Kidney stone. *update 11/16

[Handsome Rob]

1:10 Do not Recommend. 

I noticed a little back ache yesterday around 5:30am I figured it was trapped wind. By 7:15 I was in the ER & getting IV painkillers (they say that laughter is the best medicine. It's not. Dialaudid is the best medicine!) CT scan confirmed a 4mm stone above my left kidney. 

Came home with enough Hydrocodone to fell a zoo full of elephants. I usually refuse any kind of opioid, but this time out....gimme.

First time in my life (including the gunshot wounds) I've ever vomited purely from pain. 

Guys. Eat healthy, cut down on the bourbon & salt & drink yer water. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by Handsome Rob

[gregintenn]

I’ve always heard you don’t want one. Best wishes on passing it fast.

[Swamp ash]

That sucks, HR.  Good luck.

[Major Kong]

I just got back from a three day elk hunt and one of my buddies with me had a stone. I have no idea how he managed to do it.
 

Prayers for a speedy recovery.

[Gurn]

I’ve had three and yes it’s a horrible experience. I feel for you. 

[KahrMan]

That sucks.  My dad has had several.  They always seems to hit fast and hard.  I know they can be brutal.  One time dad was sitting in LAX waiting on a plane when one hit and they had to take him out of there on a stretcher.  

Hope you can pass it fast.

[E4 No More]

1 hour ago, Handsome Rob said:

1:10 Do not Recommend. 

I noticed a little back ache yesterday around 5:30am I figured it was trapped wind. By 7:15 I was in the ER & getting IV painkillers (they say that laughter is the best medicine. It's not. Dialaudid is the best medicine!) CT scan confirmed a 4mm stone above my left kidney. 

Came home with enough Hydrocodone to fell a zoo full of elephants. I usually refuse any kind of opioid, but this time out....gimme.

First time in my life (including the gunshot wounds) I've ever vomited purely from pain. 

Guys. Eat healthy, cut down on the bourbon & salt & drink yer water. I wouldn't wish this on anyone. 

The first one sucks real bad. My first one hit me while I was a LEO working a parade. My PCP was open that day, so I went to him after the parade was over. On my way to his office I felt the stone shoot into my bladder. I passed it into a filter screen at the doctor's office. I have had many since then, and I drink approximately a gallon of water each day. That, alone, is not enough. I was kicking out stones like a Pez dispenser.

Besides drinking water, you can reduce your risk by not eating food with high oxalate levels:

1. Beans (low-calcium types)
2. Beer
3. Beets
4. Black pepper
5. Chocolate
6. Coffee
7. Cranberries
8. Dark green vegetables
9. Nuts
10. Oranges
11. Rhubarb
12. Soda (cola)
13. Soy beans
14. Sweet potatoes
15. Tea (black)
16. Tofu
17. Wheat bran

You can also increase items that fight oxalate absorption like high-calcium foods:

1. Broccoli
2. Watercress
3. Kale
4. Okra
5. Kidney, baked, & navy beans
6. Chickpeas

Supplements high in calcium and citrate help as well. I supplement with calcium citrate pills.

Edited November 11, 2021 by E4 No More

[DJTC45]

I just had a PET SCAN for my Cancer that I have. The scan showed that I had a few smaller ones, well I've p!$$ed about 6 small ones in the last 3 weeks. I had a bladder stone when I was working in PA about 2yrs ago and couldn't pee for about 3 days, only dribbles. Went to a clinic and got a prescription for TAMULOSIN (not sure if I spelled that right) it helps to open up the pee vein, well I passed that one and thought I was going to pass out but once it popped out I bet I peed 4 gallons out at least it felt like it. The pain from that one was terrible especially trying to work. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by DJTC45

[Grayfox54]

A couple of years ago during a routine exam a couple of things weren't looking right. An X-ray discovered a large marble sized stone had almost blocked one of the ducts into my bladder. I never even knew it was there. They had to do arthroscopic surgery and cut it up with a laser to take it out in pieces.   They  did the surgery by shoving a camera tube up my urethra.  Not a good experience. 

[derf]

I’ve had several and they are no fun. The last one drew blood, now that will get your attention. Stay hydrated. 

[gregintenn]

A buddy had one on a cruise ship while on his honeymoon.

[mike_f]

My Mom said that her kidney stones hurt worse than giving birth.  Interesting comparison, but I don't know that I'd repeat it in front of any other Moms. 

[Handsome Rob]

1 hour ago, mike_f said:

My Mom said that her kidney stones hurt worse than giving birth.  Interesting comparison, but I don't know that I'd repeat it in front of any other Moms. 

The nurse told me the same thing yesterday! 

[gregintenn]

They tell me it’s like pizzing a cocklebur. 
I’d be happy to just take someone’s word on that. Ouch!

[hipower]

1 hour ago, gregintenn said:

They tell me it’s like pizzing a cocklebur. 
I’d be happy to just take someone’s word on that. Ouch!

I've heard similar things. My favorite came from an unknown source...like trying to push a bowling ball through a straw. lol!

Now humor aside, I sympathize with you all. I have never had a bout with kidney stones. However, I have one that's been with me since 2011. 

Doc told me I developed it during and after my chemotherapy. I DID NOT drink enough to flush all the drugs out of my system. And like everything else...the remainder of those very nasty drugs pool in the kidneys.

At this point in time, should I have an episode with them...it's surgical removal only. NOT looking forward to that. The mass, not a stone any longer, is approximately13x18 centimeters. It's not moving. Told that currently it is trapped withing the tissue folds of my kidney. X-rays every 6 months to check on it.

I do drink 6-8 glasses of water daily, and sweat like pig on a spit; so keeping hydrated is an effort. As far as the other things I should and should not do...I seem to have them reversed.

HR...prayers for you buddy. Oh, btw. my doc said sit in a hot tub and drink a lot of beer to help pass the stones. Take that for what it's worth.

[res308]

Y’all are making me skeered. This doesn’t sound like much of a good time. 

[Quavodus]

A buddy of mine went to the ER for one and didn't know it was a stone. He just knew he couldn't piss. He told them in the ER that. They hooked him up to an IV with fluid. Anyway in a little while, he's about to explode. Finally he passed it right there in the room. Said he must've pissed 12 feet. 

[derf]

On 11/11/2021 at 2:48 PM, gregintenn said:

They tell me it’s like pizzing a cocklebur. 
I’d be happy to just take someone’s word on that. Ouch!

My last big one looked like a wad of fish hook in the bottom of a dirty tackle box. But it did cause some interesting swelling. Might have been handy on a honeymoon! 

[OLDNEWBIE]

For me the Ice Pick twisting around in my kidney/Back area feeling was the worst part. Only IV drugs stopped the torture.

Feel a twinge every now and again like another small one is forming or moving.

A ticking time bomb waiting to strike at the worst most inconvenient time possible.

 

[bobsguns]

10 hours ago, OLDNEWBIE said:

For me the Ice Pick twisting around in my kidney/Back area feeling was the worst part. Only IV drugs stopped the torture.

This.

Except instead of an ice pick, mine felt like a rusty bayonet. Jesus, that thing hurt. I was lucky enough to pass mine late that night in the hospital. It was about the size of a BB, I think? 

[runco]

I had my first stone a couple of years ago, tried many of the tricks, but in the end, had to have it removed with general anesthesia, and had a temporary stint put in.  The stint was awful, especially for the extraction.  I had the type that the doctor had to use a scope and something that I have in my toolbox to retrieve nuts in hard to reach places, the claw.  This was done while I was awake.  Did you know there are over 1872 of the those little slits in ceiling tiles, I counted each one twice.  BTW, the nurse that numbed me with some type of cold solution, was the twin older sister of Nancy Parsons (aka Ms. Balbricker from Porkys).  

 

 

[bobsguns]

3 minutes ago, runco said:

I had my first stone a couple of years ago, tried many of the tricks, but in the end, had to have it removed with general anesthesia, and had a temporary stint put in.  The stint was awful, especially for the extraction.  I had the type that the doctor had to use a scope and something that I have in my toolbox to retrieve nuts in hard to reach places, the claw.  This was done while I was awake.  Did you know there are over 1872 of the those little slits in ceiling tiles, I counted each one twice.  BTW, the nurse that numbed me with some type of cold solution, was the twin older sister of Nancy Parsons (aka Ms. Balbricker from Porkys).  

 

 

That's what you get for waving your wiener through the hole in the wall at her....................   

Anything going up my urethra is going to be with me unconscious. 

[Tuffus]

I had a stone the size of the end joint on my pinky, they had to go in and get it. Not fun. Be sure and get the stone analyzed when it's out. Most by far are calcium oxalate. (I know that because I had to analyze many of them during my 41 years as a lab tech) Mine however was uric acid. I have taken Allopurinol for the last 27 years to reduce my uric acid level and haven't had another stone since. Knock on wood. Yours is most likely calcium but it pays to be sure.

[Handsome Rob]

Right now, the wee barstard is somewhere between my kidney & bladder & is giving me fits. The pain is 1% of what it was, but I still can't move around well. I have THE worst trapped gas & I've thrown up everything I've eaten since the 80s. I can't bear to be upright (sitting or standing) for more than 20 minutes at a time & I haven't had solid food since Tuesday night. 

I'm told that once it clears the Ureta & gets into my bladder properly, I should be golden. But that could take several days. 

[10-Ring]

I've had several.  I had to seek medical attention for two of them.  The worst was 4.5mm.  I was delirious from the pain.  Apparently, I called my mom she told her that I thought that I was dying and I was going to the hospital.  She was alarmed because I normally resist medical attention and the fact that I wanted to go to the hospital worried her.  She encouraged me to call an ambulance and I told her that I could drive their fine because it down hill all the way, makes sense right? The second time I had one that required medical attention I was driving to Destin, Fl for a week long vacation.  A dull, but persistent pain was lingering in my lower back.  I spent the next week hobbling between the beach and the hotel room.  That one wound up being 11mm and requiring surgery, but the pain wasn't nearly as bad as the 4.5mm stone. 

As for the pain, the best way that I can describe it is having your boys in a vice while someone twists a rusty soon into your gut.  

Couple of things I've found that seem to help 1) 50/50 mixture of lemon juice and olive oil, a shot glass at a time, as needed. 2) drinkk lots of water and/or cranberry juice (real stuff, not the sugary junk) 3) A doctor probably wouldn't tell you to do this, but get some beer with as low of an alcohol content as your can find (I always liked Budweiser 55, but I'm not sure that it's still made, Keystone is also pretty low alcohol) drink as much of it as possible. You are loading up on fluids to push the stone around and the alcohol acts as somewhat of a pain reducing agent.