assist**

I once had a chronic, dry cough for two weeks, with lots of deep coughing in short bursts. All during the 2nd week of that, a kidney stone got moving, and the doctor gave me flomax. I think the nagging cough might have shaken it loose. The thing about flomax is that there is no way to tell whether it is doing anything, other than providing placebo effect. It was not a good month. Walking relieved the discomfort somewhat. Have you considered lithotripsy? Do you know what kind of stones you have? If they are oxalate stones, removing oxalate from you diet might help. I haven't had any stones since I stopped drinking so much grapefruit juice. The cough persisted for a week after the stone passed, until the doctor prescribed some antibiotics. I hope you feel better soon.

Some studies indicate that drinking soda pop greatly increases the risk of stones. My misguided son drank nothing but cola from the day he was weaned, and had his first stone at age 11. I passed my first stone at age 35. His mother never had one, so we blame my genes.

Types of kidney stones:

:Calcium stones. Most kidney stones are calcium stones, usually in the form of calcium oxalate. Oxalate is a naturally occurring substance found in food and is also made daily by your liver. Some fruits and vegetables, as well as nuts and chocolate, have high oxalate content.

Dietary factors, high doses of vitamin D, intestinal bypass surgery and several metabolic disorders can increase the concentration of calcium or oxalate in urine.

Calcium stones may also occur in the form of calcium phosphate. This type of stone is more common in metabolic conditions, such as renal tubular acidosis. It may also be associated with certain migraine headaches or with taking certain seizure medications, such as topiramate (Topamax).
Struvite stones. Struvite stones form in response to an infection, such as a urinary tract infection. These stones can grow quickly and become quite large, sometimes with few symptoms or little warning.
Uric acid stones. Uric acid stones can form in people who don't drink enough fluids or who lose too much fluid, those who eat a high-protein diet, and those who have gout. Certain genetic factors also may increase your risk of uric acid stones.
Cystine stones. These stones form in people with a hereditary disorder that causes the kidneys to excrete too much of certain amino acids (cystinuria).

Hey there! Let me start by saying that I am not sure how much help I am going to be, but I thought if I shared my story/progress/knowledge, maybe it’ll light a bulb for you.

Let me cliffnotes my stones history, because I think my last 6 months is what will be helpful. Family history of stones. Age 20, had stones that blocked both my kidneys, month in ICU, three surgeries to break them up and put in stints and take them out. That’s when I found out they were calcium based. As the person above said, it’s first priority to know what your stones are made of. If you know, and don’t mind sharing...

Fast forward 15 years to now, I’ve had too many stones to count, and just as many urologists. But the urologist I have now finally said, there’s typically an underlying cause for kidney stones, so let’s figure it out. He did a 24 hour urine and blood work.

This is also because I too tend to have 2-4 stones in my right kidney at any given time and a couple in my left.

I can confidently say I’ve tried every “treatment” option and pending your situation, all have their pros and cons.

After getting the results of all my testing, I have renal tubular acidosis. Also, I have long taken topirimate (topamax) for migraines and am on tymlos, a daily injection for osteoporosis. These both contribute to the growth of kidney stones. Please note that my stones predate both of these meds.

I think that the “moral of my story” is that you seem like someone that is going to have a future, at least for now, with your stones. While treatment is important, maybe speaking to your urologist about what is causing them should also be a parallel focus so that your treatment could be more specialized to you.

I truly wish you the best of luck and hope you find the cause and maybe someday a solution.

Regards, jamielee

Hi Equinoxxx that was super helpful to me!