Do you get much magnesium? People tend to get stones when they are low.
I’ve had several bouts with kidney stones in the past.
I have been told by my doctor, that the pain from kidney stones will be the closest a man ever comes to experiencing the pain a woman has in birth. Note, he said “close”.
My last bout with kidney stones...I was afraid I was going to die. Then, I was afraid I wasn’t....
I’ve heard the citric acid in lemons helps dissolve the stones.
Just kidding. That does suck. It also sucks that you know the "pain level 1-10" thing.
Not good, bro.
Can't they go in and bust them up with lazers now? Or is that a myth and you got to pee 'em out like the olden days.
Just in case I ever get one. Also, are they caused by diet or what?
My guru, Dr. weil:
What therapies does Dr. Weil recommend for kidney stones?
The best way to avoid kidney stones is to drink lots of water, at least six to eight glasses daily. The water dilutes the urine, reducing the risk of crystallization. You also should avoid food containing oxalate so that there will be less of it to join with calcium and form calcium oxalate. Foods high in oxalate include spinach, beet greens, nuts, chocolate, strawberries, rhubarb, Swiss chard, wheat germ, soybean crackers, okra, black Indian tea, sweet potatoes.
The following dietary measures can also help prevent stone formation:
Avoid caffeine, which seems to increase urinary calcium.
Decrease consumption of animal protein, especially red meat, which increases the risk of stone formation.
Limit your salt intake (salt increases urinary calcium excretion).
Consume potassium and bran fiber in foods, not supplements, because both can reduce urinary levels of calcium.
Take calcium citrate, which may bind with oxalates in the intestines and be eliminated as calcium oxylate.
Drink lemon juice in sparkling water, as lemon juice is a natural source of citrate.
https://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/body-mind-spirit/liver-kidney/kidney-stones/
A kidney stone put me in the hospital in 1984 - passed it after 24 hours or so, it was shaped like a tiny fish hook. The initial pain was severe, to put it mildly.
You are the tougher man by far! My bout landed me in the hospital, probably because I had never had them and didn’t know what was going on (I puked more times in one evening than in all the years leading up to it).
I found that morphine helped.
Don’t drink V8’s, take lots of warm showers and let the water hit your back where it hurts, don’t overheat though, good luck man, it will pass, been there
Oh, man, my heart goes out to ya. I never had ‘em, but my wife did. We ended up feeding her tons of water and about 12 ounces of lemon juice a day (first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, and make sure it’s the real deal and not “flavored” crap). It worked.
Good luck, Kevin!
Hope you can get some pain meds to help you through, with the way they are restricting the stuff they may just let you suffer.
According to my doctor, you can’t change the Ph of your urine significantly enough by drinking acidic juices to dissolve stones. A lot depends oh how your plumbing is constructed. I have such a tiny constriction at the ureter/bladder interface that nothing gets past it. Others are lucky enough to have a wider opening.
I worked a deal with the doctor and the anesthesiologist and paid cash. They did the operation in their own surgery center. The cost savings of both the venue and the cash discount were significant. (Thousands of dollars saved over the hospital and about fifty percent on the doctor and anesthesiologist’s fees. Yes, that’s how much happier they are not to deal with an insurance company, which could take a year to pay them.) Ask about this. I was very (cough...ahem) to have the stone removed by the flexible telephone pole with basketball net that they used. I want to say the total out of pocket was about $5000.
I’ve been there.
It’s hell.
My doctor had me take potassium citrate pills. No more kidney stone problems after I started taking them. In fact one of the bigger stones broke up and I passed like 27 small stones. By the way I still take the potassium citrate pills.
Yeah, The STONES SUCK.
I’m a Beatles kinda guy.................
I feel your pain. I have been through the same
Passing them really depends on the size. Yes, water helps if they are small. If too large, passing them might never occur.
Have you investigated thotripsy? It cured me, and now I’m simply on a program of regular X-rays to monitor any new stones, and preventing them from re-forming.
I’ve had a few kidney stones over the years. The first one freaked me out because I didn’t know what it was. All I knew was that I was in the most excruciating pain ever.
Then I went to the Emergency Room. They gave me morphine. I have to admit that once I finished barfing from the morphine, I started to enjoy the high (and the pain disappeared). I finally passed it.
Anyway, in subsequent attacks, I wasn’t afraid when I felt that kidney stone starting its horrifically painful journey down my ureters, because I knew what it was. So I just kept saying “morphine, morphine, morphine!”
For one attack I had to drive myself 20 miles to the hospital. That was a trip (and I don’t mean driving). It was the thought that I’d get morphine that kept me going.
Anyway, with my last kidney stone (a number of years ago), I did my usual “Oh boy! Morphine!” But much to my disappointment, they gave me a pill that killed the pain but didn’t get me high. Bummer.
BTW, I don’t do any drugs, and I’m not a drug addict. (Test my urine if you don’t believe me.)
Incidentally, years ago I dated a woman who had experienced both kidney stones and child birth. She confirmed something I had only previously heard by rumor, which was that kidney stones are just as painful as childbirth.
Have passed multiple stones and gone through five lithotripsy procedures, one of which was laser. Basically I can pass stones up to 5 mm, anything over that and I need help. When I know one is coming, I load up on fluids. My choice is citrus green tea but I have friends that were told to drink beer until it passes. If the stone gets stuck, you will know it! If that happens, my advice is to head to the ER, get some decent meds and a CAT scan, then follow up as needed. This will save time and agony until you see your urologist.
Best wishes. This happened to my son, second time, but this time several hundred miles away @ college. Talk about a Mom feeling helpless when I get that call late at night or middle of the night he is in ER . . . 3 times . . . between visits to ER and doctor . . . they pass out those damned oxycontin and hydrocodone like candy . . . thankfully he only took like 2 pills throughout the whole ordeal even though they wrote like 4 different scripts. Do these people not watch the news? They made him throwup a great deal, sick as a dog and in pain. Was finally able to get the laser zapping done over Thanksgiving Break but sadly it cost him one C that semester, by 1 point 79 point something and being stubborn he wouldn’t go talk to the professor, Aero Engineering so not an easy class either. Argh.
Best wishes to you . . . . first time hit him either jr or sr year of high school and he came into my bedroom that morning and then was lying on the floor in great pain . . . luckily didn’t need laser surgery that time just lots & lots of water.
Kidney stones are composed of calcium oxalate, a water insoluble mineral. People with kidney stones have an inherited metabolic defect that prevents them from processing oxalate properly. By introducing citric acid into the urinary stream the calcium will selectively bond with the citric acid to make calcium citrate which is water soluble. Nothing will dissolve the calcium oxalate stones that have already formed but the presence of citric acid will prevent formation of new calcium oxalate stones.
Add 1-2 oz. of concentrated lemon juice to a quart of water and drink one quart daily. You need to restrict your intake of foods rich in oxalate. These are probably all of your favorite foods ;-(. The list I share with my patients comes from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center website. They categorize foods by high, medium, and low oxalate levels.
This is not a one-time deal, it is a lifelong commitment, dammit! Have fun!
BTW, I had a female patient who had experienced four natural childbirths and two kidney stones. She told me that she would take all four births at once instead of another kidney stone.