Kidney Pain because of ketosis/acidic urine?

(Duncan Kerridge) #21

I had similar kidney pain when I first started, usually following a long walk. A little bicarb usually sorted it. It went after about three months so I guess it was something to do with adaption.

#22

As posted above I had a problem that felt like a bladder infection that started during a fast about 3 months in. Baking soda and cranberry pills with added D-Manno (which is a sugar, see above) took care of the problem in a week or so. I still will get symptoms if I do not drink enough but it has not bothered me since I posted above 2 months ago. By all means see a doctor if you are not well. I took the pills for about a month, I could not stand the baking soda but it seemed to help a lot. I stopped doing it after about a week

(VLC.MD) #23

FYI, all this talk about kidney pain and zero talk about the pain itself. People might be having pain with no relation to the kidney at all.

#24

Mine was bladder related not in the kidneys

(Moriarty Philip) #25

So had doc appointment…they checked urine…said all was clear but higher than expected ketones …which explains my eating habits which I explained…doc said leave it be and come back of does not go away…
Tried the bi-carb but does not seem to work…it’s not there all the time…comes and goes…not sure if I should bother going back to docs

#26

When mine comes and goes it usually means I am not drinking enough water. Try lemon in the water?

Mine has not bothered me at all since the summer so I think it was an adjustment but who knows

(Moriarty Philip) #27

I have tried to supplement for eletrolytes and seems to have helped.

(Mandy Knowles) #28

This is exactly what’s happening to me. I found this site on a Google search because I have been on keto for like 3 weeks and have a terrible burning in my left kidney especially in the evening. My doc noted my ketones are high and put me on antibiotics. Sounds like I just need to add salt to my diet?? Thanks

(Allie) #29

I didn’t actually add any salt back then, just the baking soda. I have added salt since though and it’s definotely helped me lots!

(Miss E) #30

thanks for that, i fasted more than usual this week and my kidney pain has been worse

(Omar) #31

I found this topic by searching google for keto and kidney pain. Then I joined the forum.

Kidney pain and burning urination is scary and painful.

In my case it comes when I eat red meat. The baking soda did not help.

The only thing helps is not to eat red meat.

After reading this thread I will up my electrolites and sodium bicarbonate, drink lemon juce, and increase water intake.

I really love the keto and I hope I do not have to terminate it because of this issue.

Thanks for writing this topic and for all the people who participated.

(Irene ) #32

Yes, dealing with this as well at the moment…tried a few different things but today I started warm lemon water in the morning & “pinching salt” all day. so far, it’s not as bad today. I will check my urine acids tonight and see if anything changes. :crossed_fingers:t3:

(Kaarthika Maadhavan) #33

I am drinking enough water like about a gallon. I am 160 pounds. And still facing a pelvic-pain-while-urinating issue.

I experienced burning too. Took a couple of Azo tabs and a quarter tsp of Baking soda. Idk what helped, relieved of the burning but the pelvic pain or bladder pain persists.

I never experienced this while I was lazy keto-ing Jan 1 to Mar 15. I was on IF and water fasts now and then, lost about 20 pounds during that time.

I had to take a break for a couple of weeks and began to experience flare ups when trying get back to a strict keto. It didn’t heal despite drinking lots of water and taking other measures. I gave in switched back to normal eating and it disappeared. And then I ate normally for the next 4 months until last week. I never experienced any pain or discomfort or flare up during that time.

Four days into Keto diet, started my period and a week days into Keto started having pain/burning/frequency/little urine symptoms. There was no urgency though. Tested with Azo strips and there is no UTI. (Had it a couple of times before). Drinking a gallon water. No known food intolerances except for some ripening agents.

I am doing absolutely fine when eating carbs but this whole thing starts with Keto. I eat only Chicken, greens, low carb vegetables, highly thinned down bulgarian yogurt, coconut oil, Kerrygold cultured butter, Ghee (made out of Kerrygold butter), Avocado, Lemons, ACV, Cream of Tartar (Potassium), Vitamins and Mineral Supplements. No dairy or Coffee or Tea. But my dishes are more than ‘American spicy’.

Idk what’s going wrong with me. I am highly motivated to be keto-ing, but this is driving me crazy.

(Bunny) #34

Any known UTI issues in the past?

Ketosis and Uric Acid Stones: Dr. Berg talks about higher levels of uric acid and uric acid stones. Because ketones are acidic and release more nitrogen as well as certain parts of your body needing glucose, more nitrogen is released. When your body makes glucose out of dietary protein and fat, this is called gluconeogensis. To the pathway to release this excess nitrogen is urea, in which you could end up with higher levels of uric acid crystals (gout). If your urine is too acid, it will be more difficult to dissolve these crystals. Higher insulin levels usually make higher levels of uric acid and gout, but the ketogenic diet can also do this …IF you do not consume enough potassium foods.

Normally, kidney stones are made from oxalates (90%), but on a ketogenic diet, you will have more uric acid stones (50% of the time).

RECOMMENDATION:

  1. Keeping your potassium high (vegetables).
  2. Take potassium citrate
  3. Lemon juice (because its citrates).
  4. Sea salt (on a keto diet you need 1 tsp per day. If you are doing a high carb diet, you need 1/4th of a tsp.
  5. Take vitamin K2 if you have a tendency of getting kidney stones as a K2 deficiency is a major cause of kidney stones.
(Kaarthika Maadhavan) #35

Yeah, had UTI a few times in the past. A couple of days later posting to forum, I decided to switch back to normal way of eating until the pain and discomfort went away.

Ate outside the whole day, when I decided to eat carbs again. That’s just to check if the pain is from nutritional deficiencies or from avoiding carbs. Boy, junk food was my medicine! I was ‘almost’ normal with a couple of carb loaded meals!!

I guess, I learnt my mistake. Diving to strict keto right away all whilst the temps were averaging 110. I also took UTI medicines because I developed an infection the past week. A couple of days back, switched to low carb but this time, I planned on slowly cutting down the carbs and upping my fat. My carbs (~ 50g) are now only from vegetables… potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, tomatoes.

Looking for some suggestions on how to eat more protein. I am someone who finds way to avoid eating egg/poultry/seafood/meat since being a child. Never ate red meat and never will. Okay with shrimp but not fish. Chicken… so so, so as egg.

Pointers for effective protein supplements sans stevia. How about desiccated liver pills? What brand? Preference: 1. Plant based 2. Chicken based 3. Meat based

#36

I have had at times a burning sensation in the lower back, but it was a problem in the adrenals. Are you sure it is kidneys? The adrenals are positioned just on top of them.

(Kaarthika Maadhavan) #37

It was burning while urinating and pain in pelvic area mostly towards the right (on and off some times of the day, and while urinating/bowel movement). I did not feel anything in lower back.

#38

Isn’t that more of a bladder inflammation? Ive seen you ruled it out. Could it be the strips give false negatives?
I am quite sure that if you’re having problems related to the kidneys, you should have some kind of shooting pain where the kidneys are located, so a bit higher than the lower back, more towards the ribs. Anyway not in front.

(Kaarthika Maadhavan) #39

I have no idea, what that could be. I searched the internet high and low but couldn’t decipher what was my problem. It somehow suddenly flashed my mind maybe flipping to strict keto is the culprit here. Though I was keto-ing for about 3 months earlier, I ate carbs again for the next 4 months. And my body just didn’t accept eating under 20g carbs and 100g fat overnight. Prior experience didn’t help at all. I’m slowly getting fat adapted.

(Irene ) #40

Hi, I had the same experience when I started keto. I later found out (through test strips) that my urine was high acidic (hence the burning) now I’m on a journey to balance that out and may have found that eating more dark vegetables has helped. If anybody out there has tips and advice please chime in. I have also found that drinking 24 oz of kito aid 2xs a day has helped with the back pain and other issues (like constipation and what I thought was kidney, now convinced it is adrainal fatigue/healing process) I’ve also been cutting back on protein intake as I understand protine produces acid in the body. Everybody will be different on their macros so eat, test and adjust and learn to listen to YOUR body and what it’s telling you. Also, I’ve heard some people just need more carbs and will at time pop a few blueberries in their mouth when they experience any UTI symptoms…just make sure that’s what the problem is so that you don’t confuse the process. Best of luck to you!