Question for Matthew or anyone who gets stones

I've recently been taking a new med for my stomach. I've learned that it has a base of sodium bicarbonate. Since I've
been on it I've started having throbbing pains in the kidney region. Am I right in thinking that if you suffer calcification
of the kidneys, this med could make that worse? I know sodium bicarbonate is used to keep down uric acids, but I'm
wondering if I'm in the reverse. Also found small calcium deposits under my skin, any ideas what this might indicate,
if anything? Matthew how did your surgery go, did they reach your stone?

bump

Sodium bicarbonate tends to make the UT less acidic (more alkaline). If your UT was too alkaline to begin with, the bicarbonate might cause stones to form. Stones are not all the same. Some are favored by an acidic UT whereas others are favored by an alkaline UT. What's needed in the UT is balance--neither too much nor too little acidity.

Whatever physician prescribed the bicarbonate would do well to order a 24-hour chemical analysis of your urine. Alternatively, you might consult a urologist and request one. OTOH, not all that many urologists are knowledgeable about how stones form. Their specialty is yanking them out, one way or another.

But, if I were to guess, your symptoms are more likely the result of a UTI than stones. Since UTIs generally respond well to antibiotics, a UTI would be a less serious problem than a stone. OTOH, untreated UTIs can cause all manner of permanent harm.

The bottom line is that you need to get your physician(s) working on diagnosing and treating your symptoms. If he/she/they/it don't respond, you'd do well to find replacements.

Cheers,

Your symptoms do sound like a stone or UTI. Do you have a fever of other sign of infection? The shakes could accompany stone pain/distress but might instead result from a fever. (It's your choice, as far as I'm concerned, but I myself would rather have a UTI than a stone <g>. So, until you say otherwise, I'll continue to hope you have a UTI.)

Please do get yourself checked out at the first sign of a fever that could point to a UTI. Not that doing so will necessarily help. I lost most of my kidney function while various physicians played golf, goofed off, or whatever they do when they should be acting quickly to prevent permanent harm due to stones/UTIs. But, it's nice to know one has done all one can to avoid serious illness.

BTW, there's good news even with respect to stones. Even a moderately sized stone (5mm) has, as I recall, about a 50% chance of passing spontaneously within a few weeks. I suspect you got the usual advice about consuming 2-3L of fluids daily until the stone passes. Doing so may hurry the stone along and help prevent infection. If you can tolerate it, beer (non-alcoholic, if necessary or preferred) is considered by some to be a useful therapy. But, there's also evidence that the yeasts it contains may adversely affect IBD.

Also BTW, any stone that someone else has is considered "small." Any stone you yourself have is fairly considered "enormous." Physicians observe this distinction all too accurately, I fear. I don't wish to sound too harsh. But anyone who minimizes pain related to kidney stones deserves to have one. Plenty of physicians are eligible for this award. As soon as I figure out how to bestow it, I'll let folks know.

BTW, there's intriguing evidence that nanobacteria may be an--not necessarily the--underlying cause of stones. Researchers don't yet understand exactly why/how stones form. Some analyses point to colonies of nanobacteria as the germ (couldn't resist the pun) around which minerals comprising stones begin to crystalize. If it turns out to be so, we may some day prevent stones via antibiotics <g>.

Blessings,