Kidney Stones: Suggestion About Preventing Them And Treating Them

[BonzaiDuck]

I had my first kidney stone when I was 32 years old. I jogged 5 miles a week and played tennis regularly with friends.

I was in terrible pain. I didn't know what it was. An apartment roommate took me to the Alexandria Hospital in Virginia. I stayed there for two days until I passed the stone. Then I was out at the park again hitting tennis balls against a backboard. Never thought about it again, for years.

Then in 2017, two months before my elderly Moms had her first hip fracture, I was at a dentist's office and began shivering as if I had a fever. They took my blood pressure, deciding it was too high, telling me to see my regular doctor and reschedule the dental appointment. During this time, I was in such bad shape that they called paramedics who stabilized me, then determined I was OK and didn't need hospitalization. They told me to sit for an hour before driving home.

Getting home that Monday afternoon, it became evident that I had a kidney stone, and I spent an entire week lying down on a couch with an electric hot pad under my back. I took a couple Tramadol tabs per day for the pain. I couldn't eat. Peeing was something that doesn't happen very well when you have kidney stones. If you're lucky, you'll be able to expel some urine in low flow rate. At one point, I couldn't keep my balance walking to the bathroom, so I got down on all fours.

By Sunday morning, I passed the stone. I went to the freezer and extracted four large-size Marie Calendar Beef Pot Pies, nuked them in the microwave and and ate one after the other. All four of them.

Then, with blood pressure under control with meds, I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Diabetics can have a predisposition to kidney stones, and kidney health and eye health are bound up with the control of blood sugar. Adequate medication, regular and adequate hydration and other efforts will help preserve the kidney blood and urine markers at a healthy level.

So about kidney stone # 3. Last Saturday, my brother called me on the phone from Reno 400 miles away, to tell me he had a certain pain below his rib cage and was going to the hospital. His description was a bit off the mark: the hospital told him he had a kidney stone. He has been trying to pass that stone for five days. But we were talking about my kidney stones.

Bro and I were just conversing about his kidney stone, and that afternoon, I had this funny feeling. My wiener didn't feel right; my bladder didn't feel right; I was starting to develop discomfort and then pain which might have been sciatic nerve pain, but when I couldn't pee, I knew what it was. I had a kidney stone -- the third one.

With all the current trouble in my life -- having my car in the shop, shopping for a new car, trying to get my regular exercise -- I could say this was not good. I couldn't be hampered by the pain and laid up for days. This was sort of a freak coincidence of two brothers 400 miles apart developing kidney stones at the same time. I was determined to pass my stone as soon as I could.

Information online suggested drinking lots of water with lemon juice. Coffee was also helpful. Taking a hot shower and directing the water to the painful area of the abdomen was also recommended. I must have guzzled a gallon of water and half a medium size bottle of lemon juice to the point of becoming nauseous in addition to the kidney pain. I took two Tramadol tabs from an expired prescription. Put an electric hot-pad under my back and tried to rest. Pain from kidney stones doesn't make it easy to relax.

But apparently the water and lemon juice did the trick. By 2 AM, the pain migrated from my kidney to my bladder. They say this is half the battle won. I waited for every chance to pee and tried drinking more water. Finally, I passed the stone. Willie was working like a firehose again.

And strange it was, upon waking today I felt better than I'd felt in weeks. How can passing a kidney stone make your lungs clear when you have COPD? I can't say.

But my poor brother is still suffering up in Nevada.

To avoid getting kidney stones, stay hydrated all the time and drink citrus juice. If you're diabetic, stick to straight lemon juice and "Yuck I know how that sounds." Mix it with water.

Kidney stones form as Calcium bonding with Oxalate. It turns out that Oxalate is found in Spinach, Navy Beans, Beets, Swiss Chard and other vegetables. Well I like Navy Bean soup with Ham Shanks. Beets are good for your kidneys, but they contain Oxalate. I like a spinach salad. I like Swiss Chard, cooked as you would do with spinach.

The solution to this? Drink more water to hydrate and consume more lemon juice.

Otherwise you don't want kidney stones. It's a terrible experience. Some people go to the hospital ER. If they don't pass the stones in a reasonable time -- several days at most -- the stones can be broken apart with an UltraSound application.

Like the Mexican beer commercial "Stay thirsty, my friend": Stay hydrated, Amigo!

Now! Do you think I"m an expert on Kidney Stones? NO. But I told you what I found out and what I did, and I passed Stone #3 about 12 hours after the pain began.

What do YOU know about Kidney Stones? Surely, you can share your wisdom!

 

[WilliamM2]

I had a couple stones in my 20's, mine are calcium and uric acid. I take Allopurinol once a day, removes excess uric acid from your urine. Haven't had a kidney stone since, 35+ years. Since they run in my family, my nephrologist decided treatment was the best option. And as you say, stay hydrated.

There are two common types of stones. Kidney stones are a combination of calcium and uric acid, or calcium and oxalates. Both are treatable, but you need to know what yours actually are.

Did you have your analyzed?

If you had three your whole life, it may not be worth treating. But mine weren't painful, except right as they passed for 10 seconds or so. I would just piss red (blood) for a few weeks until it passed.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I had a couple stones in my 20's, mine are calcium and uric acid. I take Allopurinol once a day, removes excess uric acid from your urine. Haven't had a kidney stone since, 35+ years. Since they run in my family, my nephrologist decided treatment was the best option. And as you say, stay hydrated.

There are two common types of stones. Kidney stones are a combination of calcium and uric acid, or calcium and oxalates. Both are treatable, but you need to know what yours actually are.

Did you have your [kidney stones] analyzed?

If you had three your whole life, it may not be worth treating. But mine weren't painful, except right as they passed for 10 seconds or so. I would just piss red (blood) for a few weeks until it passed.

If I did, and such was probably the case, it would only have been the first episode at Alexandria Hospital in 1979. They made me pee into something like a graduated cylinder with a fine filter in it. I vaguely remember what it looked like. But I don't remember receiving any paperwork of test results.

The second and third kidney stone episodes I just stayed at home and passed the stones, because I was pretty sure what was going on. I passed the second stone before I had my appointment with my primary doctor -- more focused on blood pressure issues. I merely reported to him that I'd had a kidney stone and passed it on my own at home.

I've probably had other instances of kidney stones -- very brief ones. I would just get a feeling -- like sciatica -- that would disappear when I urinated. It was the most minor and brief discomfort.

I was rather perturbed at last year's uACR and eGFR kidney markers. I think the first of these is normally around 30, but can range to about 200 which defines levels of kidney disease, and I think mine was about 75. The eGFR is supposed to be 90 or above, so a result more like 70 would also indicate a certain level of kidney disease.

So I discovered that if I drank lots of water before my blood test, the eGFR would come back at 90. My doctor changed my blood pressure meds from Hydrochlorothiazide to Cozaar aka Losartan, which had a beneficial kidney effect.

It seems paradoxical that beet juice and beet-root supplement tablets are good for the blood pressure and kidneys, but can also induce the formation of oxalate kidney stones. It turns out that both I and my brother started taking those little red tablets daily many months ago -- in my case especially to avoid the sugar from beet juice. And I suspect this may have induced kidney stones in both of us.

Everybody i know in their 70s is reaching for non-prescription supplements to improve their health. I take glucosamine chondroitin, because it literally caused a trigger-finger joint problem to disappear. I take Cordyceps-M for lung-function health and other benefits. We're taking Qunol tablets and DHA capsules for brain health. The beet-root tablets provide the benefits for lower blood pressure, but as is apparently true, they increase the risk of kidney stones.

Today's experience is puzzling to me. I feel just great. Urinary hydraulics are working and feeling just great. Lungs are clear. And all I did was have a kidney stone yesterday which passed. It certainly wasn't the two tablets of Tramadol painkiller that I took yesterday, and I didn't have any cannabis this last week. But I have a sense of physical wellbeing.

What bothers me? I want my car back. You know all about that. Friday it is promised.

 

[Iron Woode]

No one wants kidney stones. I haven't had a stone in 3 years. I changed my diet a bit to stop them. Mine were calcium-uric acid based so I cut out most dairy foods. I have had 5 kidney stone episodes over the years.

As a side note, the stone I had in 2022 gave me a kidney infection that permanently damaged my kidneys. I now have 33% kidney function. Kidney stones are serious business.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

No one wants kidney stones. I haven't had a stone in 3 years. I changed my diet a bit to stop them. Mine were calcium-uric acid based so I cut out most dairy foods. I have had 5 kidney stone episodes over the years.

As a side note, the stone I had in 2022 gave me a kidney infection that permanently damaged my kidneys. I now have 33% kidney function. Kidney stones are serious business.

That's scary. I was discussing the blood and urine kidney markers in my post above. It had seriously concerned me. I'm still getting news from my sis-in-law about my brother in Nevada. He's going through real misery at the moment. Ironically, he had recommended the little red beet-root pills to me and we were both taking them. He's either going to get help from his doctor today or he's going to the ER.

I think I'm going to terminate the beet root tablets.

Are you getting dialysis? Or is it not quite that serious at the moment? That's all a scary picture for me, so getting my eGFR back to 90 was a real relief to me.

At age 78, all of the inevitable expectations of decline are giving me stress and anxiety -- which is not good for us.

I'm going to make a phone call at 8AM, then I'm going back to sleep for another couple hours. It's been a bad week so far.

UPDATE: But anyway -- so many times I've said something like this -- "Death, Aging and health decline all freaking SUCK!"

 

[Iron Woode]

That's scary. I was discussing the blood and urine kidney markers in my post above. It had seriously concerned me. I'm still getting news from my sis-in-law about my brother in Nevada. He's going through real misery at the moment. Ironically, he had recommended the little red beet-root pills to me and we were both taking them. He's either going to get help from his doctor today or he's going to the ER.

I think I'm going to terminate the beet root tablets.

Are you getting dialysis? Or is it not quite that serious at the moment? That's all a scary picture for me, so getting my eGFR back to 90 was a real relief to me.

At age 78, all of the inevitable expectations of decline are giving me stress and anxiety -- which is not good for us.

I'm going to make a phone call at 8AM, then I'm going back to sleep for another couple hours. It's been a bad week so far.

UPDATE: But anyway -- so many times I've said something like this -- "Death, Aging and health decline all freaking SUCK!"

No dialysis yet. My creatinine levels are stable but higher than I like at 150 (normal is under 100). As long as they are stable I am doing OK.

I just turned 60 and hope for a long life ahead.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

No dialysis yet. My creatinine levels are stable but higher than I like at 150 (normal is under 100). As long as they are stable I am doing OK.

I just turned 60 and hope for a long life ahead.

My poor sister-in-law. She's juggling recuperation from her hip replacement, my brother's kidney stone, and her 94-year-old mother who lives down here in So-Cal.

At 60, you should be "OK". Except for the stress today, I feel pretty good at 78. I've had worse days. I usually joke with people who ask how I'm doing: "Oh! I'm half past dead!"

I never thought about this stage of life much when I was younger.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

UPDATE ON MY BROTHER'S SO-CALLED KIDNEY STONE

Bro and his wife were at the ER in their Nevada town for a few hours today. He got an intravenous painkiller. They had determined that he didn't have a kidney stone. They are going to do a CT Scan, but now it looks more possible that it's a gallstone problem. That's what Bro thought it was initially, and his description matches the pain location of a gallstone problem.

But my own kidney stone was real. And it's gone now. I'm worried about my brother. My brother is almost "all I got left" of family.

 

[WilliamM2]

UPDATE ON MY BROTHER'S SO-CALLED KIDNEY STONE

Bro and his wife were at the ER in their Nevada town for a few hours today. He got an intravenous painkiller. They had determined that he didn't have a kidney stone. They are going to do a CT Scan, but now it looks more possible that it's a gallstone problem. That's what Bro thought it was initially, and his description matches the pain location of a gallstone problem.

But my own kidney stone was real. And it's gone now. I'm worried about my brother. My brother is almost "all I got left" of family.

First surgery I ever had was gallbladder removal, at the ripe old age of 27. It was done arthroscopically as an outpatient, and I recovered in about 3 days.
And I'm sure it's improved since 1991. He should be fine.

Now that was pain, felt like a heart attack, with severe back pain on top, but would come and go, usually triggered by eating anything that had fat in it. The fat causes the gallbladder to push bile to the intestines? Which causes the stone to try and exit the gallbladder, causing the pain .I would curl up in a ball for 4 to 6 hours each time it happened,

After I was told what triggered it, I ate plain lettuce and veggie salads (no dressing) for three weeks while waiting for surgery. No attacks during that time.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

First surgery I ever had was gallbladder removal, at the ripe old age of 27. It was done arthroscopically as an outpatient, and I recovered in about 3 days.
And I'm sure it's improved since 1991. He should be fine.

Now that was pain, felt like a heart attack, with severe back pain on top, but would come and go, usually triggered by eating anything that had fat in it. The fat causes the gallbladder to push bile to the intestines? Which causes the stone to try and exit the gallbladder, causing the pain .I would curl up in a ball for 4 to 6 hours each time it happened,

After I was told what triggered it, I ate plain lettuce and veggie salads (no dressing) for three weeks while waiting for surgery. No attacks during that time.

The CT Scan turned up a small tumor on the upper side of his liver. There may also be something on his pancreas. He's going for a biopsy soon, and they'll know more. Meanwhile, he has pain medication.

I only have my brother, his wife, and my cousin. AARP Bulletin for Nov Dec has cover article -- "How older Americans embrace the joys of living alone". Whatever inspiration I can take from it, I'm not optimistic about carrying on alone. Somebody told me they may be able to freeze the tumor.

I don't want to lose my brother.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Every time I see this topic it reminds me to go drink a glass of water.

I'm 39 and have not had to go through kidney stones yet and hopefully I never have to. It sounds pretty horrible.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

It's the pain. It is possible for a sepsis to develop, so the patient may have a fever or high temperature.

The decision to visit the hospital ER seems to be left to the individual

So there's the pain, the inability to pee when you want to, and these other ancillary aspects.

This time it took me 12 hours to pass the stone. Back in 2017, I was pain-disabled for six days. I couldn't eat anything -- nothing at all. When I passed the stone the following Sunday, I went to the market and bought four of the large-size Marie Calendar Beef Pot Pies. I brought them home and ate them one after another.

Stay hydrated! Mix unsweetened lemon juice with your water.

 

[BoomerD]

First surgery I ever had was gallbladder removal, at the ripe old age of 27. It was done arthroscopically as an outpatient, and I recovered in about 3 days.
And I'm sure it's improved since 1991. He should be fine.

Now that was pain, felt like a heart attack, with severe back pain on top, but would come and go, usually triggered by eating anything that had fat in it. The fat causes the gallbladder to push bile to the intestines? Which causes the stone to try and exit the gallbladder, causing the pain .I would curl up in a ball for 4 to 6 hours each time it happened,

After I was told what triggered it, I ate plain lettuce and veggie salads (no dressing) for three weeks while waiting for surgery. No attacks during that time.

The CT Scan turned up a small tumor on the upper side of his liver. There may also be something on his pancreas. He's going for a biopsy soon, and they'll know more. Meanwhile, he has pain medication.

I only have my brother, his wife, and my cousin. AARP Bulletin for Nov Dec has cover article -- "How older Americans embrace the joys of living alone". Whatever inspiration I can take from it, I'm not optimistic about carrying on alone. Somebody told me they may be able to freeze the tumor.

I don't want to lose my brother.

I've never had the "pleasure," but my mom battled gall stones for years. I THINK they finally removed her gall bladder, but since it seems like I always lived 1000 miles away, I'm really not sure. I DO remember the pain she went through when she'd have a stone. :shudder: I've seen articles and anecdotes about using ultrasound to break the stones up so they pass easier...I don't think that was an option for my mom. (Last time I remember her dealing with gallstones had to be the early or mid 1980s.)

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I'll be calling my brother today, but I doubt the results of a biopsy taken two days ago will be known or ready.

For me, I am now of an opinion that a vigorous routine in the morning is sabotaged if you took enough THC the day before to be stoned the day after. But it's only 8:38AM.

I'm drinking more lemon juice as I up my hydration with bottled water. Anyone who fails to hydrate properly on a daily basis can run the risk of getting low kidney markers in their blood and urine tests, and the lemon juice only makes sense because I'm also taking beet-root tablets which add oxalate to kidney waste. But it is effective in reducing kidney stone risk, and even helps to pass them.

I guess the only reason I'm not so great this morning is that THC haze . . . Not the best way to start the day, but it could be a lot worse!

 

[WilliamM2]

I'm drinking more lemon juice as I up my hydration with bottled water. Anyone who fails to hydrate properly on a daily basis can run the risk of getting low kidney markers in their blood and urine tests, and the lemon juice only makes sense because I'm also taking beet-root tablets which add oxalate to kidney waste. But it is effective in reducing kidney stone risk, and even helps to pass them.

Changing your drinking and eating habits for a test isn't really a good idea. You want to know the numbers you have on your normal diet.
Then you know what needs to change, permanently, not just for tests.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Changing your drinking and eating habits for a test isn't really a good idea. You want to know the numbers you have on your normal diet.
Then you know what needs to change, permanently, not just for tests.

So? I'm hydrating more on a regular basis, when I used to fall short when my aGFR fell to 70. Later it was back at 90. For the uACR, new blood pressure meds -- replacing Hydrochlorothiazide with Losartan Potassium (Cozaar) -- will lower my uACR. Over the last several months, my kidneys have been very "comfortable" and behaving well. The Cozaar prescription is associated with people who are diabetic type 2. So paradoxically, hydrating more, spending $10 or $15 monthly on bottled water, I'm actually pee-ing less frequently, with less urgency. That is, my bladder and wiener don't experience the discomfort and urgency I had before. I don't experience the urgency or stress incontinence anymore.

I think this noticeable improvement in how I feel, how I pee and its urgency, shows that I'm not just trying to hype the test results in the metabolic panel and the urine test. It's all working. Last thing I want is serious kidney disease and something like dialysis.

It's my repetitive whine: getting old with "conditions" sucks. My lung function is improving with exercise in the matter of my COPD. I think my kidney function has improved. I don't have any other indications of things like diabetic retinopathy -- eye test coming up later this month.

 

[WilliamM2]

So? I'm hydrating more on a regular basis, when I used to fall short when my aGFR fell to 70. Later it was back at 90. For the uACR, new blood pressure meds -- replacing Hydrochlorothiazide with Losartan Potassium (Cozaar) -- will lower my uACR. Over the last several months, my kidneys have been very "comfortable" and behaving well. The Cozaar prescription is associated with people who are diabetic type 2. So paradoxically, hydrating more, spending $10 or $15 monthly on bottled water, I'm actually pee-ing less frequently, with less urgency. That is, my bladder and wiener don't experience the discomfort and urgency I had before. I don't experience the urgency or stress incontinence anymore.

I think this noticeable improvement in how I feel, how I pee and its urgency, shows that I'm not just trying to hype the test results in the metabolic panel and the urine test. It's all working. Last thing I want is serious kidney disease and something like dialysis.

It's my repetitive whine: getting old with "conditions" sucks. My lung function is improving with exercise in the matter of my COPD. I think my kidney function has improved. I don't have any other indications of things like diabetic retinopathy -- eye test coming up later this month.

Sorry, you made it sound like you were hydrating for the test. If this is your new normal diet, that's fine.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Sorry, you made it sound like you were hydrating for the test. If this is your new normal diet, that's fine.

I can only report that my kidneys, bladder, and wiener are working pretty well.

I'll be candid about this, but it sounds like someone detailing how they fold their toilet paper for three passes at the after-poop cleanup.

When my Moms was still alive and I was still engaged in the eldercare, I'd come home for the grocery with real "urgency" and couldn't make it to the house and the bathroom. So I gave lots of urea to my garden. But even so, I'd start to leak. There would always be a damp spot in my shorts after these urinations. Stress incontinence! Plus -- "your kidneys talking to you about your blood sugar and diabetes.

The diabetes was fully diagnosed a full year before Moms died in 2023. I started the Metformin medication. We only doubled it at beginning of 2025.

SOMETHING I am doing is working. Sure -- I take the beet-root tablets, I drink more water and more lemon juice. I limit my intake of sugar. We switched out my Hydrochlorothiazide for the Cozaar. I'm just surprised in the change. I only get up once at night now to pee, and it's not so urgent. I don't "leak" like I used to do.

For the rest of it, considering the kidneys, my eyes haven't deteriorated and are still sharp (I have an appointment with the optometrist later in the month), my feet don't feel cold at night, even with piles of blankets -- they're warm all the time. I don't worry about my feet swelling up, although they never really did that and I was obsessed with the marks left by my elastic socks.