Ah the joy of Kidney Stones... again.

[Spectre38]

Yesterday morning while at work at about 2 a.m.... I folded like an old envelope. Without warning, within about a half of an hour, the pain was so bad I was losing my lunch. Kidney stones had returned for the 7th time.

I drove myself tot he hospital and requested that they NOT give me any narcotics, because I was going to have to drive myself home. The CT scan showed a 5.5 mm stone blocking the urinary tract and about 7 small ones still in the kidney.

For the last day I have been running fevers, breaking into sweats and being brought to my knees with pain... the joy of it all.

Now it's Flowmax and some Hydrocodone...

Not the way I planned to spend the Holiday weekend. I had plans for a couple of days at the coast with the significant other. I have since cancelled the hotel and postponed the weekend.

[Beo3]

Ouch!

Here's hoping that the pain subsides quickly.

Stay well my friend and may they pass with ease.

[joeychitwood]

I hope your pain is manageable. I haven’t had kidney stones, but in my years as an ER doc, I could diagnose a stone patient from across the parking lot because of the brutal pain they were experiencing. There was a characteristic writhing displayed by them.

[Spectre38]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

... but in my years as an ER doc, I could diagnose a stone patient from across the parking lot because of the brutal pain they were experiencing. There was a characteristic writhing displayed by them.

If one has never experienced it, it is hard to understand just how bad it is... The classic writhing, is just the inability to get comfortable in any position. Pure misery...

[Langnam]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

I hope your pain is manageable. I haven’t had kidney stones, but in my years as an ER doc, I could diagnose a stone patient from across the parking lot because of the brutal pain they were experiencing. There was a characteristic writhing displayed by them.

This was me in 2015. Writhing so much, I could not drive to the hospital. It was like a seizure. The nurse in the ER knew immediately that I had a kidney stone.


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[Chewbacca]

I have a PhD in blood boulders.

Get well soon.

[IgCarr]

Ugh - I'm having sympathy pain hearing about your trouble. I've had two stones, about 20 years apart. And even 20 years later, I woke up knowing immediately that it was another stone. The pain is extraordinary. Feel better soon and hope everything passes quickly.

[mountainjogger]

Hang in there Paul.

[BNA/LION]

Feel Better and take it easy. No Stones for me so far... I definitely don't want them either!

[77T]

I hope your episode passes (literally).

Had one once while at my midtown office on the 34th floor in the early ‘80’s - an open window would’ve been an option.

In my case, a top notch teaching hospital was next door - our CMO got me in without delay. They shot some pictures, gassed me, went in with a scope, and fetched it.

Whole thing took about 2hrs from onset.

I’m not a doctor, but don’t they do that anymore?


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[mmutte]

Originally Posted by 77T

I hope your episode passes (literally).

Had one once while at my midtown office on the 34th floor in the early ‘80’s - an open window would’ve been an option.

In my case, a top notch teaching hospital was next door - our CMO got me in without delay. They shot some pictures, gassed me, went in with a scope, and fetched it.

Whole thing took about 2hrs from onset.

I’m not a doctor, but don’t they do that anymore?


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Urologist here.
Yes I do that quite frequently

OP. Fevers + obstructing stone can be a recipe for disaster and you could get quite sick. If you do not improve very soon a return trip to the ER or a call (at any hour) to your urologist is imperative.
Speedy recovery.
Feel free to DM any questions/concerns.

[sleepydoc]

Originally Posted by mmutte

Urologist here.
Yes I do that quite frequently

OP. Fevers + obstructing stone can be a recipe for disaster and you could get quite sick. If you do not improve very soon a return trip to the ER or a call (at any hour) to your urologist is imperative.
Speedy recovery.
Feel free to DM any questions/concerns.

Agree with this! Septic stones can be very serious.
Please do not stay at home if you continue to have fever.
And yes, we still do this, just took stones out of 3 patients tonight.

[Speedbird-1]

Hi Paul, I hope you can get it sorted very soon.

Originally Posted by mmutte

Urologist here.

Hi Matt, I was wondering, what you do to reduce your chances of getting stones?
It sounds blooming awful.

On a personal note, how do you treat, Minimal Change, Nephrotic Syndrome, in the 'States? (asking for a friend who has been on and off Prednisolone, for a few years)

[mmutte]

Originally Posted by Speedbird-1

Hi Paul, I hope you can get it sorted very soon.





Hi Matt, I was wondering, what you do to reduce your chances of getting stones?
It sounds blooming awful.

On a personal note, how do you treat, Minimal Change, Nephrotic Syndrome, in the 'States? (asking for a friend who has been on and off Prednisolone, for a few years)

Generally speaking, to reduce your risk of kidney stones you need to:
1. Drink enough water to urinate 2L water daily. No one keeps track of how much they urinate out, so a surrogate is fluid consumption. You need to drink at least 3L water (100oz) daily, on the low end, to meet this requirement.
2. Low sodium diet
3. Moderate calcium intake. Yes, that’s right. Moderate calcium intake.
I won’t bore you with the details, but even patients with calcium stones need to follow this.
4. Low Oxalate diet. Oxalate is in green, leafy veggies (kale, spinach, etc) chocolate, black tea among many other things. Simple google search will clear this up for ya.
5. Low animal protein diet. Essentially you cannot eat a steak for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The old Atkins diet = stone diet.


Of all of those, the biggest bang for your buck is to drink plenty water. You will be peeing all day long. But it beats staring down the business end of a metal scope we use to go in and extract it.

Yes, fresh squeezed lemons in your water also helps. It puts citrate in your water, citrate is a stone inhibitor.

Hope this helps.
Of all the things I treat, stone patients and urinary retention patients are the most appreciative.

[Speedbird-1]

Kidney Stones

Thank you very much Matt, for your clear, succinct answer. Very useful indeed to many of us here, I imagine.
Some extremely interesting points, especially regarding the green vegetables.

Thanks again, for taking the time to clarify.
The, threat of excruciating pain, does focus the attention, when considering one's dietary habits.

There will be a few members, (me included) drinking more water and watching the salt intake from now on.

[brandrea]

Originally Posted by mmutte

Generally speaking, to reduce your risk of kidney stones you need to:

1. Drink enough water to urinate 2L water daily. No one keeps track of how much they urinate out, so a surrogate is fluid consumption. You need to drink at least 3L water (100oz) daily, on the low end, to meet this requirement.

2. Low sodium diet

3. Moderate calcium intake. Yes, that’s right. Moderate calcium intake.

I won’t bore you with the details, but even patients with calcium stones need to follow this.

4. Low Oxalate diet. Oxalate is in green, leafy veggies (kale, spinach, etc) chocolate, black tea among many other things. Simple google search will clear this up for ya.

5. Low animal protein diet. Essentially you cannot eat a steak for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The old Atkins diet = stone diet.





Of all of those, the biggest bang for your buck is to drink plenty water. You will be peeing all day long. But it beats staring down the business end of a metal scope we use to go in and extract it.



Yes, fresh squeezed lemons in your water also helps. It puts citrate in your water, citrate is a stone inhibitor.



Hope this helps.

Of all the things I treat, stone patients and urinary retention patients are the most appreciative.

Thank you Matt

I drink one of these every single day ... you're right about peeing all day



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[mmutte]

Originally Posted by Speedbird-1

[SIZE="4"]Hi Paul, I hope you can get it sorted very soon. [/SIZE
On a personal note, how do you treat, Minimal Change, Nephrotic Syndrome, in the 'States? (asking for a friend who has been on and off Prednisolone, for a few years)

I do not treat nephrotic syndrome. This is a medical renal disease, as urologists, we treat surgical renal issues; stones, cancer of the kidney, obstruction of the kidney etc.
however, nephrotic syndrome is defined by excess protein in the urine. You essentially need to avoid excess dietary protein, nephrotoxic medications, most commonly NSAIDs (ibuprofen, naproxen, etc)
Additionally, keeping your blood pressure under control is greatly helpful. So low sodium, healthy diet etc.

Hope this helps.
Renal dysfunction is life changing. You need to protect those kidneys!!

[enjoythemusic]

Darn, sorry man. There will be better days ahead.

[TheVTCGuy]

Get rid of those mother &*$*ers soon my friend, I have had five.

#1. Pain, surgically removed.
#2. Pain for one hour, then came out
#3. Standing over the toilet, and plunk! Never felt a thing.
#4. Pain for weeks, was diagnosed with Prostatitis, finally came out.
#5. Pain for two days, thought it was Prostatitis (again, I get it chronically) then there it was, in the toilet.

I know what you’re going through, or, what is going through you. There is nothing fun or good but it too will pass. Good luck man, hang in there.

[TNT009]

Never had one... Soooo, how they get rid of them?

[milov]

I hope you get through this quickly.

[Bluside]

It's a club none of us want to belong to. I hurt for you. Hopefully, this will pass soon.

[fmc000]

OP, i share your pain. Been there twice, the first one was completely unexpected and incredibly painful, it took me three days to get rid of the sucker, the second one was scary but much less painful, probably it was only sand or the little rock just broke by itself.

[superdog]

I tried to avoid looking at this thread.

Been nearly 30 years since I had one.

Feel the pain just reading this…

I hope you feel better soon.

[joeychitwood]

I had sepsis and lumbar discitis this winter, the pain of which has been compared to kidney stones. I found that the condition introduced me to a new “1-10” pain scale. Once I could finally remember being in the hospital after nine days of oblivion, the nurses constantly asked me for a pain rating. A nine on the “Before Discitis” scale barely moved the needle on the “After” scale. I recalled kidney stone patients saying the same thing. They never knew that scale numbers existed waaayyyy above what they used to think was a ten.

[RichM]

Here’s to passing them sooner than later and to a speedy recovery.

[superdog]

Originally Posted by joeychitwood

I had sepsis and lumbar discitis this winter, the pain of which has been compared to kidney stones. I found that the condition introduced me to a new “1-10” pain scale. Once I could finally remember being in the hospital after nine days of oblivion, the nurses constantly asked me for a pain rating. A nine on the “Before Discitis” scale barely moved the needle on the “After” scale. I recalled kidney stone patients saying the same thing. They never knew that scale numbers existed waaayyyy above what they used to think was a ten.

I get gout, which I prefer to the two stones I had in my college days. But that’s super painful when full on.

My back pain, prior to surgery, was excruciating. Non stop, for months and months.

Those, three…I feel as though many people in life simply don’t understand what true pain is. Any of these 3, and damn, you learn fast.

I hope I never get what you had. Sounds horrific.

[-dustin]

Co-worker just got a stent. His 4th stone, but first time to have something to help with the process.

[GoingPlaces]

Sorry Paul. My cousin gets them regularly, not sure the cause. My understanding is the pain level is immeasurable. Get well.

Anything anyone can do to prevent? Or is it just bad luck?

[GenevaFan]

Originally Posted by GoingPlaces

Sorry Paul. My cousin gets them regularly, not sure the cause. My understanding is the pain level is immeasurable. Get well.

Anything anyone can do to prevent? Or is it just bad luck?

I have had two removed surgically. Not fun at all.
As far as precautions diet of course with emphasis on salt/fat intake and certain other foods such as specific nuts. Walnuts are the exception. Water is good and experts say ounces per day equal to 1/2 your weight. I drink water with fresh squeezed lemons when I can which they say assists in breaking down and circumvent stone accumulation. Hope that helps answer your question.

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