How long does it take to make a kidney stone?

So this is the ultimate question, but how long does it take to make a kidney stone? Let's talk about that.

Welcome back to the Kidney Stone Diet Podcast, the show about reducing your kidney stone risk and living your best life. I'm your host and fellow student, Jeff Sarris.

And I'm Jill Harris, your kidney stone prevention nurse. I'm pumped to be here, baby. Pumped!

I love this question. So I posed this question whenever we're about to shoot some shows, I'm like I go on my Facebook page, and that's the Kidney Stone Diet with Jill Harris. It's a private page.

There's I don't know, 22,000 people on there or something or other. There's a lot of people. And so I'll ask them, "Jeff and I are shooting today.

What would you like us to answer?" So if people are too shy to call in– and what's the number, Jeff, to call in?

Yeah, the number is 773-789-8764 if you have a question.

Yeah, and some people are shy. So I just go on the Facebook page and say, "What do you cats want us to talk about today?" And so somebody said, "Listen, we want to know how long it takes to make a stone." Also, before we answer that, can you do me a favor, folks? There's about out of all the people that are watching us, there's a lot of people, but only 76% 76% of you are not subscribed to the channel.

That's a lot! These are people that are watching every week, but you're not pressing that subscribe button. Can you do that for us, please?

Because then we're shown higher in the in the ratings, meaning when somebody searches kidney stones, junk doesn't come up, but we will show up higher than we are right now. So it really helps us a lot. And it means nothing to you, except pressing a little button.

So could you do that? And if you like the video, check that, too. Put the little thumbs up, so we'd really be happy.

You could also, this is kind of crazy, I'm asking a lot, but it's the new year. I'm figuring I'm going for it. Press the little bell because it will notify you when there's a new show.

All of those things, while it doesn't mean much to you, means so much to us. And 76% of you are not doing any of it, so could you help us out, please? Thank you.

Factors That Accelerate Kidney Stone Growth

Okay, shut up, Jill. Okay. Now, how long does it take to make a kidney stone?

On average, two to three years. Two to three years. But, B-U-T, those are that's a little word, but there's three big, giant letters in there.

The "but" is huge. Now, on the average, two to three years. Now, what's interesting to me, does it really take that long or is that when it starts showing up somewhere?

Is that when it starts moving, you know? But they say, science says, two to three two to three years. Except for these things, because a lot of patients will say, "Geez, I make them every six months," because you may have these things going on.

Number one, you're not drinking enough water. You're just always dehydrated. You will make stones faster.

Number two, you're overeating salt, sugar, meat, not getting enough calcium, you're not following the Kidney Stone Diet, and you're not at that point because you're not making a kidney stone. So what would you know, right? So if you're not following the diet protocols, you can make them a lot faster than that.

If you have a genetic disposition, if kidney stones run in your family, and typically, if kidney stones are running in your family, you are most likely going to have high urine calcium. How do you know if you have that? You do a 24-hour urine collection.

You must do those. Guys, if you're a kidney stone former and you do not do a 24-hour urine collection, you're going to keep making kidney stones. Why?

Because there's stuff on that urine collection that needs to be fixed, but you don't even know. And if you do have high urine calcium, which many, many kidney stone formers do, your likelihood of osteoporosis is big as well. Those two things go hand in hand.

If you're leaking calcium and it's coming out in your urine, you have a you have a high propensity for kidney stones and bone disease.

And real quick on the urine the urine collection, at kidneystonediet.com, you can have a consult with Jill where she will break down all of the results from your urine collection for you, so you do know what those results mean to you and how that impacts your life.

I can't tell Now, listen, you're going to say, "Well, of course, you're going to say you're great at it." Guys, I'm good at like three things, okay? I'm good at I'm good at being a mother for the most part. I'm a pretty good friend.

I'm good at love for the most part. And I'm really good at kidney stone prevention. And one of those things is knowing what to look for on a urine collection and teaching you about it and what those value values mean, so you can have a really productive office visit with your doctor.

If you have a good knowledge base of what these urine collections mean, the doctor's going to be able to help you a lot more. I promise. I can't tell you how many patients have said, "Oh my god, Jill!

Thank god you prepped me before my doctor's office visit. Otherwise, he barely said anything, and I wouldn’t have known what to ask." So those urine analysis consults, they are well worth the price, I'm telling you right now. And you may say, "Well, it's this much money." Yeah, but it's going to save you thousands, not to mention stents, ureteroscopies, time off work, illness, all the money, blah, blah, blah.

Thousands of dollars. It's worth it. Trust me, ask anybody that's done it.

Okay, so, what was I saying? Does anyone know? Oh, so family history.

Jeff's like, "I have no idea. I fell asleep." But let's go with This is why I write stuff down, cause my ADHD mind will go all over and will never get back on track. So,

Well, and I interrupted you, so I'm sorry.

Well, we You should know better. You've known me for a long time not to interrupt me. Anyway, you did the right thing, because that is a highly valuable service.

So family history, okay, illness. Some of you have some chronic illnesses that are predisposing you to kidney stone disease: gout from uric acid stones, diabetes, bowel disease, Crohn's, colitis, so you have malabsorption issues, bariatric surgeries that are leading to malabsorption issues, perhaps you're on some weight loss drugs that are leading to malabsorption issues, chronic kidney disease, also known as CKD, your kidneys aren't filtering properly, can lead to kidney stones, metabolic syndrome, obesity, hyperparathyroidism.

All of these things can have you form kidney stones quicker than the average two to three years. And I'm going to tell you what, folks, a lot of my patients have that. But here's another good thing.

You can really lessen some of these medical conditions that are leading to kidney stones by following the goals of the Kidney Stone Diet. When you lower sugar, lower salt, get enough fluids, all of these things, when you get those things in check, you lose weight, there goes the obesity factor. Your chronic kidney disease gets a little better.

Your kidney filtration rate goes up a little bit. Better, less stone risk. A1C goes down because you're really on your diet, less in stone risk.

Metabolic syndrome will lessen stone risk if you get that in check, all by eating a healthy diet. Kidneystonediet.com for the Kidney Stone Diet goals. Go to the start page.

So gout, that can be hereditary, but also you're on a carnivore diet, you may have gout because you're eating too much meat. You can have meat on the Kidney Stone Diet, but slow your roll on how much you're eating. Kidneystonediet.com for how to calculate your protein needs.

I got that there. So, there's just so many things that can increase the rate in which you're making kidney stones. So for the average person, two to three years.

If you have all these other things going on, it could be a lot faster. And so you want to get those things in check. If you don't understand how these medical conditions are affecting your stone disease, we certainly have things on our YouTube channel here.

I've asked my mentor, Dr. Fred Coe, C-O-E, at kidneystonediet.uchicago.edu. He has bowel disease, gastric bypass, the surgeries, all kinds of things on his website that will break down the science and why these things can increase your risk of kidney stone.

So, you know, there's there's many different factor factors in how long it will take for you to form a kidney stone, all the more reason for you to really get that diet in check. Because once you get your diet in check, you can really slow down the process of these other medical conditions. And this is why, till the day I drop, folks, I'm going to be talking about the goals of the Kidney Stone Diet, because it helps people in all areas of their life.

So get on board with what the Kidney Stone Diet is. Lower your risk for kidney stones and all kinds of other medical conditions. The trick is getting educated about it.

Take the Kidney Stone Prevention Course. I break down every single aspect of the Kidney Stone Diet goals with all kinds of great information. Jeff and I don't make anything boring, so it's also very animated.

There are videos, it's a self-talk guide watching me explain everything to you. But you get on the plan, you change your lifestyle. This is what kidney stones do for people.

They actually get them to change their lifestyle so they get rid of a lot of medical conditions, get obesity down, lower their weight, and get on track to a whole new life. Not dramatic, real life, folks. Plenty of testimonials on the website.

So kidneystonediet.com.

Yeah, I think that's perfect. And with that, we'll wrap and we'll see you next week.

Bye, guys!