very healthily, all fruits vegetables, grains, lentils, fish you name it. i have lost quite a bit of weight, am now 47kg, every where except my horrible bloaty belly. I have horrible gas, and stinging pains... It has ruined my life, i am constantly thinking about what it looks like and how i cannot go to some places or wear certain things as my gut will look too big as i havent been to the toilet in over a week. Laxatives do not work anymore, and i am at a loss of what to do next. Doctors have said 'eat more fiber' 'drink more water' 'you just have a lazy bowel'... I drink so much water its ridiculous, and i get my 30g a day, even more. I am going in for an operation to get a kidney stone removed next week, and i know that these must be related.. I am booking in for an appointment to see a specialist in bowels hopefully very soon.. I am depressed and cant seem to focus on anything anymore, it has sucked away my happiness... I am only 17 years old and seriously do not want to have to deal with this for the rest of my life.

[Totakeke]

Medicmommy thank you for your kind and fast reply. I just did some quick research on hyperparathyroidism, and oh my GOSH, the symptoms are identical to what I have. I'm going to make an appointment with my doctor first thing in the morning tomorrow to have my parathyroid levels checked. Thank you and God bless you.

[medicmommy]

I'm wondering...Have you had your blood calcium levels checked? How about your parathyroid (not thyroid) hormone levels? The reason I ask is because several of your symptoms, especially the gut probs and kidney stones are included in hyperparathyroidism which Drs don't look for very often. Do you have frequent headaches, joint and muscle pain, and fatigue? If so, check out Parathyroid.com and look at the symptoms listed there...This may not be what is going on, but it may point you in the right direction...Good luck...MM

[Totakeke]

Oh one more thing I forgot to mention above.

A month ago, I had a bleeding ulcer in my stomach. I had it for about a week, and during this time, my constipation went away completely  - I was going to the bathroom as frequently as I did years ago, and my apetite was back. I felt absolutely amazing.

During this time, I was also eating a really fibrous cereal called Kashi "Go Lean".  It was helping me have a daily bowel movement even before the ulcer started, but it wasn't until the ulcer came that my metabolism had seemingly returned to normal.

But I took Prilosec for several days so that the ulcer would cure itself. When the pain finally went away and no blood appeared in my stools, my ulcer appeared to be gone - BUT my constipation came BACK.

I really don't understand why, either. Can a medical expert explain this? I kinda want the ulcer to come back just so the constipation goes away again. Bloody stools and abdominal pain be damned! :)

I stopped eating the Kashi GoLean cereal because it was no longer helping me have bowel movements, and was giving me really bad gas built up in my chest. I don't understand that either.