If you've had a kidney stone, then you've probably experienced the worst pain you can imagine, like I did.
If you've never had a kidney stone, pray that you'll never get one. Trust me on this. Oh, and drink plenty of water every day (which has other health benefits, too.) To avoid the most common stone type (calcium oxalate), also take in the recommended amount of B complex and magnesium, dietary calcium, and avoid calcium supplements, such as Tums. Oddly, getting too little calcium actually increases the likelihood that your body will create a calcium stone....but getting calcium from non-dietary means (non-natural) also increases your odds because it's not metabolized the same as if it came from, say, milk. Also, limit soft drinks, especially colas, which contain high levels of phosphoric acid, and limit oxalate-rich foods (e.g. spinach).
(Okay, so enough about that -- there's plenty on the web (DrKoop.com, WebMD.com, and a zillion others -- some good, some full of BS "remedies", so be careful.)
On to my story...
Out of nowhere, one morning I had some back pain. It felt like a pulled muscle, but I couldn't figure out what I'd done. Well, it rapidly intensified to the point I couldn't move. It was all I could do to reach for the phone to call my wife to come home from work to take me to the hospital. By the time she got home, I was sweating, short of breath, and had gotten to the point where there was no way I could sit up, let alone get to, and into a car for the ride. And by that point, I wasn't sure what was going on with me...so we called the paramedics who took me in an ambulance.
(In retrospect, being strapped to the roof of my wife's car with a bungee cord might have been more comfortable than an ambulance -- keeping in mind that ambulances aren't cars like they used to be -- they're trucks, and trucks have a very bouncy ride, and each bounce just increased the "pain from hell" I was experiencing.)
On the way to the hospital, the female paramedic told me it was probably a kidney stone, and that she had a female friend who had had one and said it was worse than giving birth. (Oh, fun, I thought!)
Of course, nothing goes fast in the E.R., but skipping the boring stuff, it was determined that my pain was a kidney stone. They gave me some wonderful pain killer via I.V. and eventually sent me on my way (roughly 4 hours later) with a prescription for Percocet in case I got another attack. (Both a nurse in the hospital, and a guy I work with who's wife has had a kidney stone, told me stories, and I don't recall which one said this, but one had gone through natural childbirth and had had a kidney stone, and they would rather have another child than another stone.)
The next step was to see a urologist...and here's where I learned something contrary to my previous assumptions about kidney stone pain: According to the doctor, the worst pain from a stone is NOT when it passes! (I don't want to play that down too much, because that can be very intense, depending on the size and shape of the stone.) According to the doctor, however, I'd already experienced the worst -- the pain caused by the stone completely blocking the ureter below the kidney (between kidney and bladder), which causes intense pressure to build up back to the kidney until finally the kidney shuts down, relieving the pain and pressure. (Trust me, you don't ever want to feel that.) That's what happened to me - my stone was just below my kidney the day I ended up in the E.R.
The urologist said that a stone my size (estimated at 4-5mm, based upon x-rays), had about a 50/50 chance of passing on its own and to wait it out for at least a couple weeks and depending upon how much discomfort I had, they could do some other things.
Well, at that point, fear was my biggest thing (fear of getting that pain back), but at least I was armed with Percocet. The actual discomfort was quite minimal -- nothing that Alieve wasn't handling just fine...so I waited. In the mean time I researched things on the web, and even tried a complete BS "home remedy" (which, yes, I paid for). Hey, I didn't want the pain, so why not try?
After a couple weeks, others (and research) made me inquire about getting a Lithotripsy (basically, sound "shockwaves" are used to break up the stone without anything invasive). It's not cheap, and it does cause some discomfort, but it supposedly had roughly a 75% - 80% success rate...So I had one. A few days later I did pass a very tiny little piece of something, but it wasn't enough to be "the" stone. (Yes, I was straining things when I went -- an inconvenience when you're not at home!):
The following week I got another x-ray and went to the doctor only to find out that the stone had popped back up into the kidney, and was looking as large as ever. I was part of the unlucky 20% - 25%. Bummer! So, he said that since I wasn't in pain, let's just keep waiting.
A couple weeks later, something started to happen. One night I had some blood in my urine (not unusual w/ a stone) -- that implied the stone might be moving around. About 36 hours later I started feeling the urge to urinate constantly, so I called the doctor and he said sometimes when the stone is near the end of the ureter, it induces bladder infection-like symptoms, without there being an infection. He scheduled me for another x-ray and to come in the following week. An additional 36 hours later, the "urge" had lessened, but things felt weird -- almost itchy on the inside. I thought, great, and it was Friday night with nobody to call. All I could do is drink lots of water to try and "flush" my system.
Unfortunately, my system wasn't cooperating! I could barely go, even though I'd drank a ton of water. UH-OH! Just before going to bed I felt that too familiar "back" (kidney) pain ramping up. I immediately took a couple Alieve, but just 5 minutes later I knew I was about to repeat what sent me to the E.R. when this all started....BUT this time I was armed with Percocet. Wonderful, good friend, Percocet. Just 10 minutes after taking it, I was feeling relief, and within 20 minutes I was almost pain-free...and very drowsy, so I went to bed....and I NEVER woke up during the night to relieve myself of all the water I'd drank!
Well, Saturday morning I woke up, and dragged my groggy-as-usual self into the bathroom where I found I could finally go, but the stream was unusually slow...and then I looked down into the strainer and there it was. THE STONE! It had passed, and oddly, I didn't feel a thing as it came out! (Which is even odder considering its size.) And that was it....I felt normal. All the weird feelings -- all the pain was gone. Life is back to normal...and here's the culprit:
Now it has to be sent if for analysis so it can be determined what kind of stone it is, but odds are in favor of it being the most common type of calcium stone (as I mentioned at the top of this page).
The End.....I hope!
So...GO NOW, AND DRINK LOTS OF
WATER!
