Kidney Stone

[Negin]

If you or someone you know has had one, can you please share anything?

What worked - obviously lots and lots of water - anything else?

What can speed the whole process up?

Did you have to go on meds or did it go away by itself?

Thank you.

ETA: How long did it take for it to pass and go away?

Stupid, stupid stone!

Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more, no more.

Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more.

Edited May 29, 2011 by Negin in Grenada

[HelenNotOfTroy]

It usually takes several days. If you see a doctor, they will do IVP (Intravenous Pyelogram) and determined whether the stone is small enough to pass. If it is, they will often give a prescription for strong pain medication. If the stone is too large to pass, then you would have to go to the hospital for a procedure (which one would depend on your doctor). My DH has had many kidney stones. He says that soaking in a hot bath can help the pain. He also waits as long as he can before attempting to urinate. He has had stones pass in just a few hours. Hope you feel better soon!

[Teresa in MO]

I have two dd who have each had multiple episodes of kidney stones. I assume you have seen a doc and have had an xray. You need to make sure it is small enough to pass or that it is not lodged somewhere to cause damage. My dd had one of those last year and had to have two surgeries. My dh also had a six week episode last year when he had three stones in each kidney. This was a nightmare that resulted in 4 er visits, three surgeries and two hospitalizations! As far as what helped, you only have pain when the stone is moving. It usually required an er visit for iv pain meds and then up to a week of pain pills until it is passed. In women once it reaches the bladder the pain stops, men its different! LOTS and LOTS of water will help move it along.

[LizzyBee]

If you or someone you know has had one, can you please share anything?

What worked - obviously lots and lots of water - anything else?

What can speed the whole process up?

Did you have to go on meds or did it go away by itself?

Thank you.

ETA: How long did it take for it to pass and go away?

Stupid, stupid stone!

Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more, no more.

Hit the road Jack and don't you come back no more.

 

My 17 yo dd has kidney stones. She had one get stuck last year, and after a few weeks, had surgery to remove it. Her ultrasound showed that she still had 8 other stones in her kidneys, and we think she's passed a couple in the year+ since the surgery.

 

When the stone was diagnosed, dd was put on antibiotics, anti-nausea medicine, pain medicine, and an anti-bladder-spasm medicine. When she gets another moving around, she uses whatever she needs of the last 3, and if it goes on very long, we go to the doc to get an antibiotic. The doctors also want dd to use a screen when she urinates so that she knows for sure whether she passed a stone.

 

The urologist told her to avoid all tea, caffeine, and dark sodas. She drinks tons of water. Cranberry juice is also good, but she doesn't like it.

 

Usually, if a stone is going to pass, it does so within 48 hours. However, doctors will wait up to a month in hopes that it will go ahead and pass without surgery. Many people have stones in their kidneys, and as long as they stay there, it's not a problem. The pain is caused when they move down into the ureters or urethra and get stuck, urine backs up, and the backed-up fluid causes pain.

Edited May 29, 2011 by LizzyBee

[keptwoman]

I've had one that was worse than childbirth and it took only 12 or so hours. That was a visit to the hospital and lots of morphine.

I have had one that took about two weeks of horrible, grumbly pain, codiene kept the pain to a bearable level.

And I've had a few blown up (lithotripsy)

[Negin]

Thank you all so much. :grouphug: I hope and pray that all of you who have suffered from them, or have family members with them ... no longer get them.

It's not for me. It's for dh who is not in excruciating pain, but we worry that it may get worse. He's had discomfort for a while.

It's 4 mm. Do they get bigger? Or do they generally stay the same size?

We are traveling in less than a month. We really, really hope that it passes before we leave.

I know what caused it in dh's case. Frustrating to say the least. :mad:

Dh does not have heart problems, but he looked up the med he's been prescribed and he's scared of the side effect - major heart problems. Anyone know what meds are the best, what worked, etc.? Thanks again.

 

He also waits as long as he can before attempting to urinate. He has had stones pass in just a few hours.[/font][/i][/size]

[/i]

Does doing this help with pain OR with speeding up the passage of the stone?

 

I assume you have seen a doc and have had an xray. You need to make sure it is small enough to pass or that it is not lodged somewhere to cause damage.

Wow, your family has been through so much with this. Oh my. :grouphug:

Yes, dh has had an ultrasound. They couldn't see it clearly enough, so a CAT scan tomorrow.

 

Usually, if a stone is going to pass, it does so within 48 hours. However, doctors will wait up to a month in hopes that it will go ahead and pass without surgery. Many people have stones in their kidneys, and as long as they stay there, it's not a problem. The pain is caused when they move down into the ureters or urethra and get stuck, urine backs up, and the backed-up fluid causes pain.

Good info to know. Thank you so much.

 

My husband just had one. He took medication that relaxes the urethra (something like that). They also gave him pain pills. They did a cat scan. They said it was small enough to pass on it's own. Within a few days he had no more indication that it was there anymore. They did a follow up x-ray and didn't see it anymore. If it is large they have procedures where they can break it up. They did tell him to drink lots of water.

I really, really hope that this will be our experience also.

I just hope and pray that dh's stone passes BEFORE we leave.

 

Thanks again, everyone.

[Negin]

Thanks again, everyone.

So far, he's experienced discomfort.

Had some pain yesterday. So he stocked up on pain meds just in case he needs them.

Goes in for a CAT scan today.

We'll see. I hope and wish that it will pass before we leave.

He's loading up on water, herbal teas, etc.

Meanwhile, I'm doing all the research I can. If anyone knows me, that's not necessarily a good thing :lol: ;).

 

If you haven't had pain in several days then it is probably safe to say it has passed, but you won't really know that because you can't see it or feel it when it has passed.

Thanks, Wendy.

I hope your dh doesn't get any more stones. Hope the same for everyone here. :grouphug:

 

If anyone has more tips or experiences to share, please do so.

Thank you.

[m0mmaBuck]

I've had a stone on two separate occasions. Both times once the pain got bad enough that I went to the ER, they gave me Torodol and some sort of narcotic pain killer and sent me home. The stones were small enough they passed within 24 hrs. The pain itself was worse than non-medicated, natural childbirth. Medications and dare I say beer (recommended by a Hungarian physician because the alcohol relaxes things and takes the edge off while the volume of liquid makes you have to pee forcefully) helped tremendously.

 

DH has chronic kidney stones. He has had over 75 of the buggers. They found that gout medication (allopurinal--sp?) keeps them away or at least small enough that he is not miserable. Well, being a man he cancelled a few physicals and his prescription ran out. A few months later he finally told me but only because we were out for our anniversary and I had to take him to the ER for kidney stones. Big ones. 8 and 11 mm stones. But because of his history, they decided to give him pain meds, put him back on the allopurinal (sp?), and send him home to deal with them. That was last September and we have had no more than 2 consecutive weeks of freedom from kidney stone pain in this house since then. Personally I am finding it hard to deal with his pain at this point. The pain makes him moody, short-tempered, and miserable. The pain meds make him sleep (and therefore he can't work or even function in the house, and he is quick to snap if someone wakes him accidentally just by living their lives) and then when he comes off them he is grouchier than grouchy. And then the wave passes and he is *almost* himself for a few days or maybe even a week before the next bout starts.

 

I. HATE. KIDNEY. STONES.

 

So.... meds and lots and lots of liquids seem to help them pass.... Once they catch a stone (docs usually have you pee in a strainer to try to catch it to decide what it is made of so they can advise you how to avoid them in the future) they will be able to tell you how to perhaps avoid them in the future. Usually it's a bout of dehydration that starts them but what they are made of can vary. For some people, taking calcium supplements is a culprit (and they will advise you to avoid supplements and get calcium from food sources). My husband has been told to avoid caramel food coloring (like in colas) and leafy, green vegetables (not sure what's in them that is a problem).

[LizzyBee]

Thanks again, everyone.

So far, he's experienced discomfort.

Had some pain yesterday. So he stocked up on pain meds just in case he needs them.

Goes in for a CAT scan today.

We'll see. I hope and wish that it will pass before we leave.

He's loading up on water, herbal teas, etc.

Meanwhile, I'm doing all the research I can. If anyone knows me, that's not necessarily a good thing :lol: ;).

 

If anyone has more tips or experiences to share, please do so.

Thank you.

 

My dd's urologist told her no tea of any kind, because all of it contributes to calcium stones.

[Twilight Woods]

I at the very least would call your Dr and get some pain meds. Unless the pain is tolerable.

[LizzyBee]

The pain itself was worse than non-medicated, natural childbirth.

 

I've told my dd that the silver lining to having kidney stones is that childbirth will not be a big deal. :tongue_smilie: Our pastor's youngest dd also gets kidney stones, and during childbirth, she kept waiting for the pain to get really bad before requesting medication or an epidural. When it was time to push, she was still unmedicated.

 

I'm sorry that your dh is having such an awful time. I'm surprised they haven't done surgery by now since the stones are interfering with his ability to function normally on a long term basis.

[HelenNotOfTroy]

[quote=Negin in Grenada;2773451

Does doing this help with pain OR with speeding up the passage of the stone?

.

My DH believes it speeds up the passage of the stone.

[m0mmaBuck]

I've told my dd that the silver lining to having kidney stones is that childbirth will not be a big deal. :tongue_smilie: Our pastor's youngest dd also gets kidney stones, and during childbirth, she kept waiting for the pain to get really bad before requesting medication or an epidural. When it was time to push, she was still unmedicated.

 

I'm sorry that your dh is having such an awful time. I'm surprised they haven't done surgery by now since the stones are interfering with his ability to function normally on a long term basis.

 

It's true! I waited so long for the pain to get to what I considered "bad" that DS was almost born in our car. Seriously, we got to the hospital and I was holding him within 20 mins. I figured if I wasn't vomitting (like I was with the kidney-stone pain), then the birth couldn't possibly be imminent!

 

Re: DH, he uses the VA and they aren't exactly concerned given he has passed so many. It's really frustrating.

[Mrs_JWM]

It's the oxalates in some foods that cause problems. Google oxalate kidney stone diet and you'll get plenty of information from reputable sources, like this one:

 

http://www.upmc.com/healthatoz/patienteducation/documents/lowoxalatediet.pdf

 

Not all stones are oxalate clcium sones, though, so this may not apply, but the majority are. My grandfather, my mother, and I have all had kidney stones. My mother eats a low-oxalate diet, carefully avoiding all high- and med.-ox foods. I eat a variety of things, so I don't go out of my way to avoid high-ox foods. I just make sure I drink a ton of water, especially on days when I've had something with a lot of oxalates, which is actually pretty rare. I do treat myself to one rhubarb pie a year.

 

My grandfather died, but not from kdney stones, so he doesn't have to worry about them anymore. :tongue_smilie:

 

My mother and I have each only had one bout, thankfully. :grouphug: to all of you who suffer.

[Negin]

My dd's urologist told her no tea of any kind, because all of it contributes to calcium stones.

Okay, wow. I had no idea. Thanks for sharing that. Here I thought that I was doing a good thing ... :confused:

 

I at the very least would call your Dr and get some pain meds. Unless the pain is tolerable.

Thank you. Yes, he has them just in case.

 

I've told my dd that the silver lining to having kidney stones is that childbirth will not be a big deal.

Well, that's a nice, positive way of looking at it. :D

 

I'm sorry that your dh is having such an awful time. I'm surprised they haven't done surgery by now since the stones are interfering with his ability to function normally on a long term basis.

Thank you. But no, he's not really in pain at all yet. Just discomfort. He only went to the doctor last week.

He was meant to go in for a CT Scan yesterday. Decided against it because he is concerned (rightfully so, I believe) about possible unnecessary radiation. But after much thinking and talking w/his urologist again, decided to most probably get one today. He's had enough tests in his life, so we're always concerned about radiation. Nonetheless, the doctor said that he can't be 100% sure that it even is a stone. It could be something else. Hopefully not. But we're all pretty sure that it is a stone.

He is able to function quite normally. No pain yet. We're just worried that it might get worse, particularly on vacation - in different countries.

So, if the doctor finds that it IS a stone, then, if the size is right, etc. - if he thinks it best - then yes, the procedure (whatever it's called) will be done.

 

My DH believes it speeds up the passage of the stone.

Thank you.

 

It's the oxalates in some foods that cause problems. Google oxalate kidney stone diet and you'll get plenty of information from reputable sources, like this one:

http://www.upmc.com/healthatoz/patienteducation/documents/lowoxalatediet.pdf

Not all stones are oxalate clcium sones, though, so this may not apply, but the majority are.

Thank you for this link and for the info.