Emergency Room Visit for Kidney Stone Situation, Now What?
March 28th, 2018Warning: Nothing that appears on Cryptogon should be viewed as medical advice.
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Update: Thanks to everyone who wrote in with their experiences and information!
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At around 2am last night, I experienced a sudden onset of severe pain between my right side and lower back and down into my groin. The pain quickly grew in intensity. I knew that whatever was happening, I was in trouble. I drove myself to the hospital. (In case you’re wondering, paramedics would take 30 to 45 minutes to reach us—best case.)
Hospital staff tried to give me oral pain meds, but I puked them up within a couple of minutes. And I kept puking, shaking and wimpering for them to do something.
I thought that I was going to die.
I was passing a kidney stone.
Wikipedia describes the pain like this:
The hallmark of a stone that obstructs the ureter or renal pelvis is excruciating, intermittent pain that radiates from the flank to the groin or to the inner thigh. This pain, known as renal colic, is often described as one of the strongest pain sensations known.
Yep.
I was muttering incoherently and I remember my pleas going quieter. I think I was blacking out. There was no doctor in the hospital, only a nurse who was in phone contact with a doctor. I heard the nurse say on the phone, “His pain is 10 out of 10.”
The nurse put in an IV line and started injecting stuff into me. I lost track of time. Eventually, she asked me how I was feeling, and I think I said something like, “I’m fucked. It’s game over. Whatever you gave me isn’t working.”
Back on the phone with the doctor.
“He’s still 8 out of 10 at least.”
I can then remember her hooking me up to a bottle of clear liquid. I don’t know what that stuff was, but a half hour later, I had no pain. She asked what my pain level was and I had no pain at all.
Then I fell asleep.
Hours later, the doctor who was calling the shots on the phone was standing beside my bed. She told me about kidney stones and pretty much said that I need to drink a lot more water.
She prescribed two drugs for me to take that she said would, “Help things settle down in the days ahead.”
I was in such a terrified, zonked out state that I said, “Ok, I’ll do anything you say to do.”
The drugs were Doxazosin and Diclofenac.
The label on the Doxazosin says to stop taking it if dizziness occurs. Fair enough. Then I typed it into Google and this is my favorite potential side effect:
“Rarely, males may have a painful or prolonged erection lasting 4 or more hours. If this occurs, stop using this drug and get medical help right away, or permanent problems could occur.”
Wow. That’s just great.
Then there’s this on Diclofenac:
“This medicine may cause life-threatening heart or circulation problems such as heart attack or stroke, especially if you use it long term. Do not use diclofenac just before or after heart bypass surgery (coronary artery bypass graft, or CABG).
Get emergency medical help if you have chest pain, weakness, shortness of breath, slurred speech, or problems with vision or balance.
This medicine may also cause serious effects on the stomach or intestines, including bleeding or perforation (forming of a hole). These conditions can be fatal and can occur without warning while you are taking diclofenac, especially in older adults.”
My question to doctors and people who have gone through this kidney stone situation out there in Cryptogon-land is this:
Do the potential benefits of taking these dangerous drugs outweigh the risks???
Hi Kevin, as you know drugs will only mask symptoms and given the results of your search I wouldn’t want the drugs – perhaps a visit to a naturopath and a diet change need to be considered. Anyway, check out greenmedinfo – it really is invaluable – http://www.greenmedinfo.com/disease/kidney-stones
There is a non-pharma solution. A traditional plant from the South American pharmacopia is known as “chanca piedra”, or “stone breaker”. One can buy the raw leaf and brew a highly effective grassy tea, or purchase concentrated tinctures. I “enjoyed” a similar experience a few years back. A healthy dollop of raw honey and a drop of orange oil in the tea renders it better than palatable — and I haven’t had another one since. Honestly, I’m mildly surprised you’re not already aware of this vector — but no matter. Here’s wishing you less pain and more healing, w/o all the side effects the allopaths pharma products portray as “curative”.
A couple cups of stomach-easing tea daily, or pills w/heinous “Nebenwirkungen”…?
The wife and I waded into the realm of fasting and “cleanses” soon after leaving L.A. for the farm, and came by our awareness of Chanca Piedra during that particular learning curve.
The “Pasteur vs. Bechamps” conflict in the 19th C. saw the rise of Pasteur’s “germ theory” against Bechamps’ “milieu theory”. This is the scientific base of the whole concept of managing acid/alkaline balance via nutrition and old-school herbology, which was essentially pre-industrial pharmacology.
Ironically, Pasteur came around to Bechamps’ view at the end of his life, but this small truth flies in the face of contemporary culture’s germophobic obsession with anti-bacterial hand goo, et al.
Think of it as the “War on Germs”…
Yes, I came across chanca piedra after I got home from the hospital and starting looking for alternatives. I ordered some tincture and capsules from iHerb already. I have no idea if it works or not, but at least there are no bowel perforation or zombie erection warnings on it!
I forgot. I also got some chanca piedra loose leaf tea.
Found this:
https://www.renalandurologynews.com/kidney-stones/doxazosin-effective-for-clearing-ureteral-stones/article/166937/
Whoa! Brutal. I’ve heard horror stories when a kid, and yours matches. Apple cider vinegar is the natural cure I know of. The logic was always compelling – as Miraculix points out, it’s the acid/alkaline…
Dr. Jarvis wrote a book called Vermont Folk Medicine in 1965. He was a general doctor and veterinarian (too cool). His studies are fascinating. Literally anything I’ve ever read about apple cider vinegar over the years traces back to that one book.
But I’ve never had stones, so I can’t speak to it as a cure, post attack. I tend to consume a lot of vinegar myself. A shot of organic apple cider vinegar chased by a small V8 is kind of a daily routine. Over sixty, so maybe that helped to avoid – no way to know.
You got laugh though, when you’re dying you’re gonna backhand that god damn tea and vinegar. I’m fucked. Game over. Hit me again barkeep!
gm fucked. Game over. Hit me again barkeeponna backhand that god damned tea and vinegar. I’
Ha, extra words, needs edit.
Dale’s gone and nailed the one point I left out of my mention of Chanca Piedra. The “sour” in Anita’s oil & vinegar salad dressings? Apple cider vinegar. There are usually at least two bottles in various states of empty here in the house at all times. Both of these nutritional vectors lean in the right direction, and neither carry an encyclopedic list of “side effects”. Unless you count “no kidney stones” and some other useful health benefits as a side effect… =)
Dude, I would start chugging lemonade if I were you. Lemon juice is a powerful anti-oxalate.
Many, many people have emailed me.
The most popular opinions are:
1) Vinegar
2) Lemons
3) Chanca Piedra
4) Other, dietary/supplement advice
5) Take the dangerous drugs and hope I don’t need surgery
On advice of a close friend who’s husband has been hospitalized five times for this, I’m taking Chanca Piedra, Tart Cherry and sodium bicarbonate tablets, which she managed to send to me here in NZ already. This solved it for her husband, whereas the advice of “drink more water” from his urologist just kept landing him in the emergency room.
She also said that I need to try to capture the stone to confirm the type of stone, which I’m doing.
I have also cut down on red meat and stopped drinking alcohol completely until I can figure this out a bit more.
I am drinking as much water as I can tolerate. Having to urinate all the time is already getting old, but it sure as hell beats what happened to me the other night!
Thanks again to everyone who has offered information on this!
Forgot to mention: Vinegar. I have a frightening looking apple cider vinegar with a “live” mother.
I was first told that I should be taking vinegar in 1993 by my chiropractor. Unfortunately, I only ever did it sporadically.
My deepest sympathy. I’ve been through them MANY times before. I have a strange kidney ailment that turns them into a veritable slot machine. Been under the knife a few times for this. Your cause may be different, but I think it is very important to ensure you know what type of kidney stone you have (calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, uric, etc.). Once you know that you can then change your diet/lifestyle accordingly. Salt can be a big issue, so if you are a salt user you might consider cutting it out of your diet. Be careful of quack treatments. These things are dangerous beyond the pain. If a large one blocks your kidney you are looking at a serious issue (like kidney infection or sepsis). Most importantly, if you feel that sort of pain again, do NOT try to ride it out on your own. Get to a doctor/hospital and have them ensure there is no blockage. Depending on the cause, a simple diet change may do the trick. Best of luck.
Acidity in a solution is the ratio of H3O+ to HO-. Ions have a propensity to retain or repulse protons (H+, making H3O+ with H2O) and hydroxide ions (HO-) according to their size, since electrons on the most external layers have more area to cover, making their ‘presence’ or ‘absence’ less certain in any one place. Or at least this sort of makes sense to me.