After eleven years ...

I just passed another kidney stone. 

This is my third and I hate to say it does not get any easier. berkeley it hurts. 

I feel your pain! I’ve passed 5 in 20 some years. 

I assume you know about the bathtub soak for pain?

Sorry man 

While I have not had the pleasure of dealing with kidney stones, I have watched my father and close coworker suffer from them. My dad's kidney pearl was 8mm. He said that it was the most pain he has ever been in in his entire life.

I took my coworker to the ER after he called me at home. I could barely understand his works but I knew he was in pain. When I picked him up at his house, he was doubled over and couldn't walk. After I helped him into my truck, he curled into a ball on the back seat and writhed in pain for the entire 10 minute ride to the ER. After getting him admitted, the ER doc came out and said that it "was just a kidney stone". Just a kidney stone? That poor bastard looked and sounded like he was dying.

I'm sure that due to genetics and poor lifestyle choices, I'm sure I won't be able to escape suffering kidney stones .

I passed one, and it only took a couple of hours between onset of symptoms and delivery of the stone. It was maybe 15 years ago and it is not an experience I care to even contemplate repeating. 

I woke up Friday at around 2am feeling funny, by 2:30am I kind of knew what was coming. If you ever pass one you dont forget. 

I paced and walked around the house strategizing what the hell to do until 4:30am. I finally gave in when the pain was at 9/10 and woke up my wife and told her to go and see if we had any pain meds, negative she throws everything away. 

At 4:45am we were on our way to the ER which luckily is 10 minutes away. Unfortunately my M3 was the only car outside and I never knew how stiff a 15 year old suspension could still be. Speed limit was 50mph, she was doing 45mph and there was no one. I could not even tell her to speed up. 

Anyways, got to the ER after driving over every pothole and manhole and they took my vitals. My bp was 165/110, thats a first but they said it was due to the pain. 

They did a ct scan, confirmed it was a 4mm stone - which isnt that big but it felt like 4 feet - and gave me some morphine. At 8 they sent me on my way with some Oxycodone and Flomax. 

I was still high on the morphine and happy until 10am and the pain returned, held it until 1 and had an oxy. That help me all the way until 11pm when I took another one to be able to sleep. Wishful thinking, from 1am to 3am I experienced the worst pain. Saturday I passed the stone. 

It probably tore a few things in me because my kidney still hurts.  

rustybugkiller said:

I assume you know about the bathtub soak for pain?

No I did not, but I did spend about an hour in the shower at max hot. That helped a lot. 

I'm so glad that it's over now. I hope you never have to go through this again.

I've passed 5, 3 with trips to the ER in the past 6 years.

I once told a urologist off pretty good, I guess no one had dressed him down like that before, he was speechless.  He was wasting my time, I was so cranky, and he wouldn't go in and get it out, made me wait the weekend to pass it, I did, but I wanted it out right then.

I haven't had a drop of tea since the 2nd one 4+ years ago, and have really cut back on other caffine sources.  Coffee is a treat now instead of a morning necessity.

In reply to Slippery :

When I passed my first one I pulled off the highway and vomited  green bile from the pain. Then got back in the car and drove myself to the Hospital. For the next several years I’d pass A few a year. Usually on the road working.  

Eventually I stopped drinking so much caffeine and started drinking a lot of plain old water.  That was the magic billet.  Drinking a lot of water. 

I’ve passed one but I guessed what it was, since both a friend and my dad had one. Googled the symptoms in the middle of the night and went “Yup, that’s probably it. Crap...”. 

The pain wasn’t that bad for several hours and I just stayed home. I hate hospitals; a rest from spending time there as a kid, so I can be a bit stubborn and tell my wife “I’m fine” for a bit too long sometimes. Then the pain went sky high and the Mrs wouldn’t take no for an answer anymore. She thought I was dying and took her 530 Wagon up to 90 on the 55 road to the hospital, to the surprise of many other motorists. 

I actually passed the stone before the doctor arrived. By the time he arrived I was sitting on the bed, telling him I just passed a stone (I had no doubt by then) wanted no care, no meds, just go home. Still got a stupid high bill...

My first one I was sure I had appendicitis.  I had pretty much diagnosed myself, and had a text conversation with my brother (oral surgeon, he had to go to medical school) about my symptoms, he agreed with my diagnosis.

I was up basically all night, symptoms hit me late evening on a Sunday, and SWMBO convinced me that I should just go to the walk-in clinic the following morning.  By 4:00 AM SWMBO had decided maybe she'd take me to the clinic, instead of letting me drive myself.  She didn't have an appreciation for my discomfort and pain, she's very much a "suck it up, walk it off," kind of person.  By 6:00 AM I was texting my brother, considering going to the ER.  By 6:30 I was hugging the toilet bowl, dry heaving from the pain.  Then SWMBO, decided to take me to the ER.

During Triage at the ER I described my symptoms to the nurse checking me in.  He said, "probably just a kidney stone."  I thought, "you idiot, it's appendicitis, get me admitted and get this damn thing out of me."  I got to a room in the ER fairly quick, got some Morphine, got some relief, and apparently I'm really chatty when I'm high.  They did a CT scan, sure enough kidney stone.  I got some drugs, and filter to pee in.  Passed it later that day.

My cousin has given birth to a large-ish child, and has passed 3 kidney stones.  She has claimed that she'd gladly give birth again before having another kidney stone if she could.

Funny thing is that I am not big on caffeine. I have NEVER even tasted coffee, and maybe have a can of soda a day. 

Maybe I should start drinking coffee. 

I have consumed a large amount of caffeine and have never had them.

Neither has anyone else in my extended family.  It may be a genetic thing?

(Supposedly, cranberry juice helps prevent them, or break them up, or something)

In reply to Knurled. :

There is a genetic predisposition for them.  SWMBO drinks at least 2, usually more like 4-5 cups of tea a day, and has never had one.

While a lot of folks on my mother's side of the family, including the cousin I mentioned earlier, have all had them.

You guys are scaring me into my safe place with this talk of coffee and kidneystones. I think I'll drink more water. Hot water. That's been forced at high pressure through um coffee grounds. Oh lawzie don't make me give up my coffee!

bigdaddylee82 said:

I've passed 5, 3 with trips to the ER in the past 6 years.

I once told a urologist off pretty good, I guess no one had dressed him down like that before, he was speechless.  He was wasting my time, I was so cranky, and he wouldn't go in and get it out, made me wait the weekend to pass it, I did, but I wanted it out right then.

I haven't had a drop of tea since the 2nd one 4+ years ago, and have really cut back on other caffine sources.  Coffee is a treat now instead of a morning necessity.

 

 

My first stone back in 2009 was about 5mm and was lodged at the top of my bladder. Insurance required they wait 30 days until they could go up and break it up with a laser to remove it. That was a fun 30 days. 

The next one was 9 years later in 2018. While I was 350 miles from home living in a hotel room. Let's just say getting picked up in an ambulance from a hotel is fun. Not.  This one was smaller and I did manage to pass it.

It probably depends on the individual, but opioid pain killers didn't do squat for pain relief and did nothing except make me horrifically ill.  I couldn't even keep water down, which is what you really need when you have a kidney stone.  One of the ER docs told me the opioid issue is not uncommon and often a high dose of ibuprofen is more effective. When I was in the ER last year, they gave me Toradol, which is apparently similar to intravenous ibuprofen. It was awesome, with the side affect of not being a narcotic. 

Another interesting tid-bit they mentioned was they consider the stone "passed" when it reaches the bladder, since the passages from there on out are much larger. I felt the stone "exit" a day or two later, but didn't see it. It was an odd feeling to say the least. 

And on that note... I'm going to the break room for some water... 

Jay_W said:

You guys are scaring me into my safe place with this talk of coffee and kidneystones. I think I'll drink more water. Hot water. That's been forced at high pressure through um coffee grounds. Oh lawzie don't make me give up my coffee!

I have crap eyes, knees, ankles, and my heart ain't the best.. but I'm damned thankful that I don't get kidney stones.

Never had the joy of a kidney stone but about 9 years ago I passed a gall stone.  That was an experience.  I’ve had a lot of people tell me it just isn’t done and that gall stones mean having surgery.  I can’t believe that’s entirely true since until fairly recently in human history surgery wasn’t a thing.   

But exquisitely painful. 

In reply to Knurled. :

Well you are partially right. Cranberry Juice is good for Kidney health. However it doesn’t prevent or breakup stones.  

That’s mostly a function of your drinking habits. Drinking water helps flush  your kidneys and small stones can be flushed painlessly. Plus regular heavy urine ( from drinking a lot of water ) opens up the tract and allows easier passage of stones.  

Be warned not all water is good.  Look at faucets and if you see a lot of white flaky Caulk avoid that water.  

Not all bottled water is that great either. Most is simply tap water that is filtered. So it will have chlorine, fluoride, as required by law plus trace amounts of whatever.  

The better waters come from pop bottling companies. They really maintain their filtration systems.  Pop can taste funny with the wrong ingredients, plus most are now selling more bottled water than pop!  

The best waters come from underground caverns. Places where water takes more than 5000 years to filter down.  One such water company is Buhl. 

Water from there comes out of the ground and unfiltered goes in the bottle.  No additives,  no filtering, and since it hasn’t been on the surface in 5000 years no micro plastics and no trace radiation!  

Jay_W said:

You guys are scaring me into my safe place with this talk of coffee and kidneystones. I think I'll drink more water. Hot water. That's been forced at high pressure through um coffee grounds. Oh lawzie don't make me give up my coffee!

 Age enters into Kidney stone’s too. Most people have trouble in their 30’s and 40’s. 

Alcohol drinking can be a factor as well.  Alcohol will tend to dry you out, but heavy beer drinking will open up your urinary tract.  

So I should properly say drinking alcohol neat.