Kidney Stones!

[Rev. Powell]

WARNING: This post contains graphic discussion of urinary functions and may cause discomfort.

I've always dreaded getting kidney stones, after hearing my uncle vividly describe the unbelievable pain he went through passing them.

A few months ago I started having pain in my lower back, in the kidney region, upon waking up.  Not a sharp pain, but a dull ache.  It went away soon after I woke up. 

One day, several weeks ago, I woke up and went to perform my customary morning elimination, and NOTHING CAME OUT.  I was briefly terrified: stones immediately came to mind.  I stood there for a while and thankfully things returned to normal.

Soon after I had a regularly scheduled doctor's appointment.  The doctor's diagnosis was a swollen prostate and she gave me antibiotics to treat it.  They also did a cautionary abdominal X-ray.  I assumed that the prostate condition was the cause of my symptoms, took the pills and stopped worrying about it.

The symptoms didn't go away, though.  They got worse, and the pain spread to other parts of my abdomen, and started happening during the day.  Then last week the doctor called and informed me that the X-ray revealed something that COULD BE kidney stones, although only an expensive CT scan could determine for sure.  I declined.

So for a week now I've been experiencing pains in my abdominal region.  I can't be sure whether I have kidney stones at all, but I keep EXPECTING a sharp pain to suddenly appear and cause me to double over in pain.  My anxiety about the possibility of upcoming severe pain is much more distressing than the actual mild pains I'm suffering.  It's worst at night, since I live alone and I'm worried that it will strike in the middle of the night and wake me up from my sleep.  Which makes it difficult for me to fall asleep.

So, has anyone had these?  Any ideas on what to expect, or advice?   

   

   

[ulthar]

I had a kidney stone back in Nov-Dec of last year.  Knocked me COMPLETELY out of commission for 5, yes count 'em, five weeks.

The morning it started I was in such excruciating pain I could not believe hurting that bad was possible.  I'd never experienced pain so bad that the pain itself was causing vomiting.  Next runner up for me pain-wise was a cracked tooth, and an abscessed tooth in there in the running as well (the cracked tooth was so bad that the FIRST root canal did not take...had to have two root canals on the same tooth).

Got a CT scan that morning, after getting hit with some dilaudid (wonderful stuff in this context) and sure enough, there was a stone.  Just big enough to not move anywhere (it was about 2 cm below my kidney).

After three weeks waiting for this thing to GO SOMEWHERE (and three weeks of narcotic pain killers), it was finally decided to get it.  It was in a bad spot for breaking it up and it was not showing up on standard X-Ray (a requirement for that procedure), so it was going to be a snatch-n-grab.

The cure was, in many ways, worse than the disease.

In the recovery room, I was hurting so bad that I was still hurting after three shots of morphine into my IV in the span of 20 minutes.  Yet that was a picnic compared to what was to come.

My operation was on a Monday morning, and by Tuesday afternoon, I was having a BAD reaction to one of the post-op meds.  This reaction kept me unconscious, or nearly so, for three days.  During that three days, I went for my post-op follow-up - let me just say that was one of the most unpleasant things imaginable.  Think about the worse kind of genital targeted torture you've seen in a Bad Movie, and then realize these doctors get paid big bucks to do that to you.

The reaction to the meds eased off by Friday .... but the antibiotics were still tearing me up.  Suffice it to say that it took another week to 10 days to recover my strength, shed the short-term temporary mini-addiction to the pain killers, put some weight back on and be able to walk from the front door to the car.

Five Weeks.  Out of it for Five Weeks from a tee-niny little piece of calcified stone.

My advice?  Get the CT to find out if that's what it is.  And, how big it is - if you can pass it.  Mine was too big (wasn't going anywhere), and hurt like HELL while it was stuck.

I'd like to say "If it's a stone, you'll know it," but I guess every case is different.  I just know that it is now SIX MONTHS later, and I still hurt.  Either the surgery, or the stone, or both, ripped me up inside just enough...and I still hurt.

I hope in your case it's not a stone, or if it is, you have a better time with it than I did.

[Rev. Powell]

Ouch, Althea!  Stories like that are the reason I'm so paranoid.  You reached into my deepest, darkest nightmares and pulled out the story most likely to freak me out.   

I HAVE to believe you had a  bout of bad luck.

My brother, who's an M.D., told me he would not have the CT scan if he was in my position (insurance won't pay, and it's probably an infection).  I've been treating it with antibiotics, unsuccessfully so far.

If I suddenly disappear for 5 weeks, I guess everyone will know why.   

Really, sorry to hear about your terrible experience and the continuing pain.  Ouch!

[Raffine]

Good luck, Rev. and ulthar, that story really sucks!

I've been a bit paranoid about kidney stones myself, since in high school my best friend developed them. He was on the wrestling team, and the doctor faulted the insane dehydration/starvation regimen the wrestlers put themselves through to "make weight" before a match. I very vividly remember his ordeal with them, especially him lying in bed and issuing dire warnings of a severe beating to anyone even thinking about getting anywhere near him.

I've heard now they can actually break the things up sonically so even if you do have them, you don't necessarily have to pass them to get rid of them. Something as simple as increasing water intake can be enough to let them pass relatively painlessly, or even prevent them from forming in the first place. Again: Good luck.

[ulthar]

I've heard now they can actually break the things up sonically so even if you do have them, you don't necessarily have to pass them to get rid of them. Something as simple as increasing water intake can be enough to let them pass relatively painlessly, or even prevent them from forming in the first place. Again: Good luck.

Yes on both.

There is a procedure to bust them up, but the thing is, they have to be able to SEE it on a standard X-Ray to do it (or at least that's what I was told).  Since mine was in a 'bad place' and wasn't showing on regular films, that was not an option.

Water...water...water - keeping properly hydrated is key.  They also told me to add a bit of lemon to the water, since the acid in the lemon helps keep them from forming.

[Zapranoth]

Quite the medical day today.  Please forgive my inquisitiveness, but it's how I'm wired these days.

If you haven't shown blood on a UA, it's hard to think it was a kidney stone.  I assume that has been done, and blood has been shown.

I assume the CT would come out of your deductible, and yeah they can be expensive.  It's the best study for figuring out if a stone is there and if so, how large it is -- which is how you can estimate how likely it is to spontaneously pass.   Stones <4 mm in size pass on their own, mostly.

[CheezeFlixz]

I've never had a kidney stone and after reading this thread I do not ever want a kidney stone .... just don't even sound fun. Fortunately I consume a lot of fluids, which is what I think has kept them away from me.

[Menard]

Fortunately I consume a lot of fluids, which is what I think has kept them away from me.

First off: beer doesn't count as fluids.

Secondly: if your fluids include drinking a lot of tap water (a.k.a. hardwater) then you could be setting yourself up for a stone as the water contains calcium and magnesium that cannot be easily absorbed by the body and can collect as deposits in the kidneys.

For most of us that is not going to be a problem as the amount of hardness in water is not that great and is mostly of concern to someone who already has stones or kidney disfunction. Of course, that depends on the area in which you live and your water source, which may have worse things than calcium/magnesium in it.

Here's to your fluids intake.

[CheezeFlixz]

Secondly: if your fluids include drinking a lot of tap water (a.k.a. hardwater) then you could be setting yourself up for a stone as the water contains calcium and magnesium that cannot be easily absorbed by the body and can collect as deposits in the kidneys.

I'm way over in the Jackson Purchase (for the non-KY people that the area at the far, far western end of KY ... not that you'd care ) ... so no limestone and our water is so soft, I have to harden it for my aquariums. Don't really drink as much beer as I use to, mostly tea. When I lived in central Kentucky that water was so hard you had to take a hammer to it.

[Trevor]

When I lived in central Kentucky that water was so hard you had to take a hammer to it.

 

I've had kidney stones a few years back and I would rather have stones thrown at me than go through that pain again. 

[Allhallowsday]

Reverend, let us know how you're doing.  

[Patient7]

A lot of men in my family have gotten kidney stones so I'm  taking a page out of my brother's book and drinking a lot more water, I'm pretty much addicted to soft drinks so I need to get out of that anyway.

[odinn7]

My GF suffered from kidney stones for a few months at the beginning of the year. They didn't know what was wrong with her but the pain was unreal. I always felt so bad for her as I know it was something that was way beyond what most of us are used to dealing with. Finally they discovered it was stones and treated her for it. It was a long process but for the most part, she is better now. She still does have one large stone that they are going to break up in July. At this point though, where the stone is has not caused a problem for her yet but it is just a matter of time so they will be taking care of it.

She is probably one of the strongest women I have ever known...I had a urinary tract infection once and that pain was unbearable....what she must have gone through for 3 months...I can't and don't even want to imagine.

[asimpson2006]

A lot of men in my family have gotten kidney stones so I'm  taking a page out of my brother's book and drinking a lot more water, I'm pretty much addicted to soft drinks so I need to get out of that anyway.

Getting the soft drinks out of the way is a great thing to do.  I'm pretty much limit my soft drinks to once or twice a week.  Three times happens now and then, but I usually punish myself for it by having more water as a result.  It's tough but I enjoy not having the soft drinks in my system.  It wasn't easy for me to cut my habit, but since I decided that I am going to put a majority of my focus in getting back into shape after I finish my surgery recovery (Which is still going on  ) I would eat healthier and exercise more, so I had to just go cold turkey and do it. 

[Menard]

A lot of men in my family have gotten kidney stones so I'm  taking a page out of my brother's book and drinking a lot more water, I'm pretty much addicted to soft drinks so I need to get out of that anyway.

1) Read what I wrote about tap water.

2) Soft drinks are made from filtered water, as is most any commercial beverage, in order to maintain a consistency in taste and clarity. Quite frankly, soft drinks are better for you than what comes out of your tap. If you want to drink lots of water, stay with distilled or reverse osmosis filtered water.