Kidney Stone Questions Please Help!!!!

I am tempted to try to the Uriflow to see if I can't dissolve these things. Anyone who has tried it, please respond to let me know your experience with it. I found one place online with 33 customer statements and only a couple of them were negative. It sounds like it woudldn't hurt to try. i see my Uro again in a couple of days. I am going to ask him again why he believes that the stones I have can't be causing any pain, then try to find a new Uro if he can't answer me. Thanks again for all the feedback. it just feels better having someone else to talk to about this. Anyone who has not passed a stone cannot imagine, nor would they want to imagine the unbelievable pain involved! Good luck to all of you.

I've never tried the Uroiflow, but it sounds like you need you need a urologist.
It's pretty pathetic how we have to really MANAGE our own health care..the days when we had all our faith in doctors are out the window...there are still good doctors out there, but there are those the few that make you nuts!!!

Hang in there everyone!!!

Your are so right about not being able to trust doctors or find good ones. I hate it that we have to suffer with out any help. The doctors seem to keep sending you to a different specialist when they can't figure out what is wrong with you. They just kinda wash their hands of you.Butterfly what kind of kidney diasease do you have? They don't know what kind I have or the reason. Just went into Kidney failure about 3 years ago. I came out of it for awhile as my creatine dropped down to 1.6 but I had it taken two weeks ago and it is back to 2.2. I am in stage 4 kidney disease. I am sure the stones don't help the problem any.

Hi Heartly

You are right kidney stones don't help the kidneys when there's already a problem, that why I try to stress to others not to take stone lightly. I have FSGS (Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis), it is said people with this end up in ESRF within 20 years, I've been lucky so far that I still have some function left, I'm beating the odds, by watching my diet and medications. But I am now facing another problem, I am awaiting news on a bone marrow test.
I can write a book actually I have been journaling but not much lately as I don't have the strength to do this. I have many health problems other than the ones I mentioned. My doctors are pretty good, it took a long time to find some of the ones I have who genuinely care for the patients and not just shove you out the door.
Our primary doctor calls out of blue to see how we are. I have a few of my doctors personal phone numbers.
It did take a while to find the right one ones. The ones who would listen to me. Some doctors don't like it when patients know a lot or even a little about their health condition, today most doctors don't have the time to explain things to us or just don't care enough,with some doctors it comes down to how many patients can I see in a day and add up my earnings. I know insurance companies dictate everyone's lives so that's part of the problem.
My best advice is find out what is causing your kidney failure and why. You will probably need to see a nephrologist (kidney specialist) and get a biopsy done. Get all your medical records when you see one and be prepared with a list of questions, write them down, have a pen ready to put the answers next to the questions you ask, if the doctor doesn't like this then it's time to find a new one, many doctors encourage this but again some don't and have someone go with you if you can.
Some medications can make kidneys worse, also the dye used in MRI's can cause kidney failure. There's a huge recall and lawsuit going on about this.
Do you see a nehprologist also?

Hi layla
My problem started with severe flank pain too. Turned out to be an obstruction in the kidney called PUJ. Long story .. pm me if you have any questions. Anyway, at this point I have no function in my kidney. This occured after my surgery, and several stents. I know it isn't kidney stones, but like butterfly wrote it can get serious if not treated. I developed hydronephrosis which is what destroyed my kidney. Find a good urologist, do some research. That's why we are here because we have been where you are. I waited 10 years. Let me know if I can be of help as well. Good luck.

Well, I have retyped my posting 3 times already AFTER logging in each time and when I hit the button to add my reply it keeps bouncing me back to the page telling me that I need to log-in to post a reply and instead of it keeping all the text I've typed all these times, it makes me start over! I did have more news to share but evidently I can't

Try to pm one of us with your news. I hope it's good news!!
Sorry you are having a problem posting.

Don't give up. We want to hear your news. Maybe you could start a new topic.

I've had lots of visible blood in the urine for the past 8 months or so, so when I finally went in to the doctor, they said I have 5 kidney stones ranging from 3 to 9 mm.

I've had kidney stones 4 times in the past (I have a horseshoe kidney so I am prone to them). It's been about a decade since the last time (I try to drink a couple of liters of water a day to wash my kidneys out before the stones can get too big, guess it didn't work...).

So I know all to well how they feel, and what the kidney blasting experience is like.


However this time due to the size of some of the stones and the fact I have a horseshoe kidney the doctor wants to put in a stint. He said that would cause me to have pee more frequently and more urgently, as well as having pain when I urinate.


Here is a obvious (in retrospect) question that I had not thought of.

Do they leave the stint in for a short time (until the stones pass) or forever?

I can put up with the drawbacks the doctor mentioned for a while, but don't want it to be a "for the rest of my life" thing.

ALSO

I asked for pain pills (I believe my exact phrase was "give me the most powerful pain medication you can think of.") because I know too well what kidney stones are like: A red hot iron bar shoved all the way though your body is how I describe it, a female friend prefers the "much worse then labor" description when she descirbes the pain.

So the doctor asked me if any particular type worked well. I am not a doctor, and not a conisour of drugs, so I had no idea, and he gave me a prescription for vicodin/hydrocodone.

Is that a good choice, or is there something stronger I should ask for?

Hello and welcome to ehealth

Is the doctor going to do the litho to break up your stones?
A stent can be in for anywhere from a couple days to 3 months then sometimes they put a new one in if they feel the need to. Your doctor will run scans or X-rays when you have the stent in usually an X-ray called a KUB.

Hydrocodone is usually given for stones...there are different strengths of the medication.
Another medication that might be helpful when the stent is in something like Ditropan to help with bladder spasms which are enhanced from the stent.
Stones are worse than childbirth...I've been there more times than I care to remember.
Hang in there..Keep us posted.

Doctor said litho to break up the stones, followed by going in later with a laser to zap any survivors, and a stent to make sure they can get out. Doctor said that 9mm was somewhat large, and with a horseshoe kidney it would be best to put the stent in.

a few months I can live with I guess...

After my third time I decide to make a concentrated effort to drink a lot of water in the hopes that it would head off stones. It's been a decade, so I thought it was working, oh well.

Let us know how everything turns out for you

Another thing to drink is lemonade I hear it helps with stones. I personally don't care for lemonade but a lot of people swear by it that helps them with passing stones.

I lived with the stents for months at a time and they are uncomfortable but if it helps then we have to have them...I hope you recover soon.

I've heard of people having a horseshoe kidney. Do you get a lot of infections as well?

No infections that I know of...

I hear cranberry juice (due to the high acid) is good too.

Maybe I'll add that to my routine.

All natural Cranberry Juice is good.

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one dealing with painful kidney stones. (I'm not glad that you guys are in pain either). I heard lemons are good for breaking up stones, is this true? I just took hydrocodone, so hopefully my pain will start to subside. Has anyone tried the "jump and bump" method. I'm going on a cruise in two weeks, and it's pretty important that I'm pain free. I made an appt. with a new uro, because my current uro is going on vacation for two weeks, and I can't wait. I'd rather deal with the stinging of the stint (as I pee), than the pain I'm in now.

Hi and Welcome

Lemonade is good in aiding to help break up stones..I've heard this also.
I'm not familiar with the jump and bump..I'm guessing it has to literally do with jumping up and down. Some people walk if the pain is tolerable to get the stone moving as long it is not lodged in the kidney,ureter or bladder.

Good look at the uro..and have a great time on your cruise.

Yikes! I found this forum in the hopes of finding more information on kidney stones, but now I'm even more terrified.

I've been having horrible flanking pain for a few months. I just thought it was a nasty bout of gas and bloating, until last week, which by now I've had a dozen or two of these attacks. One night last week I was awoken by this horrendous pain. It was worse than any labour pain I've ever had and lasted for over 4 hours! Monday night I had another nasty round that lasted almost 2 hrs. The next morning I saw my doctor, who sent me immediately for an x-ray. Within an hour he called me to say they found a 2cm shadow on my x-ray. I'm going for a CT scan in the morning.

If you all are having so much pain and problems with 3mm and 4mm stones, what the heck am I in for if mine is 20mm????

Hi and Welcome

A 20mm stone is big. You will more than likely undergo litho to break up the stone.
Stones are worse than labor, I agree with you on that.
Please keep us posted, best wishes.

I have a 6mm stone they found by accident on abdominal CT due to ER visit for severe pain that turned out to be ovarian cyst! But anyway - I am deathly afraid of general anesthesia, and putting off lithotripsy due to this alone....funny, I know, but it's a big hang up of mine.... Anyway, went to herb shop and they gave me "Queen of Meadow" and told me it would start melting away my stone. I have no pain as of yet, the stone is wedged in the uppper part of my kidney for now. No renal colic, or flank pain as of yet, but waiting for the "bomb to hit" is excruciating in itself! Please help!