howitzer wrote:
Hi All

I've been road cycling hard core for about 4 years now and I just had
my first experience with a kidney stone (not fun). The lab results
came back as calcium oxalate. The Urologist is telling me I need to
cut down on my calcium intake with things like green leafy veggies,
chocolate (oh no!) and nuts. I'm not convinced this is the problem
since my diet has not varied for many years and I do not consume lots
of dairy products and I have about two salads a week. My thought is
that I am loosing too much sodium and potassium while riding, and not
replacing it fast enough. This would cause an electrolite imbalance. I
drink lots of water and sports drinks while riding and about 4 liters
or H2O daily. Am I not taking enough sodium? Anyone have thoughts on
this or experienced the same? Any doctors care to comment?

Not a doc, but oft a patient -- have had 4 or 5 episodes of kidney stones,
two resulting in "procedures" to remove and/or crush them (the latter being
lithotripsy; the former being blocked from memory!).

I also had a secondary contributing factor: my bones weren't absorbing
calcium, so they got weak while the calcium collected in my kidneys. Ended
up with stress fractures all over my body (I was a runner back then), due to
low bone density.

What seems to have worked for me is taking a diuretic (HCTZ) and Potassium
Citrate, as I haven't had a stone in years (knock on oxalate). The only
change to my diet, really, was to greatly reduce soda consumption; I just
don't have 'em in the house any more. (So now an occasional Coke is a real
treat.) No milk, but plenty of cheese still.

I was put on Fosamax for a while to rebuild my bone density; taken off it
once back to normal.

I've heard the reports of cyclists and brittle bones recently, so it's
something I should watch, no doubt. The only other exercise I'm doing
nowadays is yoga, which although weigh-bearing isn't exactly strenuous.

I'd advise listening to your doc but also your gut; the dietary changes s/he
recommended aren't that drastic, after all.

Bill "no help but got to tell my riveting tale" S.