About
Why this site exists
I first put this domain up in 2008 as a small blog called “Kidney stone pain.” I was a heart patient on Coumadin. Dark-oak urine showed up six weeks before the real pain. A KUB X-ray missed the stone. A CT scan did not: 5 × 5 × 10 mm, just starting its trip down the left ureter. The urologist handed me Uroxatral and Dilaudid and sent me home with a follow-up scan in a week. I wrote three posts and then life moved on.
Those pages are still in the Internet Archive. This is the site I wish I had been able to read while I waited: clinic facts, kitchen remedies with an evidence grade, and a kit that is not a 24-hour dissolve miracle.
What is different this time
The old sidebar pointed at “be pain free in less than 24 hours” pages. That is not this site. The facts come from NIDDK patient pages, AUA-aligned clinic practice, National Kidney Foundation diet guidance, Harvard Health summaries, and published work on fluids, sodium, calcium intake, and citrate. The voice is still first-person because that is how the problem arrives.
Medical disclaimer
This website is for education. It is not medical advice, diagnosis, or a treatment plan. It does not create a clinician–patient relationship. Stone disease shares a hallway with appendicitis, aortic problems, pyelonephritis, and ectopic pregnancy. Imaging and labs belong to licensed clinicians. If you are in crisis, use local emergency services.
Affiliate disclosure
My Struggle with Kidney Stones is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. That means I earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this site, at no extra cost to you. The tracking ID is kidneystonestruggle-20. Example short link: https://amzn.to/4ybd88Y.
I do not accept payment from brands to invent a recommendation. Products appear because they implement something the guides already argue for: strainers, heat, hydration gear, food-grade citrate, kitchen tools.