diet and supplement, a cautionary tale

[tractor]

I woke up the night before last with intense abdominal pain, I've had three kidney stones before, so I know when I'm really in pain. Anyway, the pain wouldn't go away no matter what I tried, so after six hours of pain, and being unable to sleep I asked my wife to take me into the ER. When I was there they did every test possible, x-rays, a CAT scan, EKG, blood work, ect. In the end all they could figure out was I had an obstructed intestine so they gave me some powerful laxative and sent me home. The intense pain has gone away, but I still feel like I've fallen out of a window and landed on the sidewalk.

Here's what I think my problem was. I have been hitting the protein pretty hard, between powders, and protein rich meals, mix in a thermogenetic which makes you sweat, I think I dehydrated myself enough that my body couldn't efficiently process what I was consuming. So it started to back up to the point where my body was left to do nothing but send out pain signals telling me enough was enough.

So the moral of the story is keep your fluids up, eat lots of fiber, and listen to your body or despite your best efforts, you will eventually end up in the ER.

On the plus side, I'm down at least three pound this morning, but no food for a day will do that to you.

[Deleted]

Oh poor tractor! I'm sorry that you had to suffer like that! Feel better soon.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

Glad it wasn't something more serious. BTW, drinking lots of water will also help prevent kidney stones.

[tractor]

Thanks everyone, I'm doing fine, but I will skip the gym tonight in favor of a nice long nap. I just need to keep a balance between artificial food, and natural food to make sure my body can digest everything I feed into it.

Mad Dawg, the funny thing is I feel like all I do is drink water, but apparently it's still not enough. I do have more stones to pass, It's just something that I have to look forward to. At least I know what those feel like so I have no reason to panic when they start moving down.

[Artemis Windsong]

Have you tried lemon water? A friend swears by it for better hydration.

Sorry about the kidney stones.

[tractor]

I was told that citric acid is supposed to help disolve the stones, but I think the best you can do is keep hydrated to prevent them from forming. I never heard about using lemon water to stay hydrated, but maybe it works like Gatoraid or other sports drinks replacing a few electrolytes better than water.

[pig]

It's highly unlikely to be caused by your protein intake. It's somewhat of a fallacy because the only link between protein and kidney stones is a generalization that stones are more common in the western world and that's a pretty weak link if you ask me. Low fluid intake most certainly can promote them. However, you'd have to be pretty frickin low on the intake to have that be the cause. Citrate is normally found in urine and it doesn't have anything to do with dissolving the stones but instead acts as a chelation agent which stops nucleation of the stones in the first place so consuming it won't help you if you already have the stones. Good luck I hear they are quite painful.

[tractor]

Pig, I wasn't trying to find a link between kidney stones and excess protein. The excess protein seemed to have more to do with my plugged up intenstine. I'm almost afraid to start using the powder again, but I will go back to it, putting more fiber in my diet. I don't want to have those pains again. Do you think too much protein powder would plug you up? Or am I missing something.

[pig]

putting more fiber in my diet.

I've been on 6 caps of metamucil for years now. Began it for high cholesterol and it dropped it by 40 points in one year. I feel much better taking it so I think it's a great choice.


"Do you think too much protein powder would plug you up? Or am I missing something."

The only thing I can think of is if you're not getting enough water but in that case anything you'd eat would do it to you. Are you feeling better now at all?

[tractor]

I'm better now, magic potion flushed my system and I'm back to normal. I thought metamucil was only for old people but maybe I should start taking something like that to.

[pig]

Nope not just for old people. It binds cholesterol. It's part of the first line of defense against high cholesterol via dietary changes. Glad to hear you're feeling better.

[Genuine GA Peach]

Tractor - I have heard several people comment that they make sure to drink LOTS of water when they are using protein supplements. Maybe they've had the same problem you had

as far as fiber, I keep a canister of Benefiber at work & at home. I mix it in my yogurt, when I make jello, hot tea, whatever. I eat plenty of fruits, veggies, and whole grains too.