Kidney stones, any advice on how to cope with the pain.

[peter]

Quiver, hide , whine .

[Deb P]

Peter, glad the oral drugs are helping, didn't mean to scare you honest! I'm so used to giving injections and seeing people in pain, I forget how scary it can be to others. Sorry!

[Chantal]

He can take it Deb; he's a man. Hang on, what am I saying! That's why men don't have babies isn't it.

Sorry Peter, I really do feel sorry for you.

[submariner]

I had (have) gall stones, and the worse thing I did was to have a mophine based drug off the doc. I only took them for two days, but it took the best part of a week to come down to earth! I think the cure war worse than the problem! Never again. I am now on a dairy free diet, with no eggs. Seems to help, because the stones are apparently calcium.

[seedling]

The best thing you can do to prevent the formation of gall stones and kidney stones is to drink loads and loads of water - about 2 1/2 litres a day. This helps to flush out the calcium crystals when they are small, before they clump together to form the stones.
Sorry this doesnt help if you already have them, but it will help to flush through the system, keeping you healthier in general and will help more forming.
Hope this is helpful?
Seedling

[Jenny Green]

How does anyone ever manage to drink that much water? I'd spend my life on the loo if I drank 2 1/2 litres of water a day!
Don't they blast kidney stones with ultrasound now?

[Johnboy]

Hi Jenny,
About 4 years ago I had my Gaul Bladder removed as it appears that we can all do without it and my local hospital group do this as standard now rather than using ultrasound treatment. When I enquired why, I was told it is just as quick to do and the stones can never occur again but otherwise they very soon return.
I somehow don't really believe them but I am certainly able to eat a far increased range of diet since the operation without discomfort.
I can now eat Stilton Cheese and other Cheeses without being violently ill. Good in one way but weight wise not so good.
JB.

[Chantal]

I had a kidney operation many years ago and for the next six months or more had to drink a MINIMUM of FOUR litres of water every day. I thought I would drown.

I still drink an awful lot of fluid, mainly Chinese green tea. I do go to the loo a lot (hence the long ago thread on the toilet situation at my allotment) but I'm not as bad as I was. At a guess I drink 3 litres of fluid a day. Keep practicing Jenny, it is good for you (unless it's vodka).

Peter, get that water down your neck.

[richard p]

one of our books has a receipe for a concoction involving , i think, lemon juice, olive oil and vinegar which when taken over several days is claimed to break up small stones to enable then to be flushed out. if anyone is interested send me a pm and ill try and find it.

[Chantal]

Is that just to break up kidney stones or would it work with gall stone as well?

[Tigger]

They happen for different reasons.

Kidney stones are composites of calcium, so are salt related. Gall stones are related to fats.

However, it's not that simple, as they also have hereditary and hormonal factors. Hence the old saying that you get gallstones if you're female, fat, fertile and fourty.

Do you want me to post some useful links?

[Chantal]

Well I can do 3 out of the the 4 and I've got 'em.

[Jenny Green]

A friend of mine had her gallstones given to her after she's had them removed. She kept them in a jar and when she showed them to me I took them out and rolled them around etc. She was mortified!
They felt sort of greasy.
I thought all that 'drink enough water to float the Titanic' was being debunked now?
Honestly, I can't imagine drinking that much in the way of fluids. I probably drink about 1 litre if that but I do eat a lot of fruit and vegetables. Don't get constipated or concentrated urine at all (sorry if this is TMI).
Isn't it all based on some study done in the 40's which concluded that we need 2 litres of water a day, but everyone leaves off the last bit which is 'and most of this is contained in the food we eat'?

[seedling]

Hi Jenny
When i said 2 1/2 litres of water I meant for people who were at higher risk of stones, such as those with a family history ,a diet which would make them more susceptible e.g. high fat etc
Or people who have had them before and want to try to prevent having them again.
Chantal is right though - your system gets used to the quantity and you do pee less after a while. As with everything in the body, too little or too much of anything is bad for you - you need balance for the body to work optimally
Lots of people still dont drink much water . I know in my practice that people get very dehydrated and suffer tirednes, headaches etc as a result. If they arent eating much fruit and vegeither, then their water intake will be even lower.
Seedling

[Jenny Green]

Oh I see. I thought you meant everyone!