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First off, thank-you Dr. Joseph for being so kind and generous, offering to answer our health related questions!
My husband has had kidney stone problems and back in July 2019 had a very severe attack taking him to the edge and creating a fear of it happening again.
What is your best advise for preventing kidney stones?
My husband is 73 years old, on no medications and is generally in good health. Over a year ago he went on a Keto diet because of his concern for the extra weight he had and fear of having a fatty liver. He has had Hepatitis A which may have weakened his liver.
He has lost the weight and is happy with our diet of low carbohydrates, high fat and moderate protein. My husband includes the "Bullet Coffee"with this diet consisting of a very good coffee, ghee, MCT oil and a dash of salt and a few drops of liquid stevia.
We are facing a bit of a dilemma over the coffee with the caffeine and being a diuretic (where he wants to increase his fluid intake because of the possibility of kidney stones))
He enjoys his coffee and believe it is a good carrier for his supplements.
What is your take on this?
Hi,
May I ask if the urine was analysed for sediment and the type of stones [oxalate, urate, struvite...]?
Are his uric acid levels normal? Has he had the urine cultured and tested for any infection.
Were the kidneys otherwise normal on ultrasound? no cysts?
Prevention requires an understanding of the uderlying factors pre-disposing to stone formation. Diet could be important depending on these factors. Staying hydrated is important of course. There are some other helpful natural remedies but I will wait to hear back from you.
This happened awhile back so I can only remember highlights of test results. When the attack was happening they did urine analysis (sorry I do not know what type of stone it was or the uric acid levels) and he was sent home with a strainer to watch for any pieces of kidney stone. (none were found). He was told to drink lots of fluid and try to bounce to dislodge the stone so he would not have to have surgery to remove it. They had booked him to see the specialist and prepare for surgery. There was a week waiting period to see the specialist and my husband was doing everything in his power (he researched the foods that might cause kidney stones and we eliminated those, cut down on his salt intake for he had upped it with the Keto diet, drank lots of fluids including a lemon, ginger, turmeric, apple cider vinegar tonic and used our rebounder for bouncing) to try to pass the stone on his own without surgery but this didn't happen before seeing the specialist. The specialist wanted an ultrasound done before surgery. He said there was just the one stone and it was close to the urethra duct.
With the ultrasound they found a large stone stuck in the urethra duct and it should be removed immediately for it could block the urine from passing.
It was a simpler surgery where they were able to go in through the urethra and grab the stone. There were no other stones or cysts and my husband recovered after surgery and has not had any problems since. We kept those foods that could form kidney stones out of our diet, he keeps his salt intake down, continues with his tonic drink and although the doctor had recommended taking out coffee and teas (things that were diuretic) he continues with his "bullet" coffee as he feels it plays a big part in his Keto diet.
Any other further information you have for kidney stone prevention would be appreciated!
Sorry I could not give you more detailed information from the urine analysis.
Specific advice on diet and prevention would depend on the type of stone. At some point if you are due for a review with the physician perhaps you could ask for those results to be reviewed so you have more information.
Thank-you for your advise!
We will do that and find out what type of stones my husband had!