How about kidney stones!
I was getting ready to go to work (two days ago) when I was struck by the most incredible pain on my left side/flank. Something was very wrong. For about 30 seconds I thought I could drive myself to the ER but realized that an ambulance was needed (texted family who called 911 for me). I simply cannot describe the pain and then the nausea and vomiting started. At the ER, gave blood and urine samples. Urine looked like a red wine 🍷 😱. Turns out that these are very classic symptoms of kidney stones. Stone was confirmed by CT. Spent six hours in the ER and sent home with pain and nausea meds as well as a med that is supposed to help make passing of the stone easier. So now I just wait…
I knew of kidney stones but not the particulars. I was totally shocked by the sudden onset and the horrible pain. I know now that kidney stones are common but I am still shocked by this whole episode. Hope the stone passes soon and my pain is well controlled.
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Sorry to hear that!
Pain from kidney stone is known to be absolutely horrible, the worst pain possible . I remember my dad writhing in pain from this when I was a kid. Wishing you a speedy recovery and a swift end to this horrible experience. What an ordeal.
Take care,
LaughingGull
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I'm sorry you are dealing with a kidney stone. I have never had one but when I was eleven I witnessed its sudden effect on my mother. She also was in excruciating pain and had to go to the hospital by ambuance. She ended out having surgery since there were multiple stones and the medications available today were not around.
According to a doctor in a familial osteoporosis study I'm part of people with low bone density are more prone to developing kidney stones. There is some evidence bisphosphonates are protective against them. It was recommeded that I get my calcium from food rather than supplements since there is a correlation between calcium supplementation and kidney stones. I eat lots of yogurt, cheese and spinach.
I hope your stone passes quickly and the pain is kept at bay.
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so sorry to hear, @exbrnxgrl . I heard from a colleague of mine who had multiple stones that the pain was so excruciating, he could not even find a word to describe it and the wait for pain meds to kick in felt like “the longest wait” in his life.
Hope the stone passes quickly and the pain is tolerable. Take care!
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Oh my gosh, Exbrnxgrl! I am so sorry to hear of what you've been through. Like you, I've only heard about them, and would be as shocked and scared as you were by that whole experience. Yikes! I'm just so glad that you are generally OK, and that they were able to tackle the problem. Please get well soon. I wish you a real speedy recovery and that you never, ever have to deal with anything like that again. We are all here for you!
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Commiserations @exbrnxgrl, kidney stones are the worst. I had one in my late teens and I can say it was worse pain than when my appendix burst. I hope the meds are very effective for you and that this passes quickly (apologies for the pun).
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@exbrnxgrl Kidney stones are horrible, for sure. I think I had a tiny one years ago, but I never went to a doctor or the ER. My side hurt and every time I touched it I threw up, but by the end of the day it had eased off. A few days later, I heard a tiny PLINK when I peed, so I think it must have been a mini stone. Years later, my husband wound up in the ER with one, and the urologist he saw was really cool. Seven months later, that's who my oncologist sent me to when kidney cancer popped up at the bottom of a chest CT. That sucker was 7 cm and I never had a bit of pain from it. Our bodies are endlessly weird.
I hope your unwanted passenger departs with a minimum of discomfort.
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Thank you all for your kindness and good wishes. I have the pain managed with high dose Ibuprofen, though I do have oxycodone if needed, but opioids make me throw up. I am just uncomfortable and dreading the fact that the severe pain can come back at any time until the stone passes … ugh 😩.
From time to time a member will post that they are surprised by how little people know about bc. A few members have even been upset about this and will argue that one doesn’t need to have personal experience with an illness to be familiar with it. However, given the number of illnesses and anomalies that humans are subject to, I can’t see how any of us could possibly know about all of them, even common ones like kidney stones! 1 in 10 will develop kidney stones over the course of a lifetime and I knew nothing about it beyond a general idea of what they are. It’s been an eye opening experience.
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Wishing you good pain control and easy passing of that thing - and soon! Again, I'm just so sorry that this happened to you.
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exbrngrl, When it passes, its like it never existed, immediate relief and your brain quickly moves on. I had my first one several months after my daughter was born, the doc speculating that she was sitting on my ureter tube and the stone formed because the urine wasn't moving as fast as normal.
The other two, though, are directly related to my cancer, one when I was first diagnosed and the other when I had progression, and are caused by excessive calclum from active bone mets
In addition to a couple shots of morphine, the ER doc gave me Flo-Max, increases urine flow and that stone was out of the ureter tube quickly
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I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through this traumatic ordeal @exbrnxgrl … I’m sure no one can truly fathom the intensity of kidney stones unless you have the experience. I hope it passes soon enough!
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Curious - That is really interesting about active bone mets causing kidney stones. I'd never heard that before.
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Yikes, neither have I!
And yes, I am taking Flomax. I rank pain based on two natural childbirths and a chest tube insertion for a pneumothorax in the ER (brutal). The kidney stone pain has been worse than labor but not as horrendous as the chest tube insertion, so I guess it could be worse 🤷🏻♀️.1 -
And I sincerely hope that no one ever has to fathom this!
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my husband had them chronically when younger and really sorry to hear you’ve had to go through that excruciating pain. I hope you will consult a nephrologist to determine if any treatment is needed to avoid recurrence. I also hope you’re able to drink lots of water/ fluids to get it out of your body and do try to keep very well hydrated going forward. Lemon juice water is particularly helpful in many cases if you can tolerate it.
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Thank you! I have always been a huge water drinker, I rarely salt my food nor do I eat salty foods, I am not over weight, and I am always squeezing lemon or other citrus juices into my water… in short, I had no risk factors and all of my habits were conducive to not developing kidney stones, yet I did. I have a follow up with a urologist on Tuesday but I am afraid that everything recommended for follow up care are things I already do. I know once you’ve had stones the chance for developing them in the future increases (yes, I know about oxylates in food) but I will continue to hope this was just a one off incident.
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@exbrnxgrl For what it's worth, my husband has never had a recurrence of his kidney stones in seven years. My probable one was about 15 years ago, and I've never had another (although that kidney is now gone).
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Thanks, alice! One bout of kidney stones in a lifetime is enough so I take some comfort in knowing that I may never have a recurrence. There is little I can do in terms of risk factors as my diet , no/low salt, not overweight, drink plenty of water, etc., is already what is recommended for decreasing future episodes.
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