The Fun Doesn't Stop....

[wizeguy]

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So I get home from work yesterday, and within ten minutes, I have a pain in my side like I've never had before - I was writhing in pain - went to th ER - I have a KIDNEY STONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They said it probably hurt so much b/c it was moving - anyway, a 4mm stone is stuck in my UVJ - they said "passing the stone" will hurt even more, but they said that pain will dissipate rapidly - but if it doesn't pass within a week I'll need to get it lasered, b/c it can cause back pressure on my kidney - anyway, man, that was pain yesterday!! They said passing it is like the male equivalent of having a child - without the epidural!! 🙁

 

[BaylorGuy]

And instead of coming out a vagina, its coming out of a urethra....i feel sorry for you dude, i dont know how you are handling it.

 

[wizeguy]

And instead of coming out a vagina, its coming out of a urethra....i feel sorry for you dude, i dont know how you are handling it.

I mean hey, I'm not sitting here feeling sorry for myself, b/c obviously, there are worse things out there - but in terms of acute pain, from experiencing what I did yesterday, and talking to several physicians, there aren't many things worse than a kidney stone (again, in terms of acute pain).

 

[lilmissangel]

I mean hey, I'm not sitting here feeling sorry for myself, b/c obviously, there are worse things out there - but in terms of acute pain, from experiencing what I did yesterday, and talking to several physicians, there aren't many things worse than a kidney stone (again, in terms of acute pain).

totally true...from my experience working in an ER, those with kidney stones appear to be in the most pain. i feel so bad for them....
and it always seems like the guys are in more pain than the women...

 

[OctoDoc]

I had a kidney stone, 4mm, too. No wonder why they call it male childbirth. However, I was told that it wouldn't be painful to pass. It wasn't. I was peeing, and felt a "pressure" that lasted for 0.5 seconds, and then it popped out.

I call it my baby. I sometimes ask people, "do you want to see pictures of my kid?" When I show them, I always get a laugh. It looks like a ball of razor blades (I'm not kidding). I'll post some pictures after I dig 'em up.

By the way Wizeguy, did you do the Kidney Stone Dance?

 

[baylormed]

Oooo, I'm so sorry.
I understand completely. Been there. They sure hurt. 😡

Hope you feel better soon.

 

[OctoDoc]

Here's my pride and joy:

Its been over a year, and my kidney aches once in a while. Probably due to some scarring.

Unfortunately, they say that most people that have had a kidney stone will have another one in 10 years. I now drink water all d^mn day long so as to decrease the chance. I won't give up meat, though (another contributor to kidney stones).

 

[masterMood]

oh my gosh

i'm going to drink a lot more water from now on, because i know my dad passed kidney stones and he was in pretty intense pain

 

[Gardenia]

Here's my pride and joy:

Unfortunately, they say that most people that have had a kidney stone will have another one in 10 years. I now drink water all d^mn day long so as to decrease the chance. I won't give up meat, though (another contributor to kidney stones).

Octo, your baby looks like a pretty piece of crystal.
Thanks for sharing - always wondered what they looked like. It sure looks awfully painful imagining that thing going through a urethra!

 

[OctoDoc]

Octo, your baby looks like a pretty piece of crystal.
Thanks for sharing - always wondered what they looked like. It sure looks awfully painful imagining that thing going through a urethra!

Surprisingly, going through the urethra didn't hurt at all. It was the journey through the ureter that caused me to go into mild shock. Really, it was that painful. I also had blood in my urine (a lot, according to my ER doc after looking at the results of my urine lab workup).

 

[wizeguy]

Surprisingly, going through the urethra didn't hurt at all. It was the journey through the ureter that caused me to go into mild shock. Really, it was that painful. I also had blood in my urine (a lot, according to my ER doc after looking at the results of my urine lab workup).

That's what my situation is like!!! I was writhing in pain - went to ER - they did a catscan, did urine workup, bloodwork - said its stuck in my UVJ (a 1mm thick tube), just next to my bladder - they said the pain was probably caused by it traveling from my kidney down to that point - it hasn't passed yet, however....

how long after that day you went to the er, did it pass?

 

[oxeye]

I soooo feel for you!!! I had a kidney stone last summer - when I was 30 weeks pregnant with that little cutie in my avatar. Kidney stone pain definitely ranks up there with childbirth. The actual pain is less intense than labor contractions, but the fact that it is constant makes it worse to deal with IMO. At least with labor you get breaks with no pain in between the contractions. My kidney stone pain also lasted about 24 hours (12 hours before I broke down and went to the hospital for pain meds) - my labors were only 7 hours and 4 hours.

Labor seemed like a piece of cake 5 weeks later when I had my daughter. Because I was pregnant when I had the kidney stone, I was taken care of in Labor and Delivery. I begged for an epidural and they wouldn't give me one .... I was so mad about that. But I did get tons of sympathy from the L&D nurses and the OB on-call. You know kidney stones are bad when you get pain sympathy from nurses who only deal with people in tremendous amounts of pain.

I've heard that the pain is worse for guys - not sure if it is true or not, but OMG I *really* feel badly for you guys if it is!!!

 

[OctoDoc]

That's what my situation is like!!! I was writhing in pain - went to ER - they did a catscan, did urine workup, bloodwork - said its stuck in my UVJ (a 1mm thick tube), just next to my bladder - they said the pain was probably caused by it traveling from my kidney down to that point - it hasn't passed yet, however....

how long after that day you went to the er, did it pass?

My situation was that that shortly after dinner one night, I had severe pain in the right anterior portion of my abdomen. I thought it was gas, but it kept getting worse and didn't move. After doing the Kidney Stone Dance (the nurses called it that), where one keeps moving around to try to aleviate the pain, I curled up onto the bed. After about 15 minutes the pain subsided. I laid there for about five minutes, and then I made the mistake of rolling over. the pain came back with a vengence. This was when I went into mild shock (clammy skin, shivering, disconnected feeling, and I lost the sensation of color, except for a muted shade of yellow - weird, huh?). I didn't immediately think of kidney stones, because the pain was in the front, not the back where my kidney was. The ER doc explained to me that pain only occurs when the stone is traveling. When it is stationary, the pain stops. He said that two bouts of pain is common. The first is when the stone moves from the kidney to the beginning of the ureter. Then it hits one constriction and stops, giving a respite in the pain. When I rolled over, the stone started moving again, this time through the ureter, until it stopped at the second constriction (just before the bladder). This is where your stone is now, right? For me, by the time I had the CAT scans, the stone was already in my bladder. It took 4 days for me to pass the stone from there, but no with pain at all.

Another thing the ER doc told me was that the pain was in my front due to referred pain. All those nerves crisscrossing everywhere in the lower torso means that kidney stone pain can be in the back, front, side, or even move around. Now, when my kidney aches (as it is right now, probably because I'm thinking about it), it is where I expect it - at my kidney. I can now tell when it is about to rain, because my kidney will throb!

Oxeye - did you know that it is much more rare for women than men to have kidney stones?

 

[oxeye]

That's what my situation is like!!! I was writhing in pain - went to ER - they did a catscan, did urine workup, bloodwork - said its stuck in my UVJ (a 1mm thick tube), just next to my bladder - they said the pain was probably caused by it traveling from my kidney down to that point - it hasn't passed yet, however....

how long after that day you went to the er, did it pass?

My stone passed about 12 hours after the pain stopped. Passing it wasn't that bad - just a lot of pressure and burning and then it popped out (get used to peeing in a strainer, LOL) and I was completely fine.

I couldn't get a catscan because I was pregnant - so they did an ultrasound. Apparently you shouldn't be able to see the ureters on ultrasound in a normal person - mine was totally dilated. My urine was filled with blood apparently too.

I diagnosed myself before even going in to the hospital. I was pretty proud of myself when I found out I was right afterwards, LOL.

 

[wizeguy]

My situation was that that shortly after dinner one night, I had severe pain in the right anterior portion of my abdomen. I thought it was gas, but it kept getting worse and didn't move. After doing the Kidney Stone Dance (the nurses called it that), where one keeps moving around to try to aleviate the pain, I curled up onto the bed. After about 15 minutes the pain subsided. I laid there for about five minutes, and then I made the mistake of rolling over. the pain came back with a vengence. This was when I went into mild shock (clammy skin, shivering, disconnected feeling, and I lost the sensation of color, except for a muted shade of yellow - weird, huh?). I didn't immediately think of kidney stones, because the pain was in the front, not the back where my kidney was. The ER doc explained to me that pain only occurs when the stone is traveling. When it is stationary, the pain stops. He said that two bouts of pain is common. The first is when the stone moves from the kidney to the beginning of the ureter. Then it hits one constriction and stops, giving a respite in the pain. When I rolled over, the stone started moving again, this time through the ureter, until it stopped at the second constriction (just before the bladder). This is where your stone is now, right? For me, by the time I had the CAT scans, the stone was already in my bladder. It took 4 days for me to pass the stone from there, but no with pain at all.

Another thing the ER doc told me was that the pain was in my front due to referred pain. All those nerves crisscrossing everywhere in the lower torso means that kidney stone pain can be in the back, front, side, or even move around. Now, when my kidney aches (as it is right now, probably because I'm thinking about it), it is where I expect it - at my kidney. I can now tell when it is about to rain, because my kidney will throb!

Yeah, mine is right before the bladder - but it sounds like it doesn't have much more travelling to do, and thus I'm over the pain, for the most part? Your situation is exactly, to a T, what happened to me!!!

I just hope it passes on my own and that I don't have to get it surgically removed...

 

[oxeye]

Oxeye - did you know that it is much more rare for women than men to have kidney stones?

I didn't know that. My OB did tell me that they tend to occur more often during pregnancy. I also think it had something to do with that fact that I was taking a calcium-channel blocker for my hypertension and was downing TUMs for my heartburn (ahh, the joys of pregnancy). That's my theory anyway - I have no idea if it is the real reason, though.

 

[OctoDoc]

Yeah, mine is right before the bladder - but it sounds like it doesn't have much more travelling to do, and thus I'm over the pain, for the most part? Your situation is exactly, to a T, what happened to me!!!

I just hope it passes on my own and that I don't have to get it surgically removed...

I think you are in the clear as far as the pain goes. I'm sure you'll pass it on your own. I got the impression from the ER doc that stones of your and my size were common, and weren't the ones that give problems.

 

[OctoDoc]

I didn't know that. My OB did tell me that they tend to occur more often during pregnancy. I also think it had something to do with that fact that I was taking a calcium-channel blocker for my hypertension and was downing TUMs for my heartburn (ahh, the joys of pregnancy). That's my theory anyway - I have no idea if it is the real reason, though.

That makes a lot of sense. The increased calcium in your urine probably increased the likelihood of forming calcium oxalate (oxalate came from the citric acid cycle - remember the step just before the introduction of acetyl coA?), the most common type of kidney stone.

 

[wizeguy]

are you guys slightly surprised, as I am, that there really is no "easy" treatment for these things? not very surprised, but slightly surprised...

 

[oxeye]

That makes a lot of sense. The increased calcium in your urine probably increased the likelihood of forming calcium oxalate (oxalate came from the citric acid cycle - remember the step just before the introduction of acetyl coA?), the most common type of kidney stone.

I'll have to take your word for it - cellular metabolism is *not* my forte! Fortunately my form on the MCAT today didn't cover that stuff.

 

[oxeye]

Oh but my stone was a calcium oxalate stone. I wish I had taken pictures of it. 🙂

 

[OctoDoc]

I'll have to take your word for it - cellular metabolism is *not* my forte! Fortunately my form on the MCAT today didn't cover that stuff.

I hope you did well on your MCAT!

 

[willow18]

If you don't mind, how old are you people? I thought stones didn't come before 35+ unless you have Crohn's disease or something. Holy crap, Octo, that trophy of yours has some sharp edges. Ouch!

 

[OctoDoc]

If you don't mind, how old are you people? I thought stones didn't come before 35+ unless you have Crohn's disease or something.

I'll be 36 in a few months. It is entirely my fault for getting the kidney stone. I was "too busy" to drink water when I was at work. After about 4 months of suffering late-in-the-day headaches that I figured out went away after I drank a lot of water...BAM, kidney stone. Was I smart enough to realize I was headed for a kidney stone? Hell no, I thought I was still young and invincible, and kidney stones were for old people - ha! Kidney stones were the furthest thing on my mind.

Waaah, I'm old! 🙁

 

[oxeye]

I hope you did well on your MCAT!

Thanks! I'm going to spend the next two months obsessing about it ....

 

[oxeye]

If you don't mind, how old are you people? I thought stones didn't come before 35+ unless you have Crohn's disease or something. Holy crap, Octo, that trophy of yours has some sharp edges. Ouch!

I was only 24 when I had the stone ... seriously bad luck. 🙁 I hope I never have to go through it again.

 

[Rafa]

are you guys slightly surprised, as I am, that there really is no "easy" treatment for these things? not very surprised, but slightly surprised...

There's an "easy" treatment for almost anything, if you've got the cash. KS aren't an exception.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_stone

Still, they do suck. Stay strong! Think of Kramer in that episode of Seinfeld!

 

[OctoDoc]

Hey Wizeguy - I just reread the title of your thread. You should have said, "The fun stops twice!" 😀

 

[2Sexy4MedSchool]

Originally Posted by willow18
If you don't mind, how old are you people? I thought stones didn't come before 35+ unless you have Crohn's disease or something. Holy crap, Octo, that trophy of yours has some sharp edges. Ouch!

I was only 24 when I had the stone ... seriously bad luck. 🙁 I hope I never have to go through it again.

My story is a bit different. I was 31 years old, married for about a year, when I woke up one morning with terrible nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. It kept getting worse over the next several hours, but the weird part was there was no pain beyond the dry-heaves-nothing-left-to-barf distress. Frankly, I thought it was food poisoning; my wife had tried a new recipe the night before (that I can't even look at now without feeling queasy.) I never even considered kidney stones until we were on the way to the hospital and my wife drove over a curve, thus upping the pain from "acute" to "exquisite". The only good part was that I was screaming so much in the ER they didn't make us wait outside at all; they stuck me on a gurney on the inside with IV fluids.

Octodoc, I envy you your "baby". I never even noticed passing mine, which kind of sucks because I wanted the souvenir.

I was compulsive about drinking water that summer, but that faded with time and I haven't had any problems since.

 

[OctoDoc]

My story is a bit different. I was 31 years old, married for about a year, when I woke up one morning with terrible nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. It kept getting worse over the next several hours, but the weird part was there was no pain beyond the dry-heaves-nothing-left-to-barf distress. Frankly, I thought it was food poisoning; my wife had tried a new recipe the night before (that I can't even look at now without feeling queasy.) I never even considered kidney stones until we were on the way to the hospital and my wife drove over a curve, thus upping the pain from "acute" to "exquisite". The only good part was that I was screaming so much in the ER they didn't make us wait outside at all; they stuck me on a gurney on the inside with IV fluids.

Octodoc, I envy you your "baby". I never even noticed passing mine, which kind of sucks because I wanted the souvenir.

I was compulsive about drinking water that summer, but that faded with time and I haven't had any problems since.

You mean you didn't pee into a strainer?

 

[2Sexy4MedSchool]

You mean you didn't pee into a strainer?

Of course I did! I wanted the toy from my box of Cracker Jacks!

But no luck, I'm afraid. Either it was too small -- NOT freaking likely! -- or I missed the strainer -- which is all too likely, given my general eye-hand-weinie coordination.

 

[Dr. Pepper]

Here's my pride and joy:

Its been over a year, and my kidney aches once in a while. Probably due to some scarring.

Unfortunately, they say that most people that have had a kidney stone will have another one in 10 years. I now drink water all d^mn day long so as to decrease the chance. I won't give up meat, though (another contributor to kidney stones).

Wow, that's quite a stone.

Someday, you will give it to someone special (diamonds are overrated anyway.)

P.S.: I cut some pictures off to save space.

 

[oxeye]

I wish I had asked to keep my stone. 😉 It's hard to believe something so small can cause so much pain.

Reading about how all of yours presented makes mine seem even more strange. I started out feeling like I had a bladder infection. After I few hours of going to the bathroom every 2 minutes, a dull pain started on my right side and got progressively worse from there. I don't remember all the details at the hospital, but I know I was throwing up from the pain pretty often. 🙁 And then it just suddenly went away.

 

[Anastasis]

I was in high school when I had my first. ER doc said I was the youngest he'd ever seen. My mom thought I had appendicitis (WTF?) I didn't drink much water and we were on well water anyway, I think that may have contributed. I still get pains sometimes too. I don't have the stone and don't know what kind it was (I was 15 and too wierded out to ask).

 

[natureboy503]

i was 25 when i had mine, but get this, it occured during our RENAL section! after that i was scared to start cardiology!

 

[mintendo]

Wow, that sounds really really painful. I've never had a kidney stone, and I pray to god (starting tonight) that I never get one.

On the bright side, next time you're in the hospital and the doctor asks you "on a scale of 1-10, how would you describe your pain" at least you'll have a pretty clear idea of what a 10 is. 🙂

 

[oxeye]

i was 25 when i had mine, but get this, it occured during our RENAL section! after that i was scared to start cardiology!