Anyone know anything about kidney stones?

[Nimzo]

I just got back from the doctor. After having four days of moderate pain in my left side, I decided it was time to stop ignoring it. He felt around, asked me some questions, and took a quick urine sample. He said there was blood in the urine, and with the symptoms I've described, he thinks it could be a kidney stone. He prescribed some medication and told me to go back in two weeks. Now, he must have asked me about five times how old I was during the whole visit. So now I'm concerned. I know kidney stones happen and aren't a reason to be too concerned, but I'm only 18. Is this some kind of significant indicator of a bigger problem since I've gotten one so young? He seemed rather surprise about the fact, too.

[Lithp]

I got them when I was 19 and still have 2 left in me that need to pass at some point. I was in excruciating pain and finally ended up going to the doctor, who then sent me to the hospital. They confirmed it was kidney stones and sent me home with pain pills until the one passed through.

 

At the time, I was heavily addicted to energy drinks. I know that sounds dumb but I was - I would drink at LEAST 8 a day, most often times it was more, and that was on a daily basis. The first question out of his mouth when he saw it was kidney stones was "How many energy drinks do you drink?". Apparently they can build up in your system and cause crystals to form in your kidneys if you're not flushing anything out with water. Obviously that's not the main cause but apparently it can contribute to it. I don't think it indicates a more serious issue, or at least my doctor said while it was odd that I had gotten them so young, they're fairly common and not anything to be concerned about. If there were any other problems I am sure they would have shown up in your blood and urine samples.

[Nimzo]

Thanks for the reply. I used to drink *a lot* of soda. I'm talking two or three cans a day. It's been a few months since then, but I've discovered that I was addicted to the carbonation. Ever since finding sparkling mineral water, I haven't touched soda since. That's probably the cause of me having the kidney stone so young. And while I was drinking all that soda, I honestly wasn't drinking much water anyway. I've had blood and urine work done at least three times this year (I'm a hypochondriac, what can I say?) and they've all kept coming back fine. I suppose I don't have much cause for concern after all.

[Seraphim]

A lot of them pass on their own. My husband had them a few times about 14 years ago. Once they passed he was fine but before then he was in super bad pain.

 

They say certain foods and drinks and some genetic factors cause them.

[MakeItCount]

How much water do you drink now? How much protein do you usually eat? What's your weight, what's your height?