I eat well, not overweight, look good for my age, however don't exercise nearly as much as before having kids. So having a medical episode with kidney stones was unexpected, disruptive and painful. The only indication of what was to come was over a 4-6 week period prior to October 2021...I began getting an urge to pee (#1) at all times of day & night often with little/no urine (a unique form of torture as sleep is disrupted- I now empathise with grumpy old men who may have prostate issues). So I did the usual thing and consulted Dr Google, read many articles and concluded I had prostate issues. In the right ballpark but wrong organ!
So after almost 2 months of expectantly standing over the toilet to pee with only a dribble of urine to account for, one afternoon I had an uncharacteristic need to go to the toilet for a #2 which was fine but no ability to pee, so minutes after washing my hands intense pain radiated from my right kidney whereupon I began calling out to my partner for help in a weak voice and having to sit/lie on the floor as the pain intensified- a 5mm kidney stone was obstructing urine and had begun moving from my kidney to the ureter towards the bladder. She gave me a painkiller and then helped me to the car for a drive to the emergency only 15 minutes away. The painkiller had no effect and when you're experiencing this level of pain any words of comfort or suggestions from your partner just becomes an annoying distraction, as the pain became the centre of my universe. So upon arrival to the waiting area of the hospital emergency the pain stops about 10 minutes later. Obviously something out of the ordinary so wait around for a doctor, send my partner home as don't know how long I'll be sitting around and consulted Dr Google on kidney problems. 10 hours later I was offered a bed while waiting for the results of a CT scan, ultrasound and blood tests. Staff were good and the doctor had great personable patient skills, but obviously where I live there is an issue with the number of beds available (our lockdowns continuing- no COVID outbreak as yet). Relieved to know what the problem was, I left the hospital still in bare feet to catch a taxi home at 8am.
I resolved to up my fluid intake, however 2 months later a second (2-3mm) kidney stone worked itself from the right kidney to the ureter. Again a pitiful cry for help to my partner and a trip to emergency...this time it felt twice as bad with regards to pain level and duration. Immediately transferred to a bed and treated for the pain- Fentanyl, OxyContin, Neurofen etc which had no effect, however after 1? hour the pain subsided as the stone stopped obstructing urine and/or made its way into the bladder.
Another 2 months later- I'm planning to organise an appointment for an ultrasound soon to find out what the x2 stones in the bladder are doing and see if there are more stones waiting in the wings. Apparently there is some discomfort when passing them out from the bladder via urethra, so I know I haven't passed these 2 stones yet. The urgent feeling to pee has gone, so I expect no more stones in the near future.
In hindsight the problems may have arisen from having an office job- when working outside one tends to drink more, exercising less as helping my partner look after twins, and maybe related to my uptake of supplements in preparation of COVID. Anecdotally- I did consume homemade kombucha that was over-brewed (over-acidic) on the day of the 1st kidney stone which may have 'flushed' it out of the kidney.
Don't just rely on my anecdotes, check out the scientific sources.
Comments