Fun! Fun! Kidney Stones!

[thecouncil]

I had a couple of those about 15 years ago when I was 21.

I went to the hospital in pain and they said it was nothing. Couple days later I was back in pain that I described as "10" when they asked how bad it was on a scale to 10.
Felt like someone had my balls in a vise.

Anyway, they were biggies so I needed to get lithotripsy to blow em up. Passing them was a breeze after that. They tickled on their way out.
I also had to have a stent shoved up my urethra for 6 weeks to prevent blockage. Whenever I did more activity than a slow walk, I would piss blood. It was nuts.

 

[Perzeval]

Spoiler: potentially gross kidney stuff

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Gross. But interesting, in a gross way.

 

[Wein Cruz]

Why didnt they just laser them out. I've had that done twice.

 

[Deleted member 11637]

DRINK MORE WATER.

DRINK MORE WATER.

DRINK MORE WATER.

Stay tuned for my advice in the next kidney stones thread.

 

[TheDestructiveSquirrel]

Welcome to the club

 

[Yokijirou]

I was visiting a friend in New York last December. I had just spent most of my day roaming around Times Square and picked up some caramel corn from one of the food trucks.

I went back to my friends place and he had left to work on some school work with some friends.

I'm sitting there watching some YouTube, snacking on the caramel corn when all of a sudden I felt my stomach burst.

It hurt so bad I was on the floor in his dorm, crawled to the bathroom and hopped into the shower hoping the warm would tame whatever was trying to rip me apart.

I couldn't handle the pain so about 20 minutes later I called an Uber to the nearest hospital. Of course there was traffic but the Uber Driver was pretty chill about the whole thing.

It was probably about 11PM when I arrived at the hospital. I wasn't seen until about 1230AM. I didn't get drugs for the pain for about 6 hours. It was terrible.

They didn't have a room for me so I was on a bed outside of one of the rooms. They finally gave me some pain meds and ran a CT scan.

A 3cm Stone was making its way through the ureter. I was there for another six hours on pain killers and IV. It was a horrible experience and I fear anytime I have stomach pains.

 

[El sueño]

I know the pain you're going through OP, my best advice though.... Drink lots of water and get ready for the worst pain of your life unless you've been shot before.
By the way, I had Misery.

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I had pain. And yeah, all they say about it is true. I was advised to eat one lemon a day to prevent these "things", but is too late for you, mate. The stones were destructed by sound in a surgery so that I could drop them out.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

God Damnit!!

Breathe in..
...
breathe Out...

...
Breathe in...
...
breathe Out...

...
Breath in..
...
..breath O...Ooohhh fuck this!!

Sonofabitch!!

 

[Deleted member 9035]

OK, Part 2! We can do this!

When the pain started last week it was a religious day of fasting and seclusion - so I waited over 24 hours to get medical attention because... tradition.... or masochism... take your pick!

A lot of that time was spent lying in bed curled up, hands nursing abdomen, changing positions every five minutes - on the side, on the back, face forward in the fetal position, cursing, punching the walls, hitting stuff, occasionally weeping, intermittent bouts of vomiting whenever I'd try to take painkillers for some reason, lying on the cold bathroom floor helpless, grunting and groaning, thankfully passed out a few times, and the last hours of the fast were just me staring intensely at the clock concentrating my jedi powers on the hands to keep them advancing so that night would come and taxi services would resume. A lot of good that did, like I already said!

Sometimes focusing intensely on the pain helped, like when there's a constant noise you're trying real hard to ignore. I know I imagined myself going into labor more than once. Was sweating and itching a lot. Had some bizarrely lucid dreams of going to work and yelling at everbody there because I didn't realize - in the dream - I was in pain.

Also tons of symptoms that felt like heavy indegistion.

All of these have been more or less a regular occurrence over the last week whenever my painkillers weren't up to snuff.

I mention the indigestion because as said earlier I have a chronic condition of inflammation in the colon, and for a while was sure it was flaring up. Also considered appendicitis but there was only a mild fever and no pain when I folded up my legs which google said there should be.

Oh yeah, looking up symptoms online and playing detective is a fun way to get your mind off the pain if you're ever stupid like me and don't go directly to the hospital!

 

[Deleted member 9035]

After more pain this morning which almost caused me to miss my appointment to the urologist I got there and through the spasms explained my symptoms and pre-existing conditions.

He was professional, sent me to get a CT and also gave me a letter admitting me to the nearest hospital should I need it. Which I did. The plan was - is - wait for CT results then either have invasive surgery to drain the kidney(s), or - if I can take it - endure a couple days of a cocktail of meds I've never heard of that do all sorts of unnatural things to the body such as expanding the urethral tract while simultaneously - I hope - taking care of convulsions and pain. I looked up some of the other active ingredients in those meds and at least some of them are used to treat pain...
After that I guess the plan is to insert a stent and let nature take its course?

He very strongly recommended the second option, even when I asked about lithotripsy to break up the stones. So that's what I opted for.

Fucking doctors better know what they're talking about.

Expected side effects include the usual getting worse before it gets better: fever, more vomiting, spasms, pain and blood while urinating. To which I say "Welcome my old friends! mi casa es su casa!"

They discharged me from the hospital so I could spend the night at home and I'll be back tomorrow for more shenanigans.

 

[adamsappel]

Here's a couple of my kidney stone pics:

 

[Deleted member 9035]

Here's a couple of my kidney stone pics:

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Sure are beauties! Which side of the family do they take after?

 

[Deleted member 31133]

Hey OP, welcome to the club. I'm in a critical situation at the moment and went to see a urologist last night. I was going to make a Kidney Stones topic, but here we are.

09 September I had severe pain on my right flank. The pain was unbearable that I was rushed to A&E (ER). I've had kidney stones in the past, but the was nothing like this before. I was vomiting constantly and shaking due to the pain. After getting to hospital they gave me a pain killer to take. I can't remember what it was called, but I had to shove it up my ass hole. Not pleasant, but it stopped the pain.

After spending the night in hospital and having scans, I was told that I have a large 7mm stone stuck in my right ureter. As well as that, both my kidney are littered with smaller stones. After blood tests to determine my kidney function, a Dr spoke to me and decide on a operation to remove the stone. However, another Dr then came in and said we should wait four weeks to see if the stone passes through on it's own. They said I'd receive a letter in the post regarding a follow up appointment.

Four weeks later and no letter. I called the hospital and they suggested they forgot to book my follow up. Eventually got my letter and had my appointment at 18:40 yesterday. The news wasn't good.

The urologist showed me scans of my inside and showed me the stone that it is stuck. He told me that I should not have been discharged from hospital and should have had the operation then. He then explained that as I haven't passed the stone, it's having a damaging effect on my kidney and be needs to put me forward for a emergency operation. He mentioned that I was a young man and am currently at a serious risk. He couldn't promise when the operation would be as there is a waiting list, but assured me he would push for this to be completed urgently.

The operation I need is a Ureteroscopy, where I understand a camera/laser is shoved up my dick, then up through my bladder and into the tube, where they'll then blast the stone with the laser to break it up. I hope to god that I'll be put to sleep during this operation.

Anyway, that's my kidney stone story.

My advice to anybody who hasn't had kidney stones is make sure you drink plenty of water and lay off the salt. These are the two main causes of stones. The pain is so bad that I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Now I just need to wait for the operation and hope my kidneys make it through.

 

[sweetmini]

Another huge source of stones is milk and tea.... never milk and tea together...
I feel for you all.
Take care

 

[Wag]

There was a meta on The Flash this week who controlled sound waves.

I was just thinking she could earn a nice living working for a urologist.

 

[Ricelord]

27 years old and yet to have a kidney stone. I feel good.

Spoiler

for now

 

[Adam_Roman]

I don't know how I haven't had a kidney stone yet with all the soda I've drank over my life but I'm so thankful I haven't had one. I'm trying to only drink water now and this thread is good motivation to keep with that.

 

[Temtastic Muns]

Is there any truth to lemon juice breaking down stones?

 

[Premium Ghoul]

I had one that gave me hell a few years back. Just would not pass on its own, went to the hospital a few times as it gradually worked its way through my system. Eventually they elected to just blow it up with a laser, which was a relief but also hellish in its own right.

Haven't had one since, thankfully!

 

[Kenzodielocke]

OP how's your diet? Or is it genetics?

 

[Unleash the Flutes]

First time I got a kidney stone I thought I was gonna die haha. I was in excruciating pain and had no idea what was causing it at first, so I curled up in a ball while waiting for the ambulance and told myself "welp, this is it, I'm about to die" lol. A kidney stone really feels like getting stabbed over and over in your lower torso, not a fun time at all. When I got to the hospital the nurse who saw me told me she was impressed I wasn't doubled over in tears at the time, which goes to show you how much pain it causes most people. Worst thing about kidneys stones is it's usually a reoccurring thing, I've been to the hospital because of kidney stones three times in total over the last few years.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

So I've been taking meds that expand the urethral tract along with others for convulsions and pain for 2 days now, and... nothing. Felt some medium level pain the other day but no other signs so far. Mainly slept a lot. Feels weird.

The suspense is the worst part right now..
Is this the eye of the storm? Is the monster patiently lurking in the shadows in near-silence? Just waiting for me to come closer? Did it mysteriously vanish into the fog of night?

Only thing to do at present is sit and wait, like the crew of a WW2 submarine, holding their collective breath as they huddle together in the main hull, above them muffled echos of the depth charge barrage.

 

[ProfessorLobo]

I've had a 1 cm stone for a few years. I didn't realize this for a long time, because every time I'd visit a general doctor telling them I had kidney pains (I figured I was passing really small stones often, but really the pains were from one large one), they'd tell me to drink more water. I hate doctors.

I've been traveling around Europe for about a year, and got fed up with the pain and did some tests in Barcelona, which is how I realized I had a big kidney stone. They did a bunch of tests but I had to leave, and just hoped it was a Uric acid stone, which can be dissolved by a change of diet.

I got it checked again in Turkey about six months later, and wanted to get it fixed, so I found a nephrologist that was willing to do a laser Lithotripsy. He upped the estimate from 8000 lira to 2000 dollars once he realized I was American, which I was willing to deal with because it was still relatively dirt cheap. So I go in to the office to pay with my card, and no, he wants 2,000 in American cash. Fuck you, Turkey. I still try and get the cash by going through Western Union, but when I go to try to get the money, they cancel my transfer and put a hold on my account.

Now I'm in Vienna and I've done two rounds of shockwave therapy, and it sounds like I need a third. The first round of shockwaves put me in the hospital a few days later, because I was passing several stones at the same time and the pain was unbearable (I was prescribed something thats over the counter in most countries to deal with the pain). The hospital also put in a J stent, which is intensely uncomfortable for about a week, and I really don't think was necessary.

And I also get to pay for everything with cash since I don't have health insurance. Which actually isn't that bad, being in Europe, and honestly, might be more cost effective than having health insurance in the States. The whole process has sucked though.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

Had to miss work again today after another 24 hours of pain and nausea.
Still no stones that I can see and the pain has spread to my left side too. Luckily I'm on powerful pain killers so it's not too bad.

At this point I just want it to end already, the uncertainty about how I'll feel each day is annoying.

 

[Engell]

had a little one that passed by itself after 4 hours... but them hours was hell on earth

 

[ZeroDS]

Man stones always sound so terrifying

 

[Deleted member 9035]

OP how's your diet? Or is it genetics?

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It's genetics I'm afraid. Luckily I don't get them too often.

 

[Psychotron]

There was a period of time where I was getting one every few months. Some were just annoying pain, whereas others had me crippled in pain. Longest I had to deal with one was ten days, at which point the doctors were going to have to operate. Thankfully it passed the day before.

 

[absolutbro]

My dad passes about one stone a month, and has a 3cm stone in one kidney that the doctors decided was best just left alone. It's not near the ureters (the connections between the kidney and bladder), so unless he wanted full blown surgery there was nothing to be done. How he goes through that on a monthly basis I will never understand. He drinks nothing but lemon water. No coffee, no sodas, no alcohol (maybe 2-3 beers a year), no tea, no juice. Water with lemon, or just plain water.

I get one every 4-6 months or so. I'm also pretty much an all water drinker (I have one energy drink each morning for caffeine, but that's it). Had my first stone in the 6th grade (10 years old or so) and it was a nightmare.

 

[RedSonja]

Hey man, they are no joke. Just as a side note, do you have a history of gout in your fam or anything? Just thinking in terms of high cholesterol, risk of diabetes and stuff. There can be a bit of a connection with high levels of uric acid. Course, not always but good to be vigilant and that! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

 

[Deleted member 9035]

Hey man, they are no joke. Just as a side note, do you have a history of gout in your fam or anything? Just thinking in terms of high cholesterol, risk of diabetes and stuff. There can be a bit of a connection with high levels of uric acid. Course, not always but good to be vigilant and that! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

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None that I know of but I'll look into it. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Deleted member 6263]

My condolences, best of luck with this whole thing. I'll be chugging water in your honor throughout the day.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

So after a month of chewing through painkillers and multiple hilarious pain-related incidents in and outside of work (including a minor car accident!) my latest Ultrasound came back only to indicate very little movement! Hooray for modern medicine!

Saw the urologist and he agreed surgery was in order. Sent me to get some tests and said I'll be contacted in a few days to schedule the time and date.

Updates as they come. Perhaps my next post will be as the proud father of a beautiful baby pebble! Or two!

 

[Deleted member 9035]

As I was informed in another thread, these are the correct terms for the procedure:

Excuse me? I believe you meant to write "cock rock surgery" or "pee pebble surgery."

Click to shrink...

 

[shenden]

Ah sweet memories! I never forget how perfect Tom Hanks delivered that feeling of relieve in Green Mile. Oscar worthy and exactly how I looked like when the shit was out.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

Had my first stone in the 6th grade (10 years old or so) and it was a nightmare.

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Shit man! Talk about growing up fast!

 

[FatalT]

As I was informed in another thread, these are the correct terms for the procedure:

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Hahaha perfect! I don't know how I've missed this thread. Possibly because I wake up everyday with pain above my pelvis and I'm afraid of what might be in there.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

Ah sweet memories! I never forget how perfect Tom Hanks delivered that feeling of relieve in Green Mile. Oscar worthy and exactly how I looked like when the shit was out.

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Shit why did I watch that?



Fucking sound effects

Edit: the actual version is no better

 

[Vex]

This is one of my worst fears and I'm reading this thread while sighing REALLY loud after seeing some of your experiences. This is so stressful to read that I cannot imagine going through this in real-time.

 

[Fleck0]

at 35 these threads hurt right in the penis. Off to get a gallon of cranberry juice.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

Update:
Just received final confirmation from the urologist.
In 24 hours I get a laser lithotripsy - basically they're going to shove a miniature blaster up my peehole and play target practice with the stones until those are sufficiently broken up.

Remember that scene from ESB where the Millennium Falcon is chased by TIE fighters into an asteroid field?
According to Google it's exactly like that except the space-worm will be bigger because I'm an ERA man after all.

Then I get to spend the night hospitalized with a tube up my dick for another 18 hours of observation (including some intense and uncomfortable peeing I imagine) during which remaining pieces of the stones as well as finer dust will be passed.

In short:
It's been an interesting seven weeks but I'm ready to put an end to this miserable experience.
Let's get it over with!

FUCK KIDNEY STONES!
Yours truly,
lemonardo.

P.S. GiftBot you son of a bitch I don't know why but somehow all of this is your fault!

 

[Dennis8K]

Update:
Just received final confirmation from the urologist.
In 24 hours I get a laser lithotripsy - basically they're going to shove a miniature blaster up my peehole and play target practice with the stones until those are sufficiently broken up.

Remember that scene from ESB where the Millennium Falcon is chased by TIE fighters into an asteroid field?
According to Google it's exactly like that except the space-worm will be bigger because I'm an ERA man after all.

Then I get to spend the night hospitalized with a tube up my dick for another 18 hours of observation (including some intense and uncomfortable peeing I imagine) during which remaining pieces of the stones as well as finer dust will be passed.

In short:
It's been an interesting seven weeks but I'm ready to put an end to this miserable experience.
Let's get it over with!

FUCK KIDNEY STONES!
Your truly,
lemonardo.

P.S. GiftBot you son of a bitch I don't know why but somehow all of this is your fault!

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Hey man, I hope everything works out great for you.

Good luck!

 

[opticalmace]

You've got my sympathies OP. I had my first kidney stone about 2 weeks ago. Yeah fuck that shit. Although once they gave me morphine things were tolerable... passed a couple days later.

 

[kami_sama]

My mother has had two, and man, I don't wish it even on my worst enemy.
Hope you pass them with the procedure!
BTW, that star wars thing was top notch writing.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

Good luck!

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*salutes*

 

[Deleted member 9035]

BTW, that star wars thing was top notch writing.

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Thank you, pain brings out the talent apparently..

 

[RandomExpletive]

Odd timing, had a kidney stone removed basically a year ago today/tomorrow, best of luck in surgery OP!

Hope you can avoid the catheter post-operation, that was a not so fun cap on the whole experience

 

[Arkeband]

Update:
Just received final confirmation from the urologist.
In 24 hours I get a laser lithotripsy - basically they're going to shove a miniature blaster up my peehole and play target practice with the stones until those are sufficiently broken up.

Remember that scene from ESB where the Millennium Falcon is chased by TIE fighters into an asteroid field?
According to Google it's exactly like that except the space-worm will be bigger because I'm an ERA man after all.

Then I get to spend the night hospitalized with a tube up my dick for another 18 hours of observation (including some intense and uncomfortable peeing I imagine) during which remaining pieces of the stones as well as finer dust will be passed.

In short:
It's been an interesting seven weeks but I'm ready to put an end to this miserable experience.
Let's get it over with!

FUCK KIDNEY STONES!
Yours truly,
lemonardo.

P.S. GiftBot you son of a bitch I don't know why but somehow all of this is your fault!

Click to shrink...

I had a non-laser lithotripsy a few years back, they used ultrasonic waves to break up the stone. It worked really well. Haven't had any stones since, but have changed my diet dramatically to avoid oxalate and increased my water intake.

I'm actually working on making a personal app that has a database of oxalate content per serving for a bunch of different foods, and a water intake tracker, so we'll see if I ever finish it or put it up on an App Store for free. It's super annoying to have to google oxalate content and then zoom in and page through poorly categorized lists and deduce how many black pepper flakes you're allowed to have before you equal one leaf of spinach.

at 35 these threads hurt right in the penis. Off to get a gallon of cranberry juice.

Click to shrink...

Cranberry juice is good for UTI's but it concentrates and thickens your urine, which helps stones form, FYI.

 

[Deleted member 9035]

Hope you can avoid the catheter post-operation, that was a not so fun cap on the whole experience

Click to shrink...

It's exactly what I got :-(

 

[Doober]

I wonder if it's possible for kidney stones to cause only mild discomfort. For the past couple weeks I've felt this off-and-on tightness/tenderness right around where my right kidney is.

I just had a checkup and my blood and pee came back normal, but this weird feeling back there isn't going away.

It's a far cry from the pain people often describe when dealing with kidney stones, but something definitely feels off in that area.