OK to take Urocit-K with calcium citrate?

[Marquis Mark]

Due to an increased risk for Kidney stones, Endocrinologist gave me a prescription for Urocit-K (10 mEq 3 times a day with meals).

I always try to take at least 200 mg Calcium Citrate every time I shove something down my gullet (unless it's just dairy). Will adding Urocit-K to the mix have a negative effect on either one?

Asking because it seems we have to be pretty careful what we mix with Calcium.

And can I ease off the Crystal Light now? I think it's giving me gas...

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I dunno. And I'd like to know.

What I do know is that Urocit-K uses a wax matrix delivery system...like a honeycomb...to deliver its goodies to you.

Neurotic that I am, I gave them a bit of a head start by LIGHTLY scoring the pills (with apill cutter) to help them dissolve in a gut with limited acids.

And, my then-Uro said he'd never seen as drastic and rapid an improvement as that caused in me. I have no idea why I stopped taking them.

When my stone pathology from Jan 5th and 24-hour urine test return, I will be asking about this approach with my new Uro.

 

[Marquis Mark]

According to the bariatric NP at Kaiser it's OK to take potassium with Calcium. Take that for what it's worth. They gave me slow release Urocit-K. Forgot to remind them about needing regular version, but I think I'll just take them anyway. Maybe score them a skosh like you did. I may not get all the benefit, but I'm sure I'll get some before I poop it out.

I'll be very curious to see your 24-hour urine results. Good luck!

Since you're a "stoner" maybe I can ask you:

1. Is Potassium citrate a kind of acid? No idea. Went to public schools. Clematis had mentioned that she actually lowered her PTH quite a bit by using slow release calcium (which is mostly carbonate). I'm thinking if SR Potassium Citrate is acidic then that would help SR calcium carbonate absorb all day/slowly and then we wouldn't have to worry about when to take calcium.

2. I understand calcium binds to oxalates AND fat. It's good that it binds to oxalates, but if it also binds to fat, how do we absorb any of the calcium when we take it with food that has fat?

 

[Spiky Bugger]

According to the bariatric NP at Kaiser it's OK to take potassium with Calcium. Take that for what it's worth. They gave me slow release Urocit-K. Forgot to remind them about needing regular version, but I think I'll just take them anyway. Maybe score them a skosh like you did. I may not get all the benefit, but I'm sure I'll get some before I poop it out.

I'll be very curious to see your 24-hour urine results. Good luck!

Since you're a "stoner" maybe I can ask you:

1. Is Potassium citrate a kind of acid? No idea. Went to public schools. Clematis had mentioned that she actually lowered her PTH quite a bit by using slow release calcium (which is mostly carbonate). I'm thinking if SR Potassium Citrate is acidic then that would help SR calcium carbonate absorb all day/slowly and then we wouldn't have to worry about when to take calcium.

2. I understand calcium binds to oxalates AND fat. It's good that it binds to oxalates, but if it also binds to fat, how do we absorb any of the calcium when we take it with food that has fat?

#1 and #2--The only science class I ever took was Physics for Social Science Majors. I ask people like DianaCox and Larra and others who took the hard classes...sorry

 

[Marquis Mark]

#1 and #2--The only science class I ever took was Physics for Social Science Majors. I ask people like DianaCox and Larra and others who took the hard classes...sorry

I feel you. I have a master's in film. That means I can get a job at a REALLY good restaurant.

Diana, Larra? Care to chime in?

 

[Spiky Bugger]

I feel you. I have a master's in film. That means I can get a job at a REALLY good restaurant.

Diana, Larra? Care to chime in?

Hey, MiniSue only has a B.A. in Theater, English minor. And several restaurant jobs, and country club jobs and law office jobs...college was four years, after all...lol. But there are also a couple of imdb credits which got her LOTS of organizational experience, which got her into jobs organizing (from buying the fax machine that everyone else who wanted a job on that film sent resumes to all the way to "adopting" the surviving mice from a film when the ENTIRE office was being shut down) fairly big films and BIGGER political things...and we have photos of her, by her early 30s, with movie stars--including the monkey--from Night at the Museum and other big films, with presidents, on an elephant, on tv sets, and on and on...even Jane Goodall gave her a souvenir!

(At 40, she chucked it all, mice to elephants, for an entry level job with a guaranteed pension. But, likely because of all the good experiences she's had, three years in, she is being transferred to a position where she is a public representative of the organization...no extra pay, but a MUCH shorter commute and, most of the time, consecutive days off, which she has not had on a regular basis.)

So, at the restaurant or any other job, remember...whatever HAPPENS on stage--an actor sneezes, a prop falls, some drunk actor wanders onstage at the wrong time--was what you MEANT to have happen. Work with it, and, of course, never let 'em see you sweat.

 

[DianaCox]

Hmm, it seems that taking calcium with a high fat meal is a potential problem for oxalate stoners, because the calcium preferentially binds to fat over oxalate.

Sounds to me like you want to take some of your calcium (maybe cheap calcium carbonate?) with meals, and the calcium citrate in between meals. But I don’t know for sure.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Hmm, it seems that taking calcium with a high fat meal is a potential problem for oxalate stoners, because the calcium preferentially binds to fat over oxalate.

Sounds to me like you want to take some of your calcium (maybe cheap calcium carbonate?) with meals, and the calcium citrate in between meals. But I don’t know for sure.

No! You always figure this out! I'll just keep waiting.

 

[Spiky Bugger]

Due to an increased risk for Kidney stones, Endocrinologist gave me a prescription for Urocit-K (10 mEq 3 times a day with meals).

I always try to take at least 200 mg Calcium Citrate every time I shove something down my gullet (unless it's just dairy). Will adding Urocit-K to the mix have a negative effect on either one?

Asking because it seems we have to be pretty careful what we mix with Calcium.

And can I ease off the Crystal Light now? I think it's giving me gas...

Right now, I'm completely overwhelmed trying to put together a diet that is:
Low FODMAP,
Low Fiber,
Low Residue, and
Low Oxalate (which is why this relates to you.)

And maybe, but probably not includes an
Interstitial Cystitis Friendly diet.

Here's the deal...there is almost ZERO consensus on how much oxalate is actually in our foods. This makes me crazier than usual:

https://doc-0s-2o-docs.googleuserco...6575955&hash=dsenedk16b5jr9vfbdop9ie0pi5h43lr

 

[Marquis Mark]

Hmm, it seems that taking calcium with a high fat meal is a potential problem for oxalate stoners, because the calcium preferentially binds to fat over oxalate.

Sounds to me like you want to take some of your calcium (maybe cheap calcium carbonate?) with meals, and the calcium citrate in between meals. But I don’t know for sure.

That's as good a theory as any I've heard. Thanks.

So is potassium Citrate acidic? Will taking it at the same time as calcium carbonate help provide the acid that ca carbonate needs to absorb?

 

[bearmom]

"Hmm, it seems that taking calcium with a high fat meal is a potential problem for oxalate stoners, because the calcium preferentially binds to fat over oxalate."

That's pretty darned close to what I've been told, and I've asked the specialists at UofW medical and a handful of nephrologists, endos and other dr types since.

Basically, the potassium citrate can go down the hatch at any time, because it's time release, but take with food if it upsets your stomach.
The calcium should be eaten with food, and if you're on a tight budget, you can use a calcium carbonate to bind the oxalates in the food as well as plenty that will get wasted binding to fat. I was advised to take extra calcium with the food, so that after all that wasting gets done, I will still absorb some. I may use a some carbonate IF I've gotten my real calcium in, but it's usually just easier to take cal citrate with all food, and then hopefully enough extra that some still gets absorbs. Based on my labs, it's working well.

I won't take calcium between meals, because study results on calcium citrate and kidney stones have differed and it appears it may be just based on whether it's taken with food or not (or derived from our food, rather than a supplement, and we're screwed if that's the case).