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Posted 8/17/2012 4:12 PM (GMT 0)

Hi, I`m new to this forum and I`m looking for and wanting to share advise on kidney stones. 

There`s not much on the internet,  like being able to share the kidney stone experience,  and it would be nice to be able to talk to people going through it, or been through passing stones.

At the beginning of this week, I passed what looked like a stone, but I`m not sure if it`s all passed yet, as I`m still feeling some pain and other symptoms.

Only time will tell on that.

 I had two more stones about 3 months ago and I remember not recovering from them as quickly as I thought I would, so I`m hoping this last one`s gone and I just need a bit more patience to get back to normal.

If anyone`s going through the kidney stone agony, I`ll be more than happy to pass on the tips I learned through my own journey. Even little concerns at the time can feel huge and then tightens up muscles,  making the pain worse.

And then there`s all those websites out there, that promise a cure. I want to believe them but I`m terrified of taking something that aggravates my symptoms or even worse, encourages more stones to form!

So it would be good to share all tips, tricks to help keep us pain free.

Thank you so much in advance to anyone who replies.

Posted 8/19/2012 3:26 AM (GMT 0)
Well, I have had a few stones, but I honestly do not know if I have passed them or not..I know that sounds really strange, but I drink A LOT of lemon, and that helps break them up, and stop them from forming to begin with..so I can only assume, they broke up and passed..BUT
we have just gone thru 5 surgeries total with our 10 year old daughter. Her first stone was discovered Christmas morning. She came to our bedroom complaining of back pain. Of course, Christmas time you are running around, busy, busy, busy..so I thought she pulled some muscles, or something.. so I gave her some ibuprophen, and muscle rub on her back. After a 1/2 hour, she was screaming in pain. So, off to the e.r. we went. They did an ultrasound and found a stone that was at LEAST 5 mm, and blocking urine flow. So, she was shipped by ambulance to a specialty hospital 4 hours from our house. In the travel the stone dropped in to the ureter. Which was GREAT in that now the urine was flowing out of her kidney, but BAD in that it was such a big stone, it wore a hole in the ureter. So she had one surgery 4 days later ( the surgeon was out of town)..they went in, broke up the stone to remove it, and had to put in stents.8 weeks later, the stents came out ..6 months later she had her next stone. (In the meantime, she did a 24 hour urine catch and they found she has too much calcium in her diet, and not enough citrate in her system)..so next stone came out, and more stents went in. Finally, all stents are out, she is restricted to 1 dairy item a day, and must have 2 glasses of lemonade made from REAL lemons everyday. The pediatric urologist said that is the best way for her to stay out of his office! He has done really well with her..Not a lot of bedside manners, but he is getting better.
Posted 10/11/2012 8:12 AM (GMT 0)
Stones in Kidney is not a big problem at starting stage but in advanced stage it is a very big problem some time we have only one choice that is kidney transplantation which need dialysis and this process costs too much.The persons who had best health insurance plans only can bare this treatment.
Posted 11/12/2012 1:13 AM (GMT 0)
Hi...I'm new to this also. I also passed my first kidney stone in September that blew me away. It was the worst pain I've ever felt. I was in the ER for almost six hours before they even had a look at me and in that time, I was just crippled with pain that would not stop. I didn't get anything for the pain and just as they were calling me in for blood work, my pain subsided and a very uncomfortable urge to use the bathroom took over. i caught the stone right there in the hospital.
I still have two left in my right kidney and it's been two months since that first one, but every time I feel a twinge or a sharp pain in my right side, my anxiety level rises to the point that I take a panic attack. It's horrible and I feel like I'm so alone in this. I feel like no one seems to understands or even wants to hear me complain. I thought I'd come on here just to talk to others that have gone through it. My urologist says the other two are small and should pass on their own, but that fear always takes over.
Posted 11/17/2012 4:23 AM (GMT 0)
I just passed my 3rd and hopefully final kidney stone ever. This last stone was a whopping 13mm x 8mm stone and took a year to pass. I just wanted to share my journey to help others because it is not fun. My first stone I got was about 8 years ago, I was at home and just got a terrible pain in my right/middle back area. I had no idea what it was and it did make me cry. It wasn't as bad as some horror stories I've heard though. I went to the ER that day and maybe a month later I got it surgically removed (not blasted),through my penis. They put me under and the procedure was fine. They put a stent in my ureter just below the kidney and for me that was the worst part of everything. The stent was put in so my ureter would not collapse and cause a backup into the kidney. It was a week later when they pulled the stent out which was the most painful part of the whole experience, the doctor did not use any painkiller or numbing gel and pulled that stent out and I have never felt that much pain ever. They wrote a prescription and my wife and I had to go get it filled at target which there was about 45 minutes of pure hell-I'm surprised I didn't faint! That experience has scarred me for life. I don't know if I just had an idiot of a doctor (most of them are) or if this is standard procedure, but if anyone ever has to get a stent please get medicated first. My second stone was not too bad, I actually passed it two years ago and I really didn't know I had one in me so that was good. And then this last one...this one was quite a journey. I should say in the last 3 years or so, my wife and I have progressively changed to a holistic approach for everything. So last fall, I started feeling pain in my lower back and knew exactly what it was. it would come and go for a couple of days at a time, and finally in February, after I had a pretty bad episode, I decided to see the urologist (different one) and got a KUB done (some kind of x-ray but less radiation than a CT scan). It showed I had a 10mm stone just below my right kidney. The doc said it is not passable and I would need surgery. Well, after my first experience, my wife and I decided to tackle this sucker naturally. We started researching everything and anything. Here is everything we tried:

Lemon Juice and /or olive oil
Cranberry Juice
All kinds of fresh juice mixes-cucumber, radish,lemon, etc.
The cola and asparagus trick
drinking a ton of water and then bouncing abruptly trying to force the water to push the stone down
heating pad
essential oils
castor oil packs
chanca piedra herb
power of intention thinking
better diet
chi gong

Again, the pain would come and go and when it did, I would try these things. Over the course of this year, I would maybe have 1 attack each month and it was finally in September where my pain was getting lower in my body. For the pain attacks, what really worked for me was ibuprofen (not vicodin), along with essential oils rubbed on externally over the pain (I used Pan away, RC, Juniper, and Lemon Grass all mixed together followed by a heat pad-worked great!) I also took lemon oil internally putting about 10 drops in my water every time I drank. Did this for about 3 months.
I also came across the herb Chanca Piedra, it got good reviews and is supposed to break up the stone.-I think it worked a little for the pain but obviously didn't break anything up. I went through 4ozs of it in its liquid form and 2 bottles of capsules (120 each). So last week I started getting sharp pains at the tip of my penis-about every 30 seconds or so I would just get a quick jolt, and when I peed, I would get the same pain at the end but more intense. This happens when the stone is just about to go into the bladder. It did this for about a day and then while I was peeing I got two really intense jolts and then the pain went away. The stone had made it into the bladder. about the 2nd pee after this, my stream had decreased significantly and by the third pee, I was just dribbling pee. I knew the stone had gotten stuck at the beginning of my urethra. I tried drinking a lot and pinching the tip of my penis while I was trying to urinate to expand my urethra in hopes of getting it unstuck-no luck. Well, not being able to relieve myself, 2 days later I went to the ER. Had a CT scan done and it showed the stone was stuck where my urethra goes through the prostate. So close yet so far! They had to put a catheter in me to drain my bladder and as they did that they pushed the stone back into my bladder. They sent me home with the catheter in me to allow my bladder to shrink to its normal size and to wait until I see a urologist. The catheter was just horrible. So uncomfortable! The earliest the urologist could get me in was 11 days and I about had a breakdown. I had been home with the catheter for about 6 days and had enough. (also got a UTI which is common when you have a catheter in. They gave me antibiotics at the ER which I was supposed to take from the beginning but those are bad news and I will not take those unless absolutely necessary! I took a supplement called D-Mannose which is an isolate of the active ingredient in cranberry juice-started working immedietely. Highly recommended for a UTI.) After much thought and nervousness, I decided to remove my catheter myself. It was a foley catheter with a water -filled balloon at the end in the bladder. You're supposed to use a syringe to pump the water out but I did not have one so I just stuck a tiny screwdriver in to release a plug and the water came out. Very simple. I knew it was going to be painful to pull it out so about 20 minutes prior, I had taken one vicoden and I'm glad I did. It was pretty painful as I pulled it out but I did it. After a few minutes, I felt pretty good and free. So my next concern was whether the stone will block things again. Well, after my first pee, I started noticing my stream decreasing. Not a dribble but definitely not coming out very well. This was all in the afternnoon. The next morning, I would pee and not be relieved. I knew I may be in trouble. I decided to take a bath and had the urge to pee so I got up and sat down (I found sitting down was a little less painful for me when I peed because when you cant pee it burns). Before I tried to pee, I said a little prayer and of course my stream was very low. I then took a deep breath and just relaxed and out it came!! Not painful or anything. I have never been so eager to stick my hand in the toilet-I wanted to meet this foe of mine. It measured 13mm x 8mm (1/2 inch by 1/4 in). I screamed for my wife to come in and raised this rock above my head as I smiled! I did exactly what the doctor told me I couldn't-passed a big stone-bigger than we thought.

Reflecting back over everything, I think there is little you can do to break up or even reduce a larger stone like this. I don't know if anything I did really helped the stone pass any quicker, however most of my episodes came after I jogged so I think the bouncing can help. I will say you can definitley manage the pain with essential oils, heating pads, and an anti-inflamatorys. The castor oil pack helped a little too. I also believe that different things work for different people and that our thoughts are more powerful than any of us know. I practiced the power of intention and find a positive in everything that happens. I remember thinking when I had the catheter in, why is this happening to me, I'm a good person. And now looking back I believe that I had catheter for a rason-it dilated my urethra, I was given the thought and strength to pull out the catheter on my own at that particular time, and soon thereafter it came out. I had played the thought out of peeing this stone out and reaching in the toilet to grab it and hold it above my head, and as it turns out, I manifested this thought into reality. Good luck to all of you who suffer a kidney stone.
Posted 3/1/2013 12:49 PM (GMT 0)
Kidney stones also known as kidney stones usually leave the body by passage in the urine stream, and many stones are formed and passed without effecting symptoms. If the stones reach a sufficient size then they can create the problem in urethra.
Posted 3/2/2013 12:03 AM (GMT 0)
I just found this site today. I'm so tired of kidney stones. Currently, I have 2 in the right kidney. I've never had stones that caused so much exterior pain. My skin is tender on the upper right side, at the base of my ribs. The primary doc says I need to call a surgeon. I have a surgery scheduled May 1st for repair of a pelvic organ prolapse, and the surgeon is a urogynocologist. He's already going to remove a bladder sling, so I might just move the surgery up and get these stupid stones out too. I know friends and family get tired of hearing that I'm hurting. My dad and brother have frequent stones too, so at least they understand. I'm sorry others on here deal with it, but it's good to hear some of the things that others try to get relief. Thanks
Posted 3/28/2013 3:06 PM (GMT 0)
Guys I feel sorry for all of you. Not because you have Kidney stones, but because you haven't been informed of other solutions to getting rid of the stones.
Here is my story of the stones I had.
Back in January 2012 I had blood in my urine. Just a few times but scared me like hell. THought for sure I had cancer or something. Freaked me right out. I also had zero pain. Ended up getting a scope but luckily everything showed fine. Finally after a bunch of blood tests they gave me a CT scan. And there it was. 2 stones. The biggest was 8x11mm, other was below 3mm. Doctor gave me a subscription of something to help pass them. I asked him if I will know if they passed and he laughed and told me the pain will be excrutiating and yes I will know. Asked him for something for the pain for when they do come and he told me just to go to the hospital. So home I went and waited. A month and a half later I still had no pain. So he sent me for another CT scan. The stones were still there. (luckily the bleeding never came back). He wanted to book me for surgery but it was for a month away. I was not happy about having surgery. In between the time I had blood in my urine and going for the second CT scan I tried everything to get rid of them, gallons of water a day, lemons, teas, anything else that was suggested.
After I got home I did some more searching on the internet about getting rid of stones naturally and found a product called Renavive. Their website seemed interesting. I showed it to my wife and she didnt believe any of it. I told her I was ordering it anyways to give it a try. I ordered 3 bottles. I then contacted my urologist and told him about it and said that I wanted to give this stuff a try for two months and have another scan before we do surgery. He agreed. but warned me that it's not good to leave the stones for too long. Well, 2 months later I had the scan. ONLY 1 stone left and it was something like 5mm. I was so very happy about this. So I told him that I will not have the surgery and I will continue to take the Renavive and if I have signs that I would come back and get the surgery. He seemed pretty surprised it was working for me. He told me whatever I am doing is working. So just keep doing it.
So needless to say I bought more of the renavive. I don't take as much as I did before. I only take one dose every two days instead of the recommended dose of one a day for maintenance.
During the late summer I was speaking to a neighbor at our cottage about my stones and she told me that her husband gets stones ALL the time. He gets them removed every few months. He passes stones almost every two weeks. They guy has been in pain for years dealing with it. No kidding but the guy, his doctor, and his wife said that the stones will one day kill him. It got so bad for this guy that they havent even had sex for a couple of years. They are in their late 50's. Excited about what I did, I told her about what I took and that it helped me and that it wouldnt hurt for him to try it. They said that he tried some other stuff for a month, something called stone crusher or something. Sorry I cant remember. But apparently it didnt work for him. I m not sure if it didnt work for him because he didnt use it long enough or what.
So this past feburary 2013 I received an email from his wife. She said that he's been taking them every since I last spoke with them and no kidding but he hasnt had no symptoms, no stones passing, no surgery. The guys is so dedicated to taking them. Actually made me feel good about it.

So guys, I just want to put this out there. I used Renavive. It worked for me. Other stuff may be out there that works too. Just stick with whatever you try for atleast two months. Just find a natural method to get rid of them. Surgery isnt the fix. The stones WILL come back. It's part of the food, the water quality, etc that we put in our bodies. Even some kidneys create them all the time.

Post Edited (Steve911) : 3/28/2013 9:24:35 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 3/28/2013 3:15 PM (GMT 0)
BTW. to prove to the neighbors that it did work for me I had my doctor give me a copy of the results from my CT scan for both before I started taking the stuff and at my final CT scan and it shows the difference in the stones. If you guys don't believe me, I might even email it to anyone that is interested.
Posted 6/15/2013 2:22 AM (GMT 0)
Hello,
I'm looking for some info as I just experienced my first kidney stone a few days ago. Quick recap- Had blood in my urine, was treated for a UTI, but culture was neg. Went to dr again as there was still blood in urine, they did an ultrasound & all normal. A week later I had the worse pain I've ever had in my life & went to the ER, they suspected a stone and CT confirmed a stone in my L kidney which had dropped to the uritor. They also said there are a couple other small ones that should pass on own. Due to the size (6) the urologist went in the next day and broke it up with laser. After the procedure, I had lots of blood in my urine. They sent me home, and ever since (now 5 days later) I get these sharp sensations that are painful but more uncomfortable right at the urithra and bladder spasms. Also have the frequent urge to urinate. Went back in to ensure all was ok, and was told still have blood in urine, but the badder is emptying and no UTI. They said it may take a couple weeks to heal. My questions to anyone out there who has experienced this is;
1) is this pain/ uncomfortable sensation 5 days post lithocopy (sp?) normal?
2) Any reason why evening seems to be the of day symptoms exacerbate?
3) Motron does not help me, any other ideas to control the pain/discomfort?
4) What can I do to never get these again??
Many thanks!
Posted 6/28/2013 5:57 PM (GMT 0)
TrustyShellback

Did you have a stent placed when they did the surgery? If so, that can be very irritating to your bladder. I have never been able to have a stent in place over 6 days. They cause me a lot of pain.

I have had blood and pain past 5 days a couple times after having a stone blasted, but I have very small uterers and can't pass a stone larger than 4mm.

Hope things have gotten better for you now.

As for not getting the stones that has to do with what type of stone it was. Drinking 6 to 8 glasses of water helps. My stone aren't calcium and I have to avoid sports drinks and dehydration. Since I coach a travel softball team I tend to forget to hydrate even though I remind my players all day long.
Please ask your surgeon or urologist what you should do to avoid stones in the future.
Take care,
Bill
Posted 6/29/2013 2:25 AM (GMT 0)
Thank you for the reply! No stent was placed but it turned out that I had developed a UTI from the procedure. Once the antibiotics kicked in all was well. This has certainly been a miserable time and I'm thanking God its resolved for now. Thanks for the tip on water. The surgeon said the same thing, lots of water and adding lemon juice he said helps break up the crystals so they don't form.

Take care,
Carrie
Posted 6/29/2013 10:42 AM (GMT 0)
WELCOME to all new members! My there are so many of you!

You have found a great place to come to find support and comfort.
When you have time, do not forget to look over the forum rules, we all
work hard to keep this a safe and warm place for each other.

Peace and courage all!

Trina
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