Sunday, August 26, 2007

If only it were true.....

Well, my lower back/hips feel a lot better. Unfortunately the pain on my side/abdomen got worse. So, I went to the ER last night. Turns out I have a bladder infection. They gave me Vicadin (LOVE the Vicadin) and Cipro for an antibiotic. It has helped, and makes me sleepy. I still feel pain around my kidneys, but they have assured me I do not have a kidney stone.

NOW, when they do the initial consultation they weigh you. When they weighed me their scale showed that I have lost 17 lbs. since Wednesday. IF ONLY THAT WERE TRUE! Is that even possible? I don't know. Would be nice. :-)

Did you know that eating too much spinach or strawberries can cause a kidney stone? I didn't either, until I looked up "causes of kidney stones". (Isn't googling wonderful?) I eat at least 2 cups of sliced strawberries a day. They are fairly inexpensive, in season, and high in fiber. Also, they are my favorite fruit. SO, now I am cutting back on the strawberries. :-(

I'll write more when I feel a little better, so please be patient. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

5 comments:

Princess LadyBug said...

Before you change your diet, talk to your doctor. There is no ONE thing that causes kidney stones. It's a combination kind of thing. So the strawberries are probably fine for you since you drink a lot of water. Basically, lots of water is the key to not getting them.

Sarah said...

Oh Wendy - poor baby! I would agree with Princess Ladybug that you don't have to ditch the berries. A bladder infection is just part of a UTI, and your kidneys are part of that urinary system. So, it's common to have pain there as well. Damn, in my case, the times I've gotten a UTI, I have been in agony from my throat down - but I have been known to be a wimp before!! :)

Definitely the big thing is water. I have seen several nutritionists during my bout with bulimia, and have been told fairly consistently that you need 1/2 oz. of water per pound of body weight, more if active, less if sedentary.

Someone weighing 200 pounds would need to drink 100 oz of water on a normal day, maybe 80-ish if s/he was just sitting around in a climate controlled room, and as much as 120-130 oz. if exercising intensely or in extreme heat.

And of course, not all at once - it HAS to be spread out across the day. If that person were awake for 13 hours a day, it would be a little more than 7 oz. per hour. In perspective, that's not bad. (The average person can excrete about 32 oz. per hour through urination.)

Oh, and the kind of nasty part - to figure out exactly how much water you need, your urine should always be clear, even in the morning. Basically when you urinate, you shouldn't even be able to tell when you look in the toilet that you did. So that can mean adding or decreasing to that basic 1/2 oz. calculation.

Anyway, enough lecturing. I was awesome with water while I was PG and nursing, but now I think I probably get about 1/4 of what I should during the day. Off to fill a glass. :)

Hope you feel better!!!

WendyDarling said...

Thank you, Ladies. :-) I haven't "ditched" the berries altogether. I have cut back on them though. :-)

I am drinking a lot of water, now. I have to admit I wasn't drinking enough water. I did drink A LOT when I first started the diet, but then when I was allowed tea and diet drinks again I had two glasses of green tea a day and one diet sprite every other day.

Unfortunately, I cut back on the water. I should have had a clue of what was going on when my urine went back to being yellow. :-( SO, only water now, and cranberry pills. :-)

Unknown said...

I agree with Sarah totally. I know that however when I go wee wee I see yellow. Come to think of if when it is finished flushing I see yellow. Memo to Laslo: Buy toilet bowl cleaner tomorrow.

Sarah said...

Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaslo! ;)