Kidney Stones

[gunnsgirl]

Keep hearing horror stories with these. Does everyone spend either a year in pain or living off pain killers? Is hospital policy just to say "drink water and hopefully it will pass through?"

DH in absolute agony with this. Prescribed suppositories, antibiotics, etc but painkillers only effective for a short time. Been to hospital twice, doctor's three times, rang NHS direct - just told the above, hopefully it will pass through.

No one can tell us how long do you wait in agony before you realise it isn't going to pass through. How can you go to work doubled up in pain and knocking back six bottles of water per day in a manual job and take 8 tablets a day.

Anyone any experience of this? What do you do? Sit up A&E and refuse to go home?

[gunnsgirl]

Anyone please?

[Redtractorwontsleep]

Hi, has he had any kind of scan?

[LadySybilLikesSloeGin]

Has he had an x ray or an ultrasound? They need to find out how large the stone/stones are? If they are too large he won't be able to pass them. There are NICE guidelines for renal colic, here cks.nice.org.uk/renal-colic-acute which should say how he's supposed to be treated. How long has he had them for?

[gunnsgirl]

Stone is 5mm. Two scans, last Saturday and Monday, discharged with 'maybe it will pass through'

Been in agony all day, just using painkillers which aren't that effective and driving everyone mad. Next scan date is 10th Feb, no one wants to know. Doctors just prescribed suppository pain killers and antibiotics.

[Pancakeflipper]

I have had renal colic (twice ..super). It was worse than either of my labours.

Only pain relief like morphine helped me the first time.

Then the second time I was given 2 differing pain relief tablets to alternate at a high dosage. But I was pregnant so meds was more tricky. I drank a lot of fluids ( lemon barley water apparently helps to flush the system out - not sure if it does help with kidney stones but it tastes ok) and I cried in pain quite a lot.

He has my sympathies and I hope it goes soon. Is he weeing through a sieve to see if the stones are passing?

Have they scanned him to see if they can shatter the stone to make it pass easier?

Such dignity...

[LadySybilLikesSloeGin]

"Advise the person to seek urgent medical assistance:
If they develop a fever or rigors, or
If the pain worsens, or
If they have abrupt recurrence of severe pain."

Looks like he needs to go back to A&E.

[LadySybilLikesSloeGin]

According to the NICE guidelines he needs admitting so it sounds like an A&E sit in is in order:

"Admit immediately anyone with suspected acute renal colic if:
They are in shock or have fever or signs of systemic infection (which can lead to life-threatening sepsis).
They are at increased risk from loss of renal function (and require emergency imaging and drainage to prevent irreversible loss of renal function):
Solitary or transplanted kidney.
Pre-existing renal impairment.
Bilateral obstructing stones are suspected.
They do not respond to appropriate analgesic and anti-emetic treatment within 1 hour (or sooner, depending on clinical judgement).
They have abrupt recurrence of severe pain despite initial analgesia.
They are dehydrated and cannot take oral fluids due to vomiting — they require intravenous fluids.
There is uncertainty regarding the diagnosis (for example if a leaking abdominal aortic aneurysm cannot be excluded).
Other criteria for hospital admission are:"

[LadySybilLikesSloeGin]

They do not respond to appropriate analgesic and anti-emetic treatment within 1 hour (or sooner, depending on clinical judgement).
They have abrupt recurrence of severe pain despite initial analgesia.

I hope they get him sorted quickly.

[Redtractorwontsleep]

They used to prescribe a tablet called tamsulosin for kidney stones to help pass them.

[HotLipsHoulihan]

Just come through it myself

I had a 12mm kidney stone that first made its presence felt last June. I had ovarian scans, blood tests , a cystoscopy , abdominal scan and finally a kidney CT scan - which revealed the issue.

I had lithotripsy - I've had three sessions so far and have one more to go. I'm ok now that the stone is shattered and in bits and some had passed but for three weeks in December I was in agony

I had a thread going actually in CHat - I was in such pain , repeatedly going to hospital and finally prescribed morphine after renal colic attacks that just went in for hours and hours merging into weeks as I waited for treatment

In the end I was given lithotripsy as an emergency. Can your DH push for this ?

I sympathise. It's very fresh in my mind - long nights of utter wretched pain where I couldn't lie down or sit up or walk about. It was just impossible

My advice - get morphine and get treatment ASAP . And hard though it is to remember - the pain will eventually go

[HotLipsHoulihan]

I also was given tamulisin so he probably needs this. Drink as much as possible. 5 mm stone probably won't pass. It's ever so slightly too big I believe. So it's probably futile in thinking it will. He needs to ask for lithotripsy. I have mine done at the churchill in Oxford - where are you? I wasn't left in agony - I was admitted to hospital as soon as I couldn't handle the pain any longer. I'm amazed your DH is just being left. He will be unable to manage life with this level of pain.

[gunnsgirl]

He can't manage the pain. I thought it was stress at first as his elderly mother is in hospital having undergone surgery. He does have irritable bowel as well.

Thank you dear MN'ers for advice. I'm sorry you've had to go through such. Women are normally far stronger than men having given birth, but this just seems horrendous.

We will be making another trip to A and E. He's fallen asleep at the moment but looking really white. I am loathe to wake him as he's been unable to sleep prior to this, but I will take all this on board. It's not going to pass. He doesn't have medication to dissolve the stone, so I'm going to demand.

Thank you.

[Whatevertheweather]

I had kidney stones last year - your poor husband had my utmost sympathy the pain is indescribable and for me worse than labour. I had 2 stones in the left tube one 13mm and one 8mm. NHS weren't moving particularly quickly, it took 2 trips to A&E for morphine and 2 GP trips to get a referral for a scan. At that point at bright spark at work reminded me we have private medical insurance with work and I self referred to the spire who scanned me 2 days later and advised only way to remove them was surgery under GA because of their size - this was booked for a week later. Procedure itself was straight forward but I had to have a stent in for a month afterwards which was agony and I peed blood for about 10 days after the op. Once stent was out no more pain! That was over a year ago and fingers crossed this far no re-occurrence

Good luck - do keep pushing for a resolution the pain really is hideous

[LadySybilLikesSloeGin]

There isn't much space for the ureter and it's joins to expand so it's not like childbirth, at least the cervix and vagina can do this. Think of it like pushing a tiny pebble through a straw, it's more like that with kidney stones.

Please do pop him to A&E, he needs some proper pain relief and an action plan for the stone.

[Notonaschoolnight]

Oh I'm cringing reading yours Hotlips it takes me back to my 'Boulder' as the doc called it. It got stuck, my kidney was really infected, I had to be hospitalized and a tube inserted into my back to my kidney with a bag on the end to get the infection out then once discharged I had lithotripsy sessions which were a load of fun as well
I agree labour pains are a piece of piss in comparison and both of my births were back to back!
In hindsight I had a kidney stone attack 5 years prior as the symptoms were exactly the same but the damage wasn't as bad so didn't get diagnosed and really I've been expected the next attack for the last few years as they reckon every 5-7 years if you suffer with them I think drinking a lot less alcohol and looking after myself a bit more is helping

[Notonaschoolnight]

Oh god yes I had to have a stent as well I'd forgotten about all of that I think I've tried to blot if from my memory

[HotLipsHoulihan]

I sincerely hope that none of you ever suffer again!

I'm not sure if you can take medicine to dissolve the stone unfortunately OP. The tamulisin will relax the ureter in the hope that the stone will pass but a 5mm one is unlikely to.

I still have small fragments remaining and further treatment on the 24th but am now pain free as its not stuck in my kidney / tube and the renal colic has passed.

Ask for morphine to get him on top of the pain. Tramadol might help a bit. Oh and hot water bottles ( very hot ! ) on the site of the pain and hot baths do help a little.

[HotLipsHoulihan]

I was very keen to avoid a stent as it just sounded awful

[FannyFanakapan]

I had one in each kidney, one 6mm, one 9mm. It runs in our family - my DGF and two of my siblings have all had them. I had lithotripsy x 8 treatments - the stones were particularly resistant. Went for a scan one day (as Id had so many Xrays) and the buggers had gone - the lithotripsy had worked. I had a Steinstrasse at one point, where the "gravel" passes all at once ("steinstrasse" = "stone street" ) and I was in absolute agony. It is worse than labour, because its unrelenting - like the worst part of labour pains for hours on end without respite. I believe it is worse for men because their urethra is far longer than ours...all those extra loops...

If your DH is in this much pain, he should be seen at A&E.