What's in a stone? (X-post)

September 27, 2001

In case anybody wanted to know (and, sorry for cross-posting, but not

all the Elariny group read DS, and vice-versa):

Getting back to my least favorite subject, lately--kidney stones. I

just heard from the urologist. ALL my stones turned out to be pure

uric acid! He had been almost certain by looking at them that they

were calcium oxalate, implicating insufficient calcium intake, and he

was very surprised to learn that they were uric acid.

After going through the probable causes, we came to a tentative

conclusion that the excess uric acid in my system probably comes from

all the animal protein that I have been ingesting to get my 80-100 g

of protein daily. (My very first stone, back in 1998 and three years

before my DS, was also uric acid, BTW.) So, he has prescribed a pill

that alkalinizes the urine and should dissolve the stones, should any

still be inside me, and keep me from new stone formation. The lovely

side effect may be bloating and gassiness--heck, I already AM bloated

and gassy!

As for lithotripsy (breaking up stones by focusing shock waves at a

patient's kidneys while the patient is in a water tank), he ruled

that out because the stones do not show up on X-rays, and they need

to know where, precisely, to focus the shock wave beam.

So, what the heck, I take so many pills not that three more a day for

the rest of my life isn't going to make all that much difference, and

it may keep me stone-free.

Best,

Steve

--

Steve Goldstein, age 61

Lap BPD/DS on May 2, 2001

Dr. Elariny, INOVA Fairfax Hospital, Virginia

Starting (05/02/01) BMI = 51

BMI on 09/27 = 41 (-66 lb.)

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