@Beth Gallagher My wife's Dr. wrote her a prescription today. It's somewhat illegible, but one can discern "HCTZ", a common "water pill". It was imprinted with "stamped signature unacceptable"; he both stamped and signed it. Frank
I used to take HCTZ for blood pressure, until I had an episode of gout in 2012. Diuretics are a no-no if a person has gout.
I have been using the VA's 'Home Based Care' service for several years. I sure they have a doctor handy but all I have ever seen is my nurse and the Nurse Practitioner. I refer to her as Ms So & so and she calls me Mr Boggs. She and my roommate are like old friends and talk about everything.
My wife was not feeling well so we called the doctor a few hours later he showed up told my wife that he would return tomorrow and take blood asking her to also give him a stool and pee sample. He showed up took the tests next day returning with a prescription and read off the test result for us. I mention that the white blood count was high also she had a high temperate and a pain on the right side. I was concerned about appendices so the doctor recommended a ultrasound The ultrasound exposed a stone in the kidney and the blood and stool sample exposed a ameba infection. This third world medicine. I stop the doctor each time before he left to give him some money as he did not ask for it I gave him 1,000 peso = $22 In Canadian each time he was very happy. The lab tests were 700 pesos and a doctor appointment and ultrasound was 2,100 pesos. also gave medication free. Everyone fears going to third world countries because they might get sick and not have that high priced medical system. What a laugh.
My doctor prescribed HCTZ when I first had kidney stones. One of the side effects is it reduces the excretion of calcium, so that particular mineral never enters the kidneys. Given this aspect of it, you gotta wonder if it's prescribed for osteoporosis (to help the bloodstream retain calcium.)
@John Brunner I have a particularly difficult problem with calcium myself: Phosphorus so closely resembles calcium chemically that an excess of phosphorus in the system results in the body replacing calcium in the bones with phosphorus, thus critically weakening them. This arises from kidney failure......normally excess phosphorus is excreted by the kidneys, but now, I have to concern myself with consuming too much phosphorus....... So what has lots of it? Fruits. Dairy products. Almost all carbonated drinks have Phosphoric Acid added, which dumps phosphorus into the system. So, with kidneys not removing the phosphorus, what can be done? Taking calcium supplement ensures delivery to the bones: Antacids, like Tums, are Calcium Carbonate, and I eat them like candy! Frank
I had not heard of this. Daggone chemicals in everything, trying to feed hundreds of millions of us at a price we are willing to pay... I don't drink sodas except maybe once or twice a year, but after reading a little, it seems there is a lot of stuff that contains variants of phosphates. I just looked at a couple of boxes of foods I often eat. My cereal (a common source) has no phosphates, but the crackers I'll sometimes have with cheese do (a component of leavening)...as do some cheeses. I eat seafood, and happen to know that wet scallops are preserved in a sodium tripolyphosphate solution right on the boat (dry scallops are not.) I worry a little about calcium because I never liked milk, even as a kid. But having kidney stones, I'm not gonna supplement it. I assume you have looked into the potential downside of consuming too many antacids. I recall reading years ago that people have upset their body's ph balance this way, making it too base. Gotta have an acidic enough environment for those synapses to fire...
Kidney stones the one's that are calcium. The calcium is taken from bones and teeth and not from the diet. The problem is a calcium deficiency and the blood uses calcium for blood PH. The PH of your blood is kept very tight and if you do not have enough free calcium in your body it robs it from your bones and teeth. A high calcium in the blood is a sign of deficiency of calcium. Magnesium and calcium need to be in balance.
I'm aware of the skeleton's role in maintaining a consistent calcium level in the blood stream (never thought about teeth.) Are you saying that I should consider supplementing calcium? I've never been given that advice, but the only thing doctors say to avoid when you have stones are foods containing oxalate (most stones are calcium oxalate, while a few rare others are calcium carbonate.)
@John Brunner Check out this actual photograph of a kidney stone! Small wonder it hurts like hell to pass one! Scanning electron micrograph of the surface of a kidney stone showing tetragonal crystals of Weddellite (calcium oxalate dihydrate) emerging from the amorphous central part of the stone (the horizontal length of the picture represents 0.5 mm of the figured original)
Nooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!! I was lucky. None of mine put me on the floor in agony. I had one that was troublesome, but none of them hung up as they exited my kidneys. I've always been a big water drinker...I think that helped. Funny thing is they stopped after 10-12 years or so, then when I moved and started using well water for cooking and for coffee, they came back (in a very strange manner.) As soon as I switched to bottled water for everything, they went away again (this was 10 years ago.) I finally installed a water softener and drink lots of well water, and they've still not returned, although recent scans show there are more in my kidneys.
@John Brunner We are both, then, afflicted with kidney difficulty of one kind or another......I would gladly trade one of my non-functioning kidneys for one as you describe. I am not on a transplant list... Frank
My heart aches for people with major health issues. I've known a few, many of them half our ages...and younger.