• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Drink your Water. AKA Fuck Kidney Stones

Status
Not open for further replies.
My husband had to have one surgically removed. He had a birth defect where a pocket had formed on his urethra, and the stone had formed inside it. It was 25mm, basically the size of a quarter. The doctor took a picture of it for a medical journal lol

I'm glad he didn't have to pass that thing, I don't think it would have been possible.

That sounds horrifying. Also no that wasn't gonna come out on its own, they told the biggest you can reasonably hope to pass is about 8mm.
 
I drink about 16+ 8oz cups of water a day. I hope that's enough.

Cuz yes, fuck kidney stones (which I've never had, but I've heard stories...)
 

DrewM1788

Member
Passing it through the urethra is actually the easy part. It's the passing from the kidney to the bladder through the ureter that is the excruciating part. The ureter is less than a mm in diameter if I remember correctly.

I had a medium sized kidney stone (4-5 mm) and like everyone else here that also experienced this, it was the worst day of my life thus far.

The most upsetting part of it all is that I went through the entire thing without one pain killer. I spent 4 hours in the hospital waiting room before they finally took me back and by that point it was already in my bladder. I pride myself on being able to take pain without complaining and I honestly think I did pretty well. What actually made my eyes well with tears was the pure frustration of the meds being right around the corner, but me unable to have them.

It also took me over a month to piss the thing out. It was so large that it just stayed in the bladder for a while. It was getting to the point where I thought the urologist would have to go up my urethra with little claws to snag the thing...Thank god that didn't happen. The sucker shot out like a bullet one day.
 

Sakura

Member
Thinking about it, I may have had a kidney stone (though perhaps not large). Last summer I had super intense pain in my lower back suddenly, and I had no idea what to do. I think I was like, lying naked on the shower floor by the time the pain subsided enough.
I've read the urethra is wider than the ureter(?) so the painful part is not actually when you pee it out but when it passes from the kidney to where ever else or something like that.
 
Passing it through the urethra is actually the easy part. It's the passing from the kidney to the bladder through the ureter that is the excruciating part. The ureter is less than a mm in diameter if I remember correctly.

I had a medium sized kidney stone (4-5 mm) and like everyone else here that also experienced this, it was the worst day of my life thus far.

The most upsetting part of it all is that I went through the entire thing without one pain killer. I spent 4 hours in the hospital waiting room before they finally took me back and by that point it was already in my bladder. I pride myself on being able to take pain without complaining and I honestly think I did pretty well. What actually made my eyes well with tears was the pure frustration of the meds being right around the corner, but me unable to have them.

It also took me over a month to piss the thing out. It was so large that it just stayed in the bladder for a while. It was getting to the point where I thought the urologist would have to go up my urethra with little claws to snag the thing...Thank god that didn't happen. The sucker shot out like a bullet one day.

In my experience yes, the last mile is the easy part. The last stone I had I didn't even notice coming out at the end, but I sure as shit felt it on the way to the bladder. Also I agree about the painkillers, I'm the type of person who tries to only take aspirin, Motrin, only when I need it. However when you have a kidney stone you just want something, anything to make the pain go away. Sitting on the ground in excruciating pain dry heaving/vomiting is the worst. We need to find away to infect ISIS with kidney stones.
 

AlexBasch

Member
Last time I heard about those is that they can appear at any time, no matter how much water you drink.

I still drink my 2L daily, but damn. :/
 

styl3s

Member
I am baffled as to how i haven't had Kidney Stones since the better part of 20 years of my life was just drinking soda. I never even started drinking glasses/bottles of water till like 5 years ago and i still drink more coke then i should. Granted, i did cut out the sugar cokes like 2-3 years ago.

Still. My dad, mom and both sisters got them. Are they something you have to piss out? I remember my dad getting them back in the late 90s and i could hear him downstairs as he was yelling and cussing.
 

kingwingin

Member
I don't think I've had more than 3 glasses of water in the 28 years I've been alive. Nothing but coke and coffee and never had a kidney stone, I like to think I'm immune.
 

AlexBasch

Member
2-4 cans of coke, everyday?

And here I am panicking over diabetes for having a glass with my lunch and maybe a small sip at dinner.
 

Tesseract

Banned
i had one, it hurt but tbh my everyday pain is at or around that level, sometimes worse.

don't drink soda, tea, milk

tea is by far the worst culprit, stay away
 

inner-G

Banned
it's mostly water so i think we're good
NV8pkfj.jpg
Coke is mostly water too...
 
My ex had some kind of condition where she would get them routinely every three months or so. Can't imagine anyone could ever get used to that.
 

DrewM1788

Member
wait, passing a kidney stone is more painful than child birth? Really?

When I went through passing a kidney stone, I had multiple women that went through both child birth and kidney stones tell me that kidney stones were worse. Out of the 4, none of them said child birth was worse. So there ya go.
 

Darksol

Member
I remember watching The Green Mile many years ago. Those bathroom scenes encouraged me to become a massive water and tea drinker. If I somehow manage to ever get a stone, I will take every drug under the sun to dull the pain as much as possible.
 

DrewM1788

Member
I remember watching The Green Mile many years ago. Those bathroom scenes encouraged me to become a massive water and tea drinker. If I somehow manage to ever get a stone, I will take every drug under the sun to dull the pain as much as possible.

Wasn't that just a UTI in The Green Mile? Also bad, but not kidney stones.
 

Tesseract

Banned
I remember watching The Green Mile many years ago. Those bathroom scenes encouraged me to become a massive water and tea drinker. If I somehow manage to ever get a stone, I will take every drug under the sun to dull the pain as much as possible.

that was a bladder infection, or some uti ;0

and tea is the easiest way to get stones, lol
 

sensui-tomo

Member
I remember watching The Green Mile many years ago. Those bathroom scenes encouraged me to become a massive water and tea drinker. If I somehow manage to ever get a stone, I will take every drug under the sun to dull the pain as much as possible.

I took vicadin( not sure of the spelling but pronounciation is VYKE uh DIN) and that did nothing for the side/back/ non urethra pain.
 

Darksol

Member
that was a bladder infection, or some uti ;0

and tea is the easiest way to get stones, lol

So it was, so it was.

Tea? Really? Then I'm fucked.

More random info off the net:

"Anyone may develop a kidney stone, but people with certain diseases and conditions (see below) or those who are taking certain medications are more susceptible to their development. Urinary tract stones are more common in men than in women. Most urinary stones develop in people 20-49 years of age, and those who are prone to multiple attacks of kidney stones usually develop their first stones during the second or third decade of life. People who have already had more than one kidney stone are prone to developing further stones.

In residents of industrialized countries, kidney stones are more common than stones in the bladder. The opposite is true for residents of developing areas of the world, where bladder stones are the most common. This difference is believed to be related to dietary factors. People who live in the southern or southwestern regions of the U.S. have a higher rate of kidney stone formation than those living in other areas. Over the last few decades, the percentage of people with kidney stones in the U.S. has been increasing, most likely related to the obesity epidemic.

A family history of kidney stones is also a risk factor for developing kidney stones. Kidney stones are more common in Asians and Caucasians than in Native Americans, Africans, or African Americans."

Harvard also adds:

"Stone-forming foods: Beets, chocolate, spinach, rhubarb, tea, and most nuts are rich in oxalate, and colas are rich in phosphate, both of which can contribute to kidney stones. "

I'm doomed. Dooooooomed.
 

Tesseract

Banned
so long as your pee is usually clear and you don't work in the sun all day, you shouldn't worry much about getting stones.
 
One of my best friends seems to get Kidney Stones every year or two. He drinks water all the time and doesn't really do pop/soda. Feel awful for him, but maybe it's just something hereditary for him.
 

Firehead

Member
Ever since 2013, I've been getting kidney stones non-stop.
All started with a sharp back pain when we were walking through NYC... I just assumed it was from walking so much. The next day, I woke up feeling like I'm being stabbed in the back. Never had a single kidney stone in my life, up 'til that point, yet I immediately assumed it was a stone.

Went to the ER, they did a CT scan and confirmed that it was stone; gave me some darvocets and sent me on my way. Ended up passing the goddamned thing the next night.

Since then, I've been blessed with that experience every few months. I fucking hate them.

Apparently it'd probably hereditary? Both sides of my family got kidney stones non-stop and had countless surgeries for them.
Have only had surgery to remove stones too large to pass twice... I'm just hoping my body will take a break from stone making for a long while now.

And I do carry a water bottle with me, everywhere I go. My body's just a jerk. -_-

Good luck, OP. Hope this is the last of them for ya.
it's mostly water so i think we're good
NV8pkfj.jpg

I'm fairly certain caffeine in general can aid in the creation of kidney stones. It's a diuretic, so you're losing fluids faster and thus dehydrating you. If you drink any sort of caffeine, be sure to increase your water intake even more.
Not to mention, coffee contains oxalate... which can help create calcium oxalate stones?
 
Gave up soda 14 years ago and I drink ~10oz of water a day. I'll probably get hit by a bus for my efforts. :)

You heavy soda/no water guys give me the shivers, though. Just imagine the pain you could (possibly) be avoiding.


My husband had to have one surgically removed. He had a birth defect where a pocket had formed on his urethra, and the stone had formed inside it. It was 25mm, basically the size of a quarter. The doctor took a picture of it for a medical journal lol

I'm glad he didn't have to pass that thing, I don't think it would have been possible.

The pair of you are veritable medical wonders. *_*
 

jfoul

Member
Yeah, stones are horrible. I only drink water and tea, but I got one about five years ago. I started using a juicer, and used too much fresh lemon in my drinks. Lemon is good, but make sure you start out with low amounts.

My wife put an app on my phone that reminds me to drink water, with a drink target. Right now I'm at 116.4 oz of water a day.
 
When I went through passing a kidney stone, I had multiple women that went through both child birth and kidney stones tell me that kidney stones were worse. Out of the 4, none of them said child birth was worse. So there ya go.

One woke me up out of a completely blacked out/passed out drunkfest. I woke up thinking I had just gotten an STD or something. An hour later I'm writhing on the floor of an emergency room and that's not like me, I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. Worst couple days of my life, without a doubt.

An IV full of Dilaudid was like Jesus.

Sent me home after some testing and the pain lessened a little and I spent the next few days feeling like I had to piss every, ohhh about 3 minutes. At one point I just laid on the bathroom floor because it was seriously driving me insane getting up to go every few minutes, getting there and maybe a dribble of piss would come out if I was lucky.

Never again I hope.
 

Ambient80

Member
wait, passing a kidney stone is more painful than child birth? Really?

According to patients I have talked to? Yes.

And, pain control isn't always that effective. It's a different type of pain.

Somatic Pain: "Hey, something is hurt, you should fix that."
Visceral Pain: "Hey, an organ is fucked/getting fucked, here's some pain like you've never imagined to make sure you're aware."
 
Oddly enough,they say the smaller stones hurt more than the bigger ones, but you can clear them faster. I think my last stone was 2mm, and it hurt like hell. 10 mg of IV morphine barely touched the pain, and I'm sitting there, still puking my guts out cause the pain is so bad. Only got relief from IV Toradol, which made things bearable. Took about 12 hours to pass.

That was scary as hell to read! Are you yelling or screaming in agony throughout?!
 
Oh yeah I unfortunately passed a stone made up of sodium about 2 years ago. Woke up with sever pain in my abdomen and lower back and didn't know why . Went to urgent care and threw up because of the pain and was then transported to the hospital only for the doctor to accuse me of being a pill seeker and discharging me. Had to go back to the hospital the next day where they finally figured out it was a stone. It really opened my eyes at how shitty I was eating.
 
Oh yeah I unfortunately passed a stone made up of sodium about 2 years ago. Woke up with sever pain in my abdomen and lower back and didn't know why . Went to urgent care and threw up because of the pain and was then transported to the hospital only for the doctor to accuse me of being a pill seeker and discharging me. Had to go back to the hospital the next day where they finally figured out it was a stone. It really opened my eyes at how shitty I was eating.

God that sounds awful. Don't know how i would of reacted if the doctor just told me to leave.
 
That was scary as hell to read! Are you yelling or screaming in agony throughout?!

Once you get the pain reliever that works best for you, it's bearable. If I had to go through all 12 hours with pain as bad as it was before the Toradol, I would seriously consider throwing myself out of a window. It's bad enough to make you reconsider your life choices.
 

Drifters

Junior Member
Oh yeah I unfortunately passed a stone made up of sodium about 2 years ago. Woke up with sever pain in my abdomen and lower back and didn't know why . Went to urgent care and threw up because of the pain and was then transported to the hospital only for the doctor to accuse me of being a pill seeker and discharging me. Had to go back to the hospital the next day where they finally figured out it was a stone. It really opened my eyes at how shitty I was eating.

This is good fodder for a friend of mine who (I shit you not...) eats take out 3 squares a day. I keep telling him (as he is gaining a lot of weight...) dude... stop.
 

CMDBob

Member
Had a small one myself not long back. Woke up one morning in searing, BURNING agony. Get to A&E, they say it's a small kidney stone, gave me an ibuprofen... er, suppository for the pain. An hour of relaxing, painless sleep later, it seemed to have passed into my bladder, after a few x-rays and a CT scan determined that. They still kept me in overnight, though.

(And getting discharged the day after was a whole 'nother story. Suffice it to say, left hand didn't know what the right was doing...)

And yeah, I can believe that it's worse than childbirth...
 

Joni

Member
Both my parents have had kidney stones, but I drink three liters of water each day. I think I'll be safe.
 
I had a few. What really helped me the last time was jumping. I had quite severe pain, but after a few jumps the pain was suddenly gone. Best feeling ever. But I suppose this only helps at the start, when the pain is in the kidney area.
 

Spinluck

Member
I feel bad for laughing at some of the post in here.

Not sure if you guys intended for some of them to be humorous, but the thought of a rock coming out of your dick and living to tell the story is funny to me. I wish this on no one.

I drink a fuck ton of water and hope to avoid this.
 
OP, I literally feel your pain. I went in to the hospital with my first one last Saturday.

Of course, I had no idea that the pain was due to kidney stone. I first thought my appendix burst, then I realized that it was the wrong side. CT scan at the hospital revealed a 5mm stone in my left kidney trying to get out. It's still in there but they just released me with a hydrocodone and Flomax Rx and said man the fuck up and good luck.

It's like waiting for a day long kick in the nuts that you know is coming you just don't know when...
 
OP, I literally feel your pain. I went in to the hospital with my first one last Saturday.

Of course, I had no idea that the pain was due to kidney stone. I first thought my appendix burst, then I realized that it was the wrong side. CT scan at the hospital revealed a 5mm stone in my left kidney trying to get out. It's still in there but they just released me with a hydrocodone and Flomax Rx and said man the fuck up and good luck.

It's like waiting for a day long kick in the nuts that you know is coming you just don't know when...

My first one was on the "right" side har har and I thought the same thing at first as well.

They also checked this time to make sure i didn't have a hernia, so they wanted to take a look at my testicles, first time I ever had a doctor do that so you might think it would be a little embarrassing, but when you have a kidney stone you just don't give a fuck. Hell I would have walked across the waiting room with nothing on if it had made the pain stop.
 

Maengun1

Member
I'm straight up addicted to diet coke. 2-3 cans a day.

;_;


I drink like 5-ish cans of diet soda a day. On average, probably. I also drink a lot of water though. I drink a lot in general.

Lots of salt in my diet as well.

No stones yet...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom