Arrrgggggg! Kidney stones suck!!!
 

I just got back from a 5 hour visit to Urgent Care due to severe stomach pains. Turns out I have kidney stones! :mad: Hopefully this pain goes away soon. I was just getting back into the swing of things with riding and running. :notamused:

On the plus side, I feel like I'm in the twilight zone right now from the Vicodin they gave me. :p

I feel for ya! I had a stone last spring. Took 5 days to pass, along with 2 trips to the E.R. Hope you're over it quickly!

What do they do for you at the ER?

Good luck , Dude !!!

I've passed 8 of those suckers !

Stone Breaker - most vitamin shops should carry this:
http://www.amazon.com/Herb-Pharm-Bre.../dp/B00028NYQM

Tell you that you likely have a stone. Maybe do a CT scan. Hopefully give you pain medication. Tell you to come back if things get worse. Send you a bill.

I had one once. Probably 10 years ago. Didn't know what it was. Pissed blood, in part because I take blood thinners and my INR was WAY high. Got some IV pain meds and had a CT scan. Also got some percs to take home.

I didn't know what was going on when I went to the ER. All I know is that it felt like someone was stabbing me deep in the left side with a white hot pooker and twisting it around. It was horrible, and the doctor thoought it was only a tiny one. I would never wish a kidney stone on anyone--even the most inane BF member. ;)

Well they did all that at urgent care. Xray, urinalysis, and blood test. I've heard people say they got an IV drip of morphine for kidney stones. :( I think I lucked out and they weren't too big. I think they have either passed or are just in my bladder now since that's the only spot that hurts now. I'm not in too much pain today. It's weird though, most people that have had stones complain of severe back pain. Mine was all in my upper abdomen and moved down the right side. No back pain. It brought me to my knees a few times and I supposedly had small ones!

Cherry lemonade! I drank GALLONS of it when I had mine.

Tart Cherry Juice: Tart cherry juice helps to reduce uric acid in the blood stream and keeps uric acid crystals dissolved in the urine. It is able to help prevent and dissolve existing urate stones due to being high in potassium creating an alkaline-forming condition in the body, reports Dr. Theodore A. Baroody in his book Alkalize or Die.

Lemon Juice: High in potassium and vitamin C, lemon juice can contribute to keep the pH balance at a point that helps prevent the formation of uric acid crystals and urate kidney stones, according to Health911.com. Lemon juice also helps in the creation of calcium carbonate, which acts to alkalize the body by adjusting the pH causing the system to neutralize acids which contribute to the formation of oxalate stones.

http://www.balancedconcepts.net/Food...olve_Stone.pdf

Well now things get crappy for me! Urgent Care doctor referred me to a urologist who doesn't take my insurance. I found another urologist, the only other one in town, but they couldn't get me in until Monday. At first they said March 4th! But I did some *****in and complainin and they can see me Monday now. I'm not in severe pain today and hopefully I make it through the weekend alright. But I was looking up causes of stones online and it didn't look too good for me! I drink a lot of water, don't consume much salt or sugar, don't have any of the medical conditions that increase risk, and don't take any medications. But, these potential factors are a different story:

Animal proteins - I've been doing a lot of weight lifting so I'm eating a lot of meat as well as whey and casein protein shakes
High oxalate foods - I eat a ton of spinach and kale in my green smoothies every day
Excessive vitamin D consumption - I live where the sun never shines through the clouds, so I take a vitamin D pill every day

So I dunno, I'll see what the urologist says. Hopefully this isn't a recurring problem for me.

good luck. I've passed 15 stones and as of right now I have 6 on each side just growing. They suck beyond belief. Thankfully I've only had one that required lithotripsy. It was 10mm across...

How do you get those things? I've never been a beer drinker and I don't drink diet Coke no more So If I get them, I'm going to be sad! :D


Poor Gina had her gull stones taken out. They usually caused pain in her back. Plus she donated a kidney. Poor girl, after the GS op and kidney op, her torso looks like a carving block.

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4120/5...e7dcef4f5a.jpg
scar by gulpxtreme, on Flickr

I had never had a stone, so I had no idea what was wrong when I went to the E.R. I was in so much pain I couldn't even sit in the chairs, and was lying on the floor in a fetal position. They gave me morphine and it didn't do a thing. Finally they put me on dilaudid, and that eased the pain.

While this was bad, it was nothing compared to what I went through the past 3 months. I was prescribed an antibiotic called Augmentin, and it attacked my liver. For two months, I couldn't sleep more than an hour a day, and the pain and itching were so intense, it made my kidney stone seem like a walk in the park. Fortunately, I'm gradually getting better now.

In another month or so, I should actually be able to get back on the bike again for the first time since last Thanksgiving.

my routine is pretty standard now at the ER. I tell them I'm passing a kidney stone. They do the pee test for blood, and an X-ray to see how big it is. Then put in an IV and a shot of Toradol. Once the IV bag is done I am usually comfortable enough to leave. They give me a strainer and a cup and wish me good luck.

How long ago did she donate? My wife had a kidney transplant in Nov. 2001. Her brother donated and he only had the small ? incision by his belly button. I know they used to have the invasive type like that scar shows. We were always told the donor had more pain and a longer recovery than the recipient.

I rarely drink beer anymore and I never drink soda. So I'm guessing I didn't get stones from that! I'll see what the urologist says about my diet. I've had several people tell me completely different stories about what their urologist told them when they had stones.

I'd never had one before, but I know several people who have had them. Every one I know that has had kidney stones complained about back pain. So when I had severe abdomen pain, I wasn't thinking kidney stones! I'm thinking I got off pretty easy. I had a couple waves of excruciating pain, but for the most part it was pretty bearable. Not as bad as some of the horror stories I've heard!

Best of luck to you in your recovery.

I really hope I don't get a "routine" with kidney stones! I really want this to be an isolated incident. :(

My pain was in the side to back area. At first I thought I had a pocket of really bad gas and breaking a good wind would take care of it. Not so. I was in the middle of a 90 min. drive to a hike when it hit in earnest. Fortunately, someone was with me. She was an Irish lass who had decided a long time ago to overstay her visa. She didn't have a driver's license, but she could drive. We turned around and she drove me back to Philly and to the hospital. I, too, was curled up in a fetal position and even got dry heaves. To make matters worse, we got stuck in the remnants of a traffic jam caused by an accident we had passed while we were going the other way. Longest ride of my life. I also got the little strainer to pee in at the hospital. I thought that was funny. I have a similar strainer that I use for cooking and for washing berries for cereal. Every time I use it I think of that day.

I'd say 1997 or 98. Yeah, it was a bummer. The new procedure was introduced about a year after she donated. She would have had a small scar rather than the 10 inch scar she has now. But it's a conversation piece.:D

And oh yeah, it was much harder on her than the recipient.

Yeah, report back. It will be interesting! ;)

That sucks. I have two big kidney stones last year in June. Not good. Started when I was visiting a customer in Long Island. It sucked. Could not stand or sit or lay down. Had to go to the ER in Long Island. Wife had to drive all the way up from south Jersey. I had surgery up there. He put a stent in, which by no means is fun. The stent only allows you to piss a little but you want to piss a lot and it hurts. You can only ride your back like 2 feet until you have to stop to piss. And usually it is very bloody. Then when they take the stent out, it is a fast process but it sure hurts afterwards. A key thing to know. As SOOOON as he is done taking the stent out, take your pain killers. Trust me on this!

I'm not a doctor nor am I medically qualified in any way, and I've never had kidney stones, so what follows is worth what you paid for it (it came from a friend who found it helpful when he had kidney stones).

Apparently if you drink a large amount of Coke and eat boiled and mashed asparagus within a short time (I think the idea is something eyebrow-raising, like 2 litres of Coke and half a pound of boiled and mashed asparagus), then avoid urinating until you're absolutely desperate to go, the result is it raises your body's acidity to the point the stones dissolve. The friend who tried it said he ended up passing a large number of very small stones - presumably his body had become acidic enough to cause them to dissolve.