Monday, January 13, 2014

Kidney Stones: Double or Nothing


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On Wednesday, for the second time in six months, I went to the ER with kidney stones. Last time was back in August, but it was my usual "single stone every 2-3 years," so I didn't think much of it. This time, for the first time since before Luke was born, the CT scan showed multiple stones in both kidneys. Not cool!

To try and see if there is some new development causing multiple stones to occur more frequently, I finally went back to a urologist for the first time in probably 12-13 years. I even went to the same practice, though I saw a different doctor (previous one couldn't see me for another 3 weeks). Apparently, "chronic stone formers" (that would be me) tend to have a peak in their stone production between age 40-50. I'll be 38 this year. So yes, the increase is normal, and it will only continue to get worse from here. Joy.

They are going to run some tests to see if there are some things I can do (in addition to the low oxalate diet I already follow). I also think that part of my problem was dehydration. Both back in August and now, the episode of passing a stone occurred within about 3 weeks of getting seriously dehydrated. The first thing they tell you when you have a stone is to drink more. Tons more! So remember that "resolution" I had to drink more water? Yeah, will definitely be following through on that one. And hopefully, in a month or so, we'll have a few other strategies to put in place to prevent this from happening again. I hope!

Currently feeling: ready to be done with stones

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