Kidney stones anyone..?

i'm not sure jesus christ was there...

Yes Meno--3 times. I am "cuddling" 2 small ones at the moment waiting to have them "blasted" in Hospital. So sore.

Three weeks? Heavens, good luck! Drink gallons of water, avoid oxalate-rich foods (chocolate, spinach, nuts, peanuts, bran....), don’t take calcium supplements - this was advice given to me a few years ago.

Good luck you poor sufferers. ?
Hope you get those little horrors blasted soon.

I sympathise Menopaws I had kidney 'gravel' which was excruciating enough, I've never felt pain like it, childbirth was a doddle by comparison. The scary thing was how quickly it happened, one minute I was at my desk, 10 minutes later I was throwing up in my wastepaper basket and crying with the pain!

I've had these. I hope you get things sorted out soon. Drinking lots of water is essential.

I have also had kidney gravel and it was no joke especially as I was away for a long weekend but once the gravel passed through I was as right as rain and thankfully it has not returned. The pain is excruciating.

My Ma had them and they were excruciating. However, had her op and no repercussions.

Drink gallons, can't get out of chair in time, waddle to loo, say rude words lowering onto loo and off again, waddle back to chair, more rude words...and repeat 20 mins later. I've had three long labours and this is crazy with nothing to show for it.

I feel your pain. It’s no joke. I had a 2.5cm “staghorn” stone.
It was torture, I had an ecoli infection so it was months before they operated. They blasted it but bits broke off and caused a blockage?.
I also had stents but they didn’t help the passage.
I was very poorly, it was very hard to control the pain and it was a horrible 11 months.
I genuinely live in fear of a repeat and feel for anyone going through the trauma of a stone.
Menopaws , so sorry, I hope you’re rid of it very soon ?

Oh yes....been there. Excruciating pain, funnily, more in the mornings. Scan done. Minute gravel....they didn't do much, just advised to drinks lots of water and I suppose, they were just flushed out without me knowing a thing. No pain except for the initial 3 mornings.
Hope all goes well for you and you are on strong pain killers. I think I was on something called Zydol.

Annoyingly I eat quite well, no overloads of sugar or salt, not a fan of processed food, not heavy on any one food type and although I like wine, all in moderation but admit not very good at drinking lots of water as always need the loo, bladder like a tiny tears doll, straight in and straight out!

On tramadol but told if this not enough they will give me morphine in hospital but having coped for two weeks I hope won't come to that.

Yes, in the 70's, mindblowing pain and couldn't stand straight from a sitting position. H at the time rang for a GP ho gave me a cocktail of drugs there and then and told me to drink as much water as I possibly could to flush the" grain" out. Then I remember going for an IVP x-ray on my kidneys.

I'd been bent double trying to walk as I was at work when it suddenly happened and H said I looked like Groucho Marx-------that's the sympathy I got ! I do know that the pain was so severe that when it had finally gone I thought it was still there.

Yes I’ve been there too. And my DIL. She collapsed with the pain and went in via ambulance. I remember a G.P. giving me some morphine......oh the relief. Good luck meno.

Hi Menopaws you have my sympathy. I collapsed at work, was taken to the gynaecologist as my colleagues thought it had something to do with the fact that I was 8 months pregnant. He gave one look at me and legged it down the corridor to call a urologist. Later, in hospital when he came to see me, I asked the gynae "How did you know?" He replied "Because you were jumping around on all fours in pain". I wouldn't have coped for an hour, let alone weeks. And yes, the labour three weeks on, was a doddle.

You poor thing - and what a poor show to have to wait 3 weeks for a scan when you are in such pain. I do hope things will sort themselves out soon.

I have never had them but I have cared for patients who have. Ouch.

Standard treatment is to increase fluids (cautiously - if they have a blockage too much fluid can cause kidney issues), give pain medication, and in hospital we also strain urine looking for stones. (We had little paper and mesh strainers. The patient would wee in a "hat" in the toilet and we would pour it through the strainer.)

Small stones may pass on their own. If you see one under a microscope (I have) they have jagged edges; this is one reason they are so painful. Large stones usually require "blasting" or lithotripsy. (Ultrasound waves targeting the stones to destroy them.)

Agree with avoiding foods high in oxalates and avoiding too much calcium. Many kidney stones are calcium oxalate stones.

When the first dr said a letter will be in the post for a scan date and I said when is that likely she said probably early July, I said what do I do until then and she said...just carry on as normal!!
As it happens having spoken to very good a and e dr yesterday she said that although the pain makes it feel urgent, because I don't present with a fever and there is no infection then three weeks is fine but the urgency is to deal with the pain. So I get that now and feel ok to wait.
I cannot praise that second dr enough, nearly an hour of her time and so kind, drew pictures of the problem, went through the history bit by bit, listened intently with no rush etc, I cried at the end and hugged her! She'll be getting flowers today

I have - twice - and both times the pain was like nothing else I've ever experienced (including labour!) It was horrendous. My sympathies to anyone going through it...

I haven't had this but I did have gallstones and was told that they and kidney stones are two of the three worst pains you can have. I had to carry pethidine around to deal with the pain when I passed a stone. Giving birth was a lot easier.

I had a scan a few years ago for something else and was told I had small kidney stones so I reduced the calcium I was taking. Fortunately I have not had pain from them so hope they have gone.

It sound like they can be removed without you having to have a big operation. I do hope so and that your pain relief works.

I can't even imagine what torture people in the past must have suffered before effective pain relief was discovered

Yes it makes you think for sure

menopaws - you have my utmost sympathy. I’ve passed two stones over past couple of years and thought I was dying. As others have said, childbirth was less painful. Last scan showed small piece of gravel around 1mm in size - they’re keeping an eye on it but it should pass without me noticing. I hope you get through to your scan without too much pain and get this resolved