Any fellow kidney stone sufferers?

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 6:58 am

I am currently trying to pass #12 (since 1990) at the moment. I wok up this morning feeling rather 'blah' and I knew it was coming. I have been drinking lots of water this morning trying to flush that sucker out. About 20 minutes ago that all too familiar pain kicked in and had me writhing on the couch for a while. It's now subsiding.

Ugh. Such is life.

hozy · Post by **hozy** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 7:41 am

I have one that has never bothered me. It was found on a x ray that was taken . I was told that it is to big to pass,so I tried Lithotripsi probably not spelled correct. It did not work . I guess I have been lucky .

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 7:46 am

My first one was taken care of by lithotripsy. Since then I have passed them all. They seem to arrive when I am very stressed and these past several weeks have been super stressful.

I hope yours stays in tact.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 9:46 am

Sean:

In March 2003, I found myself in an emergency room in Southern California (Hoag Hospital), with what I thought was a bad attack of food poisoning. The pain grew and grew. I barely made it there. There were 104 people ahead of me. The rule of the day was: if you weren't bleeding to death, bottom of the list.

I sat down to wait and the pain got worse. No doctor would see me. I passed out cold and woke up drenched with sweat 6 hours later! They still hadn't called my name, and the pain had eased so I drove home--58 miles.

No problems until the same thing happened in January 2004. I was in San Francisco this time, and walked three blocks to the ER. They questioned me. I told the triage nurse it was food poisoning. She responded that it was a kidneystone and sent me to X-Ray. She was right.

They put in a catheter (emergency surgery, morphine and some of the weirdest dreams I can recall) and scheduled surgery for three weeks hence.

Lithotripsy was the surgery and it did not work for me. So they rescheduled me for an intubation. The details I will not bore you with. It took a week to recover from it, but I didn't miss an hour of work, thanks to the excellent surgical staff at Chinese Hospital, SF.

No problems since.

An interesting aside: the second surgery took place at Chinese Hospital, in the middle of SF's Chinatown, on the morning of Chinese New Year, at 6 am. Just as the anesthesiologist was putting me under, the industrial grade fireworks began--so loud that it sounded like a battle taking place in the next room.

But I was already quite woozy and fading fast...my last thoughts as I went under, staring at the light above, were confused wonderment at being in a M*A*S*H* unit...

BTW, the bill was in excess of $40K for the three surgeries. A lotta nice Rickenbackers...

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:06 am

wow, paul. that's crazy. i had my last one while riding on my harley. instead of just pulling over and calling 911, i turned it around and rode it home 18 miles, basically balled up on the seat.

the litho broke mine up small enough to pass, but it also damaged the gel sack that holds that kidney in place. since then, lots of running and jumping around will make that kidney feel like it wants to jump out of my back.

jingle_jangle · Post by **jingle_jangle** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 11:40 am

Jeez, Sean, don't do any Jumpin' Jack Flash stuff, OK?

A good friend of mine was only 35 when his first one hit, and he's been troubled since then, six years now.

In my experience, it's the worst pain I've ever felt.

And, I've been lucky--it's the only time I've been hospitalized since 1953, when I was 5 and had pneumonia.

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 12:02 pm

my first hit when i was 20 (1990), 11 since then. yea! and yes, it's pretty much the worse pain that i ever felt as well.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 12:03 pm

Our medical system is absolutely fantastic at treating tramatic injuries like car accidents, gunshot wounds, etc ... but they really suck when it comes to treating degenerative or chronic disease ... for instance when George Washington was dying the best doctors of his time packed his gums with mercury and attached leeches to bleed him ...

in most cases the problem is a calcium deficiency brought on by too much phospherous ... eliminate all soda pop ... never drink that stuff again ... and cut back or eliminate red meat for a while ... the phospherous combines with calcium in your stomach into a form of calcium that won't metabolize ...

The problem is medical doctors are only trained in dispencing drug and preforming surgery ... they have little or no training in healing from nutrition ... I go to a naturapathic doctor ...

a few years ago I got a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis ... the doctors have no cure ... the treatment is an array of dangerous toxic drugs that have dangerous side effects ... well I was on 5 or 6 prescriptions ... then I had side effects that needed additional prescriptions ... I got fed up and went to a natural doctor ... I am much better ... I take coral calcium and other suppliments to defeat the disease ... I still take a medication a few times a year ... but I am working to be drug free ...

So my advice is to find a good natural doctor and take a different approach to being healthy ... I believe the human body is designed to heal itself and when you give it the proper nutrition and supplements it can heal itself ...

jonpaul · Post by **jonpaul** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 1:24 pm

This is really a painful subject (no pun intended). My first stone was back in 90', it felt like someone had stuck a knife in my lower right side. I had to have a fellow associate take me to the Hospital. The folks at the Hospital hooked me up with an IV with some sort of medication that eased the pain long enough so they could get some x-rays. The x-rays were not good, revealing a mass amount of potential stones in both kidneys. I was given some additional medication to take home with me and was also instructed to drink tons of water, stay away from soft drinks and the like. The Doc actually gave me a basket to catched the stone when I passed it, so they could examine it. Thanks goodness within the next few days it passed, the relief was unbelievable. Over the next 10 years I had various bouts with the 'ol stones', finally in 2003 I had them zapped and have not suffered with anything serious since. Talk about rock'n roll, ouch!

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 1:38 pm

I have heard from many that kidney stones can produce some of the worst pain people have ever felt.
I am always concerned about kidney stones since I have hyperparathyroidism. I drink alot of water and try not to over eat foods with a lot of calcium...that's really tough being a person from a culture that has created pizza, lasagne, manicotti, etc...

beatlefan · Post by **beatlefan** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 3:26 pm

Never had a stone, but know a few close friends that have.....I've heard it described as equal to or worse than a woman going through labor....

Jeff, I totally believe that the body can heal itself with natural herbs on many ocassions....I believe that modern medicines can do more harm than good in some cases...this is from experience.....

marc61 · Post by **marc61** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 4:06 pm

I'm a stone sufferer as well.Had lithotripsy to get some stones out. They were uric acid stones and I now take allopurinol to prevent further stones from growing. My doctor also had me taking urocit-K to break down the stones I still have but, it disagrees with me and I may have to go for the other treatment again.

This stuff is not fun...

loendmaestro · Post by **loendmaestro** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 5:36 pm

I'm with you boys.

Not wanting to rehash the stories told before, but that is the WORST pain I've ever felt. And immediately post lithotripsy? It felt like someone hit me in the back with their car.

And there ain't nothing cool about the "strainer".

Just try & drink lots of water...LOTS OF IT.

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Sat Apr 23, 2005 8:13 pm

I passed the stone while using the bathroom at dinner tonight. It passed painlessly and effortlessly, as most of mine do once they get to my bladder. It looked a tad bigger than my last few, odd that it didn't hurt more, not that I am compaining! I guess my pipework is well routed out now.

jwilli · Post by **jwilli** » Sun Apr 24, 2005 8:44 am

I had a kidney while in my early 30's. I was in bed and all of a sudden it felt as if someone wearing a steel-toed boot kicked me in the lower back. I fell out of bed onto the floor. I went to the Dr., he diagnosed it and luckily it passed a few days later. Next, i'll tell you about my Gall Bladder attack a few years ago. (Just as painful)