Why kidney pain after stone surgery

Hello, I had a 6.5 mm stone in Januarary, couldn't pass it on my after 2 weeks so I had surgery and a stent put in. (see my posts) The stone had moved and was stuck in ureter near my bladder. The stent was so painful. I had it in about a week. Why do I still have kidney pain at times. The stone is gone, I don't know how long I had it in my kidney though. I am tired of the pain. Just wondering if anyone had any answers for me.

Thanks so much, KayC

KayC,  Judy might be onto something.  If you are still have kidney pain you could have another stone or one developing.  Scans don't always let them see everything.  I went through years of scans showing nothing then when I complained enough they went in and found stones that were hidden.

I think you should go back to the doctor.  You shouldn't have to feel this discomfort if its not a HAVE too. 

Laurie 

Thanks Judy, Laurie and Chris for the replys. I am going for a follow up appt. tomorrow with my urologist. Will keep you all posted...
Kay

That must have been one heck of a lot of water. Good for you. I am glad to hear everything is clear.

Elizabeth

Yay!!! Go Chris! Good job. I know you must be relieved :)! What great news and I hope you get the good news from the urologist as well WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and to top that off I ask for a copy of my stone anaylasis so I could modify my diet and they did not do one. I was like what????? So she said they would send it in. Do they save the stone from surgery???

Another update on me and a note to Kay:

Saw my urologist today and used some tactful replies to his questions ... to avoid getting the ultrasound technician into trouble. The urologist confirmed that I am free of stones and added ominously, "I'll see you again if it recurs." Nice. Friendly gent.

I think I dissolved the stone since I am not aware of it passing. Here's my, un-medical, theory: after comparing all the advice I could find on the net, I determined that my low-carb diet included way too many oxalate-laden foods (contributes to the formation of calcium oxalate stones, if that's the type you have ... most common). Now, depending on which website you alight on, the list of these foods changes/varies but a couple of common things emerged. My personal diet was low in calcium (calcium apparently binds with the oxalates and keeps them in the digestive tract as opposed to allowing them into the urine where they can crystallize and form stones. I had also been eating a great quantity of nuts and drinking black tea -- both high in oxalates.

Another commonality was increasing the acidity of your urine through the use of fruit juices. Some sites recommended orange juice as the best way to do this but today my urologist specifically mentioned it as something to avoid. I silently agreed with that because of my diabetes diet (orange juice is high in sugar). The next best thing seems to be lemon juice (Editor's note: one wacky YouTube video actually suggested drinking 8 to 16 oz. of straight lemon juice a day to dissolve stones. I rejected this because, although it might indeed dissolve stones, it also might dissolve stomach linings or other vital organs?)

My solution (no pun intended) was to drink a mixture of 2 to 4 oz. of lemon juice in a pitcher (2 to 3 quarts) of water per day while cutting back/out the nuts, tea, rhubarb (rhubarb??? .... I almost never ate that anyway) ... and other suspicious, high-oxalate foods just for good measure. Virtually every source of information I encountered recommended drinking 2 to 3 liters (quarts) of water per day so maybe simple water is the answer?

This is by no means scientific but it appears to have worked for me. Who knows what the future holds but I am willing to keep experimenting on me. More water can't hurt, I think.

Any new news on your situation Kay?

I'm not a doctor so I can't recommend what you should do.  I'm just describing what I did.  Maybe it had an effect on my situation.

Re: calcium ... I've read many conflicting things about what foods are good/bad.  There seemed to be a consensus that calcium tablets or supplements are not helpful and could contribute to stone growth.  Apparently, the calcium must be from a natural source (milk, cheese, etc.) before it has benefit.  My urologist talked down vitamin C in the same way -- natural source=YES, tablets=NO.  With my diabetes/low-carb diet, this becomes a challenge since I stay away from milk and juices.  Again, this is all relevant if you have or make calcium oxalate stones.

Yes, conflicting information.  The attending physician at my Emergency event recommended I drink plenty of liquids ... not just water but something with good electrolytes ... like black tea.  A few days later, my GP told me about his favourite web site ( http://www.webmd.com/kidney-stones/understanding-kidney-stones-prevention ) that suggests avoiding black tea.  To further fuel the fire, the Mayo Clinic site ( http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/kidney-stones/DS00282/DSECTION=alternative-medicine ) says black or green tea "could reduce the risk of kidney stones."  On that same page; entitled Alternative Medicine by the way; you will note some information about orange and lemon juice use ('juice use' ).

Googling 'low oxalate diet' will give you many more confusions -- I even found a page that specifically supported vitamin C as the number one way to avoid stone formation.  I filed that one with the wacky YouTube lemon juice drinking guy.

Then there's coffee -- I've read that coffee is a culprit, that it's actually the caffeine that's bad and that it's OK to drink ???

I'm getting a Google headache -- is there a Migraine Forum around here? 

P.S.  No stones on the x-ray? ... Great news

I have been going through the same thing for the past year. After many tests and med changes I finally came to the conclusion that my Crohn's inflammation was causing my kidney pain.  Once I got the inflammation under control the kidney pain subsided. It took a lot of steroids, but now I am only taking Imuran and Asacol.  My docs didn't give me any explanation. But you know Crohn's disease....... once you think you have it all figured out it throws you something else.

Wishing you the best

Elizabeth

KasyC,
Good luck with your new GI. I hope you can get rid of your pain.
I lived with constant pain for about 4 years and then finally gave in and had a bowel resection. It didn't get rid of the Crohn's but the pain doesn't rule my life like it did before. I hate to be on meds and i only take the very minimum possible to get by. I have finally found a good balance. (knock on wood)I hate to take the imuran because of the possible side effects but at least I am off all the steroids.

Elizabeth