My 7mm kidney stone gave me the worst experience.

I wanted to share my experience. In my case, I have a very thin urethra and when it began to pass it got stuck. And somehow it was pushing on some of the nearby nerves, and this caused the continuous nausea. I was vomiting, and stomachache. At first I really thought that it was simply a really bad gastro or food poisoning.

The pain just continued to get worse. Like… way worse. The extreme pain made me think I was going to faint. I called an ambulance to myself in the night.

The hospital they referred to, did a scan, then wait for the results. At the same time I am there vomiting- water, bile, all.

On the report returned they discovered the stone, which was approximately 7mm, stuck in the ureter. My doctor told me that my kidney stone was not that big. He told me that anything less than 10mm will tend to pass by itself depends on its location. Because it stuck close to the intestine, they were unable to use the normal shock wave treatment outside of the body. I should have been taken down through the urinary tract to dislodge it, which they could have done; but as it was already producing obstruction and inflammation they took me in to get the infection under control, and find out whether I could get it out of my system.

I did pass by myself after a week of pain.

Then, when I was getting follow-up, I asked the doctor why this is the case. I am quite active, I exercise, I have a rather balanced diet. I believed that I was doing the right things.

The thing he said to me was not at all what I expected:

“You’re not drinking water correctly.” When he asked, I did tell him I mostly drink tap water and that is when he explained the issue.

He told me that the tap water I’ve been drinking is considered hard water, meaning it contains higher levels of minerals over time. In other words, it can gradually make it easier for stones to form. I was basically feeding the stone.

He had a simple piece of advice on daily bases:

Be careful of the quality of water rather than the quantity of water

Get at least to drink a glass of room-temperature water first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.

He didn’t say this would completely prevent kidney stones, just that it could lower the risk and help protect against them over time.

Now I’m really curious — has anyone else heard something like this from their doctor? Or noticed a difference based on the kind of water they drink or type of food they eat? Wonder how anybody else had their kidney stones?