A while back, as I settled down in my seat for a 10 hour international flight, I began to feel a pain the my left side of my back. At first, I could move around and the pain would go away. As time went on, I couldn’t find the sweet spot to alleviate the pain. Then, I became nauseous. Even though it was cool, I was sweating like it was a 110 in the cabin. I got up walked to the back of the plane and got a drink of water. When I got back to my seat, I was again able to twist myself around so that the pain was minimized. After a while, the pain subsided and I was never bothered by it again on that trip.
The pain returned about three weeks later after I had returned home and was staying in hotel room about a hundred miles from home. I woke up and couldn’t get comfortable. I was nauseous and felt like I had some kind of intestinal blockage. After about three hours, the pain subsided again.
Without any further pain, two days later, I passed a 2X4X6 mm stone. My doctor said it was a pretty large one and he was surprised there wasn’t any pain in it’s passing. No problems since then.
I’ve had several. They are bad!!
But there is one thing worse...bleeding bladder tumors. Both the pain and the cure are far worse.
During my ambulance medic days I vividly remember taking a patient with a kidney stone to the hospital. Our service at the time was using 50% nitrous oxide for pain relief under a new protocol. Even the 50% nitrous barely fazed his pain.
By the way, I've talked to women who have given birth and had kidney stones. If given a choice, each of them would have opted for child birth.
In regards to kidney stones, Demerol is your friend, your best friend.
Passed a kidney stone 2 years ago. The worst pain ever and it lasted 7 days. A couple of hydromorphone injections helped a lot plus taking it in pill form every four hours. All the nurses told me the pain was like like childbirth only you don’t have to send it to college 18 years later.
Still have lots of hydromorphone pills left which I keep just in case another one comes along.
As others have posted the pain is so bad it makes you vomit about every 15 minutes.
I’ve had kidney stones and gallstones. (Yeah. I’m like a freakin’ quarry!) If childbirth hurt as bad, EVERYONE would be an only child.
When you get one, morphine is your best and only friend!
I have read where cokes/diet drinks, etc. actually leech calcium from bones, which form kidney stones. I’m trying to stay away from cokes myself. I have heard some people say that drinking them even causes slight kidney pain afterwards.
Try living like this. (Not me) Just passed by and saw it.
Some people live with them. Their kidneys are full of rocks.
http://www.squidoo.com/mykidneystone
If you have a kidney stone, and go to the ER, and you happen to be a lawyer...don’t mention that you’re a lawyer. Then all the docs will come out and worry, worry, worry about how you might get addicted to pain killers. They can worry about that for HOURS.
My Great Grandad did. He went out to the barn and roughed it out.
Tough SOB
One of the worst pains, not the worst. Close though.
The first few times I had them, the hospital would not give me pain medication until they had done a urinalysis.
The last time I was taken to a small hospital in Alabama. When I told the Dr. I had had them many times before and that I knew what it was, he went ahead and gave me pain meidcation before doing all the tests.
The pain meds help but by no means eliminate the pain.
I passed one on my wedding anniversary a few years back. Mrs. Lando had another kind of stone in mind for the occasion.
Retired nurse here....I have seen big grown men cry passing a stone as small as a grain of sand. You have to use fine mesh funnels to check the urine passed to see if the stone passed also....Someone comes in with possible kidney stone in the hospital I worked at, pain medication was the first thing ordered....but that was before the GD government and some nanny’s thought doctors gave too much pain medication. Now some doctors are afraid to use the medications for fear of lawsuit or government coming after them....even oncologist. Its a shame. No virtue in pain when it can be relieved....
'La bonne cuisine est la base du véritable bonheur.' - Auguste Escoffier
(Good food is the foundation of genuine happiness.)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Not personally but I have a friend who vacationed in France once and said they are wonderful when sauteed in white wine...........
I remember reading that passing a kidney stone is the worst pain a human can endure without losing consciousness because of it.
That would surely put it a notch above childbirth. I stayed conscious for 5 - babies, that is.
I’ve passed two in my life. The first one was indescribable. Writhing on the floor of the ER, I actually called out for my mommy. I was 29.
The best part was consulting with the urologist afterwards. He had a lot of fun showing me his collection of unusually large, weird kidney stones. Some looked like starfish from Mars. The Devil’s golf balls.