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Kidney Stones - My Experience

Updated on February 9, 2014
The Kidney, where Kidney Stones will form.
The Kidney, where Kidney Stones will form.

Kidney Stones - A Personal Experience

I woke up one morning and I was in a bit of pain and thought it was just a stomach ache and it will pass. As the morning progressed, an hour longer, the pain seemed to be getting worse on the right side of my stomach, I still kept hoping it would pass. Stepping back a bit, the night before I went to the washroom and noticed a pink hue in my urine, this was a bit puzzling; I let it pass as some strange anomaly.

As the morning progressed I seemed to be developing a cold sweat and was starting to feel nauseous. I still continued on, hoping this too would pass. So much for all the hope I had, it was getting worse by the minute. I could not hold back from having to make a trip to the washroom to vomit, I was feeling really bad by this time. I was thinking, bloody hell, what the heck is going on here?

I must say I detest going to the Doctor and had not been in a number of years, at least 8 years to be precise. I hate hospitals and I will do my darnedest to stay away. So, it is safe to assume that I am in a serious amount of pain; at 6:30am I decided that I cannot control this, I must make a trip to emergency. The town where I live has no hospital so I had to be driven to the nearest town which does have a hospital, about a fifteen minute drive away.

Crying from the pain caused by Kidney Stones
Crying from the pain caused by Kidney Stones

Kidney Stone Patient off to Emergency

My spouse of course took me to the emergency room, not really understanding why I was in so much pain and nauseated to such a great extent. We pulled up at the hospital and got in line to see the attending Emergency Doctor. The policy is that the person in the direst need of care will be taken care of first; thankfully I did not have to wait long. Of course they took a urine sample and the results were that there was blood in my urine and that I was also dehydrated. Easy to be dehydrated when you are constantly throwing up I would imagine.

The Doctor told me right away, ‘You have kidney stones’, I thought okay, well it certainly hurts a lot, and can you make it stop? The Doctor gave me a shot of Morphine and another medication to keep me from throwing up; both via needles. The worst part was that I would have to wait for the stone to pass, if it hadn’t passed yet; which it hadn’t. I went home and the drugs basically made me sleep until late afternoon. The Doctor gave me a prescription for Meds; pain and Flomax pills.

2nd Trip to Emergency for Kidney Stone Pain

That evening the pain came back full force, vomiting and all; off we went to the urgent care clinic in the town we live. This is not a hospital and only opens from 8am to 10pm approximately. So vomit bag in hand off we went to this clinic for another urine sample and a check see with the attending Doctor. Well, more drugs and anti-nausea medications were given. They also put me on an I.V. to get some fluids back into my body. At this clinic they also gave me a prescription for anti-nausea meds.

I was given direction to set up an appointment with the local ultra sound clinic so that the Doctors could see what was going on there. Of course I could not call until the next morning to make an appointment, which I did, but I could not get in that same day because I had already drank something other than water and had a cracker to eat. Therefore I had to wait until the next day to get the ultrasound done. No eating and I must drink a liter of water an hour before going for the ultrasound.

Not Feeling Good At All
Not Feeling Good At All

UltraSound to find the Kidney Stone

I woke up the morning of the ultrasound, around 6am in pain again, and it was getting worse by the minute. Once 8am rolled around and the ultrasound clinic was open I called to see if they could get me in right away, but there was no possibility of this I am told. My appointment was for 9:30am and I would have to just wait it out.

I drank probably around 750ml of water, could not drink anymore, it hurt too much to drink and it made me feel very sick. I toughed it out until my 9:30am scheduled appointment. I didn’t really get in at 9:30am though I had to wait around there for a great amount of time. It did not take me long to get to the change room but they tell you to wait in a change cubicle until the ultrasound person is ready to come and get you.

I knew which room I was scheduled for, it showed on a chart on the door of the room, my name was on it. The scheduling person from the front did come and see what the holdup was when she saw me still standing in the change cubicle waiting. Shortly after that I was taken in to start the ultrasound procedure.

I got questioned, did you drink the water? Yes I drank the water, around 750ml at the appointed time. She said, there is no water in your bladder I can’t see anything without the water. I did drink the water, what else do you want me to do I’m thinking, I only want her to hurry up, I need to go back to the clinic, I feel very sick again.

It was a horrendously painful experience; she searched around for approximately 45 minutes and did not find the Kidney Stone. She then said she was going to go and see if the Doctor wanted to come and see, but she doubted he would come, she would be back as soon as possible she tells me.

The Doctor did come back with her and found the kidney stone in about 2 minutes; the stone was 6.7mm and 1.4cm from the bladder, on the right side. I thought great, now this is done, can I go? I must go back to the clinic, this is absolutely horrible. The Doctor said, ‘It’s no wonder you’re in so much pain.’ He let me go and I practically ran out of there and headed back to the clinic.

3rd Trip to Emergency

At the clinic I was given more pain medication and fluids through an I.V. The urge to urinate was really strong now and the pain is excruciating, things cannot go fast enough for me. Had to pee every couple of minutes even though the urine tests say I am seriously dehydrated, I still must urinate a lot.

Once the meds kicked in I was feeling a lot better, I can’t say for sure but at this time, 3 weeks later, it is safe to say that the stone at least passed into the bladder; no more unbearable pain. I never did catch the stone, I think it may have passed at the clinic; I went to the washroom after they gave me all the fluids and forgot to use the strainer, I did see fragments of something but the Doctor said that what I had found was not a kidney stone.

Through this experience all I can say is that I am even less of a fan for going to any hospital or clinic. It is my hope to not have to go through this again, praying this is my first and last experience with Kidney Stones.

Steps I am taking so that I can hopefully Avoid Future Kidney Stones

I have went on the kidney stones and lemon juice ritual, according to studies done over a period of four years, those in the study (12 people) did not require medical intervention. Find out a bit more on lemonade therapy here. I drink my lemon juice daily, I sweeten mine with a bit of artificial sweetener (Splenda) to make it a bit easier to handle. What I do and hope it's enough;

  • First thing in the day I measure out approx an ounce and a half of lemon juice, add a bit of water and some artificial sweetener and gulp it down.
  • Others say - the treatment they used when experiencing a Kidney Stone is to take approx 20 fresh lemons (will make around a quart) and squeeze them all out and drink the juice. Well I just buy real unsweetened lemon juice concentrate and drink that instead (I do dilute the concentrated lemon juice a bit). The actual home squeezed lemons do taste better than the real lemon juice; the home squeezed lemons seem to hold a bit of sweetness to the taste.
  • I follow up during the day with perhaps a half oz of lemon juice in my water glass, generally 2 or 3 more servings like this per day.
  • I have drank the olive oil, not so yummy but if you quickly chase it with straight lemon juice it's not so bad; but blah anyway. I would only drink the olive oil if I feel a similar pain in one of my sides similar to what I have already been through. Olive Oil as far as I see is not a preventive measure, it is a tube lubricating measure when you are experiencing the actual passing of a Kidney Stone.
  • Nov 29, 2012 update - I continue with the lemon juice therapy, very seldom do I use any sweetener and I have not as of yet had a kidney stone recurrence. On the plus side nor have I had a serious case of hemorrhoid inflammation. I make sure I drink plenty of water along with the lemon juice mixtures. I must stress that you need to drink plenty of water people, it truly does help! Try to cut out the sugars as much as you can, I do not drink soda pop at all and as for coffee I honestly drink about a half a cup a day.

As to the drinking of olive oil if you are experiencing a Kidney Stone; take a shot and chase it with a shot of lemon juice, repeat one more time; they say the oil will lubricate the tubes to help the stone slide out; providing the stone is small enough to make it through the tubes - Lemon Juice will help to break down the Kidney Stone. But, Please, these are only my thoughts and you need to check with your Doctor when your body is screaming out at you!

Just yesterday I watched a video on youtube where a young man mixed two ounces of olive oil mixed with 2 ounces of lemon juice. Oh yuck that would be really hard to drink I think. I would recommend taking it as shots, oil first and chase with the lemon juice, much easier to do; rather than drinking 4 ounces of a really oily substance.

Lemon Juice and Olive Oil Treatment

Lemon Juice Drinking September 2012 Update

This is in regards to the drinking of lemon juice. I am still of course drinking the lemon juice but I have taken to drinking fresh lemon juice more often. I find that fresh lemon juice does not need any sweetening to make it easier to drink, I actually quite like the fresh squeezed flavor. No, I do not drink it straight, I do dilute it with water. I do still use the concentrated lemon juice as well, when I am in a rush or I am away from home, and the concentrated version I will sweeten a bit with 3 or 4 drops of Stevia.

I was squeezing the fresh lemon by hand and I felt that was a waste of money, losing too much of the lemon. Decided to take a trip to the store and see if I could get a manual juicer thingy, but unfortunately I did not find a manual one. So I figured well I'll take a look and see what they have in the electronic juicer area, found what looked like a good one for $28. (I bought the Salton stainless steel juicer at Walmart for $28) I have since put it to use and have already made myself one lemon drink. All worked fine, better than I thought it would for sure. The whole inside of the lemon is pulverized and made into juice. Easy to clean up and does not take up a whole bunch of space.

So with that you get fresh squeezed juice, juice that I no longer sweeten, not even with Stevia.

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