Sounds like you were in good hands. Kidney stones are a fairly common occurrence in the ER. I’m sure this wasn’t their first day at the rodeo.
7.5mm? That hurts just thinking about it. :eek:
I begged for a lethal injection when I had my last kidney stone.
…Shiiiiit. :eek:
-B
Over the past 5 years, I have had about 6 kidney stones. One I had to have surgically removed because it was lodged and blocking the flow from my kidney to my bladder. The last one I had passed was 7mm and the smallest was 2.5mm. My urologist thinks i’m some kind of super hero for passing the last one :sarcastic:.
Kidney stones are a build up of uric acid in the kidneys. Much like gout in your joints. I drink a lot of water and try to avoid any dark colored liquids (i can’t avoid them). I also take Folic Acid supplements and this is said to reduce the uric acid in your system.
Actually, uric acid stones are relatively rare. By far the most common are are calcium oxalate (80%). It’s an important distinction because the causes and prevention are different. Uric acid stones in particular sort of mandate a rather involved workup to rule out serious causes of the elevated uric acid in the blood and a subsequent diet low in rich foods and low in alcohol, especially beer. If someone gets uric acid kidney stones, they’re usually a shoe-in for gout at some point too. That’s another total entertainment package when it comes to pain.
I was told that kidney stones hurt worse than labor. I had a nurse that told me that she would give child birth over a kidney stone any day. I have the uric acid type stones. They can not be dissolved with lemon intake. I am not a drinker but gout and uric acid related ailments are well known in my family. I haven’t had a stone since “the big one” 2 years ago and I still get pseudo kidney pains. My water intake is way up and I’d like to think that my coffee and dark tea intake is down. If I never get another stone, it will be fine for me!
ouch…
they say kidney stones are the worst pain that a human can experience. :eek:
good luck dude.
100% absolutely true. I had kidney stones when I was a junior in high school, the weekend of my Junior prom too.:sarcastic:
They actually had to go and get mine.:cray:
Had to use an extension too.
The doc told me to cut out the sweet tea, I did, and I haven’t had any since.
Drink plenty of water.
Well, I’m at it again. Been having dull pains off and on for about a month on the left side. Saturday the pain went full tilt boogie. After vomiting about 10 times and writhing in agony, ended up at the ER for IV drugs and a CT scan. Found out that I had a 11mm stone blocking and not going anywhere. They admitted me and kept me on the good drugs all night. The good Dr. went in this morning and broke the stone up with a lazer and inserted a stint. Life is much better now, but I think I’m thinking that I’m going to have to visit the herbal remedy shop to see if they have some witch Dr brew that can help. There’s a guy at my work that swears that they helped his dad. At this point I’m willing to try just about anything.
Damn. Sorry to hear that buddy. I never want to have one of those agian. Hope everything goes smooth and you dont have too much pain. 
If for any reason you are cursed with this again, please be careful with the vomiting and especially fever. This is a sign if a serious blockage which can result in renal failure. Although there are many pseudo kidney pains (I still get them and I haven’t had a stone for about 2 years) you should have taken that trip to the ER a bit sooner. I know that I am stubborn and probably wouldn’t have gone either.
I’m a little puzzled about the mechanism you’re proposing here.
A kidney stone when it enters the uriter, can cause a blockage and shut down your kidney. Fever and vomiting are symptoms. The stone blocks fluid waste from exiting the kidney and entering the bladder.
This sounds like an extremely difficult ordeal to say the least. Very best of luck with this one and hope you don’t get any more.
I had the pleasure of passing a stone while on field manueuvers back in 1995. Worst pain I’ve ever felt. It hit me just ahead of a night mission, and once I realized what was happening (I could feel it making it’s way though the plumbing), the only way that I could stay conscious was by laying on a cot in a fetal position and doing the Lamaze breathing I had learned with the wife a few years before. Since there was no quick way to get to a treatment facility, I downed about eight Extra-Strength Excedrin, and settled in for the wait. Perhaps an hour later I was able to pass it, and immediately thereafter, the pain disappeared entirely. Absolutely unreal.
The good news here is that passing a stone doesn’t necessarily condemn you to frequent repeated episodes. There is always some risk of recurrence, but aside from this one vicious ordeal, I’ve never had another one.
AC
Ah. Well, that’s not exactly the way it works, but it is true that prolonged ureteral obstruction can destroy that particular kidney over time (days/weeks). And it’s true that fever can indicate that a kidney stone is promoting an infection in that kidney. Otherwise, nausea, vomiting, fever are not uncommon side effects of any kidney stone. Reasons to go to the ER for sure, but one kidney shutting down, even if that were to happen, isn’t going to lead to renal failure.
Interesting that you say fever and nausea is common. I have never experienced this in all 6 of the stones I had. My stones were also drastically different looking from the one posted in the picture on the other page. My stones were black and had spikes. Nasty looking things! I’m sure people are effected differently. I had a friend of the family go into renal failure when stones blocked both kidneys at the same time. That’s where my point came from. She had other health problems and we thought this was going to be the end of her. We were relieved that they were stones and she made a full recovery. It appears that you work in the health industry so you would know more than me but I was just looking out for Quietmatt because I can relate to how he feels right now from my own experiences.
Pain and nausea - yes. Fever not so common unless the stone is associated with a concomitant urinary tract infection (UTI). These generally get admitted for a ureteral stent or other procedure unless the stone is very small and distal in the ureter (suggesting that it will pass in the very near future). Pus behind a stone can quickly lead to urosepsis, perinepheric abscess, etc.
For all you stone formers, first - my condolences. I wanted to pass a quick word of advice. CT scanning is the current gold standard diagnostic test for a suspected first stone to confirm the diagnosis and rule out mimics such as appendicitis, abdominal aneurysm, diverticulitis, etc. However, each subsequent episode of renal colic does not need a repeat CT unless complicated with a UTI, refractory pain, single kidney, etc. Most stones are small and will pass with analgesia and alpha blockers such as Flomax. I’ve seen young people in my practice who have had 8-10 scans for suspected renal colic which is a huge radiation burden. Ultrasound is a reasonable alternative for repeat stones if you are worried and the situation appears uncomplicated.