Has anyone had kidney stones and felt really unwell/tired?

[everybodysang]

Woke up in tremendous pain night before last, called 111, ended up in an ambulance to A&E. I am on my fourth lot of antibiotics for a UTI so
assumed it was connected - turns out I have kidney stones; six altogether but one big one on the move causing the pain.

Was given Oramorph and diclofenac in hospital, which was brilliant and helped loads. They prescribed diclofenac to bring home with me but so far I haven't had to use it - I've been sore on and off but paracetamol has done the trick.

But I feel soooo wiped out. I took the day off yesterday as recovering from the whole thing and a bit fuzzy from the drugs; today I thought I'd be able to work a bit, at least, but I got a few things done and had to give up. Fortunately WFH at the moment and even more fortunately it's a quiet-ish couple of days for me at work. But I do have lots to do the rest of this week and I'm so worried about how tired and unwell I feel.

I don't have a temperature or anything so think the UTI has at least finally shifted (they said that in the hospital too though there were leukocytes and blood in my wee, presumably because of the stone?)

I had assumed I would feel ok... has anyone had kidney stones and felt really rubbish? How long did it last?

Oh - have also been given Tamsulosin to take for 2 weeks and wondered if it might be a side effect from that too?

Worst pain in my life - far worse than childbirth. Sounds like you have passed your stone otherwise you would still be in agony

Yes, lve had them twice its very draining. I would recommend using a hot water bottle on your back on side. I used to put it on my back and this helped with the pain.

Its probably the medication making you feel rubbish. Unfortunately until you get them treated you will feel horrible when the pain comes on or when you have a uti.

My kidney stones caused long term damage. I was in hospital for 5 days because of a rare strain of uti while pregnant.

Also currently it is Ramadan ( fasting for Muslims) it is the 3rd year where l have had to stop fasting because l get an infection due to lack of water.

Drink cranberry juice and lots of water. The more you drink and the clearer your wee is the better.

Have you put weight on? Could the stones be contributing to water retention.
This world make you feel poorly.

Worst pain EVER. I suffered bouts of them for ages.
I ended up having an operation to have a stent fitted to remove them.
That was 14 years ago andtouch wood I haven’t had any since. I also started drinking tonnes more water to flush them through, especially if I feel the twinge.

I haven't put on weight but am overweight which I believe might be a risk factor...

The pain yesterday was shocking but today is just quite grumbly with some sharp twinges - I feel like I need to pee ALL the time which is very annoying. They said there were six stones altogether so hoping the big one may have gone?

I just feel so rubbish and I am not sure why. I want to get back to working and feeling chipper!

@1990b

Yes, lve had them twice its very draining. I would recommend using a hot water bottle on your back on side. I used to put it on my back and this helped with the pain.

Its probably the medication making you feel rubbish. Unfortunately until you get them treated you will feel horrible when the pain comes on or when you have a uti.

My kidney stones caused long term damage. I was in hospital for 5 days because of a rare strain of uti while pregnant.

Also currently it is Ramadan ( fasting for Muslims) it is the 3rd year where l have had to stop fasting because l get an infection due to lack of water.

Drink cranberry juice and lots of water. The more you drink and the clearer your wee is the better.

That is interesting (and horrible for you!) - was it the kidney stones causing the UTI? I have had quite a few issues with UTIs over the last few years...

Not me my mum. She was wipped out but had a dull ache she thought was related to an existing back problem.
She had kidney stones before and it was not the same. One of her stones was big enough that it blocked the flow of urine out of the kidney. So no kidney stone pain but a reflux of urine in the kidney. This caused an infection and sepsis. So good to be up on sepsis symptoms.
Luckily she found out in time. I don't mean to be alarmist but they are vague symptoms and you have an existing infection and mentioned a large stone.

I hope everything goes well and you arenfeeling better soon.

The pain from kidney stones is horrendous. You can only really understand it if you've had them.

Yes, OP, to answer your question, after I was hospitalised with one, and off my head on morphine for two days I finally passed the bloody thing. Then it took a good two or three weeks before I felt better - drained, and sore and exhausted all that time.
Rest, drink loads of water and diluted cranberry and lemon barley water, hot water bottle, and more rest.
They wipe you out.
Little buggers.

@Justkeepleft

Not me my mum. She was wipped out but had a dull ache she thought was related to an existing back problem. She had kidney stones before and it was not the same. One of her stones was big enough that it blocked the flow of urine out of the kidney. So no kidney stone pain but a reflux of urine in the kidney. This caused an infection and sepsis. So good to be up on sepsis symptoms. Luckily she found out in time. I don't mean to be alarmist but they are vague symptoms and you have an existing infection and mentioned a large stone.

I hope everything goes well and you arenfeeling better soon.

Your poor mum! My scan did show a little build up of urine behind the stone so am keeping an eye out for issues - I don't have a temperature or any other signs so hoping that might have resolved. But I will keep it in mind. Thank you for sharing that with me.

@SophieB100

The pain from kidney stones is horrendous. You can only really understand it if you've had them. Yes, OP, to answer your question, after I was hospitalised with one, and off my head on morphine for two days I finally passed the bloody thing. Then it took a good two or three weeks before I felt better - drained, and sore and exhausted all that time. Rest, drink loads of water and diluted cranberry and lemon barley water, hot water bottle, and more rest. They wipe you out. Little buggers.

I will get some lemon barley water! I just read that lemon helps. I feel a bit naive, I just thought I would feel better once the horribly painful bit had passed!

The doctor told me that hard water areas can cause kidney stones. So the paradox for me was being told to drink loads of water, to flush them out, but the water itself, could be causing them! So, he said to boil water, cool it in fridge, and squeeze fresh lemons in it. Lemons, apparently, can break up stones. My DS also had a kidney stone and was told the same. His dad and me have had them, and my dad had one years ago and was hospitalised. So, perhaps they do run in families - and we all live in a hard water area.
Lemon Barley water is a good option, if you can't put fresh lemon in your water. The consultant treating my dad many years ago advised this.
How are you OP? Hope you are feeling better.
After I passed mine, I was still in agony for a good two weeks, but this was normal (Dr told me) because the stone had caused bruising.

@SophieB100

The doctor told me that hard water areas can cause kidney stones. So the paradox for me was being told to drink loads of water, to flush them out, but the water itself, could be causing them! So, he said to boil water, cool it in fridge, and squeeze fresh lemons in it. Lemons, apparently, can break up stones. My DS also had a kidney stone and was told the same. His dad and me have had them, and my dad had one years ago and was hospitalised. So, perhaps they do run in families - and we all live in a hard water area. Lemon Barley water is a good option, if you can't put fresh lemon in your water. The consultant treating my dad many years ago advised this. How are you OP? Hope you are feeling better. After I passed mine, I was still in agony for a good two weeks, but this was normal (Dr told me) because the stone had caused bruising.

that is so interesting - we live in a very hard water area. I grew up in Scotland so still a bit flummoxed by the limescale issue! We do filter our water but I'll try that - I've heard lemon is good so have been putting it in water already and have got lemon barley water.

I'm still feeling pretty awful though back at work today (fortunately WFH so can stop every so often and walk around, which helps a bit). I ended up back in hospital at the end of last week and was given antibiotics for another kidney infection - I think they have done the trick as far as the infection goes. I can't believe how tired and sore I am! What a nightmare these are.