a reply to:
Chickensalad
Kidney stones? I can write a book about them. I started getting kidney stones at the age of 36 (now 20 years later). I stopped counting after
getting on average 2 or 3 a year.
I was nervous the first time I found blood in my urine. Thanks to a phys ed teacher who told our class if you ever find blood in your urine it's a
99% chance it's cancer. Far from it, since blood in the urine can be the result of a urinary infection and kidney stones, just to name a few.
Anyways, back to the kidney stones... My stones were caused by an excess of uric acid. They were very painful and I knew a week or 2 days ahead of
time I was about to get one. I would feel a little sick or under the weather or my wife would say I looked a little pale. I sometimes would have a
very small ache in the upper part of my back depending on which kidney the stone was in. I would diagnose I had a kidney stone before the x-ray
results would come back in during my wait in the emergency room. I was in the hospital usually once a year. I've had them pulverized with Shock Wave
Lithotripsy and I've also had surgery to brake them up with a laser. Lithotripsy is by far the best way to go. Even if you have them broken-up with
a lazer, you will still feel like you're passing a kidney stone later because of muscle contractions.
I was seeing a urologist once a year getting ultrasounds from a doctor who always acted like he was going to a fire. This guy never took the time to
really discuss my chronic issue. He would spend maybe 2 minutes with me, and than off he would go. This went on for a good 15 years until I found
myself in the hospital again with 3 kidney stones. I went through 3 urologists by this time. My fireman doctor wasn't scheduled to work that day,
so instead who walks in to my hospital room but my first urologist doctor, (which I dropped because I didn't think he knew what he was doing).
He comes into my room a day after my Lithotripsy and says to me, you know, I don't want to over step your current doctor, but considering the number
of kidney stones you're getting, you should be on 300 mgs of Allopurinol. What? My doctor only had me on 100 mgs. for the past 10 years! So the
fist thing I said when I met with Dr. Fireman, is to ask him if he could put me on 300 mgs of Allopurinol. He says sure, and out he goes to another
fire. Since than for the past 5 years I haven't had another kidney stone (knock on wood). I did fire the Fireman doctor and I'm now on my fourth
urology doctor. No more yearly ultrasounds.
I'm forever grateful for my first urology doctor for telling me I should change my prescription to a higher dosage. It's worked great for me. You
also have to remember to drink plenty of water throughout the day so you don't become dehydrated and it also helps flush out your kidneys.
Stones could also be made up of calcium. You will have to get your stone tested to see what type of stone it is. Calcium stones most likely have a
different long term treatment.
People think passing the stone is the most painful, but in reality, it's the stone moving from the kidney to the bladder that causes the most pain.
I was always relieved when the pain would stop, because I knew the stone dropped into my bladder and soon I would pee the SOB out. They're not
always round but most of the time they're shaped like rice grain.
I hope this bit of information helps with your stone problem, good luck to you. Kidney stones are more common than what everybody thinks.