New - Hello....Is it too soon to mention Kidneys?

[shan]

Hello All, I'm Shan from Birmingham, UK. Nice to meet you.

I'm mom to Will who's now 7 and was diagnosed with HFI at 11 months after an incident with some evil strawberry fromage frais. Once diagnosed we've done ok - I'm interested in food and nutrition anyway and was already prepared for the severe restrictions to come as my mom (along with my aunt and uncle) has the condition.

A couple of years ago I raised my concern with Will's specialist that although he ate a good range of foods within the boundaries - the vast majority of them were high in purines which in turn lead to high urates in the blood responsible for things like gout and kidney stones. The consultant smiled rather indulgently at me and said he "didn't think we had to worry about gout just yet, haha."

2 years on my lad is suffering from urinary tract infections - 2 in the space of 5 weeks - peeing blood, painful to stand when peeing, pain in his kidney area and down his legs and raging temps. Thankfully the antibiotics sorted it and we're due to see a nephrologist next month.

Having done a bit of digging I'm concerned that he may have kidney stones for 2 reasons. Firstly, as mentioned, high urate levels from the diet and secondly the by product of unmetabolised fructose is oxalate - another kidney stone culprit.

Anyone have any information around this issue I'd be interested to hear from you.

Cheers.

[colormist]

I have never had kidney stones. I've had kidney pain that generally lasts one day and is due to a slip-up in diet, but never stones. But I don't eat a lot of meat (maybe 2-3 meals a week have meat), so hopefully Bill will chime in. He eats lots of meat (liver and other such gross things).

[charlie]

Oh, poor lad, kidney pains are the worst and I have seen grown tough men crumple with it............

Meg hasn't had any diagnosed kidney issues............ still slowly.............. undergoing assessment in enuresis clinic but she definately pees copiously and often with no warning when she has any food she shouldn't. It may be worth looking into metabolic acicdosis as an explanation. Have found several interesting but highly technical pages about it and trying to concise it down to one readable explanation when I have time (and brain functioning adequately)

Welcome to another Brit on board, looking forward to hearing more about you and Will.

LOL about Bills diet...............

[sselfe]

Shan, I have a 13 year old son who had kidney issues such as you are describing as a baby. We found out he had hydronephrosis of the right kidney caused by a UPJ obstruction. Has Will had a kidney ultrasound of any kind? This would be the first step in the diagnosis of stones, HN and other kidney issues. The 13 year old has not been tested and does not seem to have HFI (though his 8 year old sister does), but he is also not a big sweets (natural or otherwise) eater.