My dad's currently in surgery as we speak, trying to blast a 6.8mm stone. He's had many battles with the stones, passing some and having some stick with him for over 10 years. Hopefully it all goes well today.

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Making Triathlon Great Again

Just for giggles, how does the pain from stones compare to a bad tooth ache? reading this thread the pain seems similar to what I have felt with an excruciating tooth ache.


Ron W.

Not comparable. It's (kidney stone) absolutely debilitating. I hope you never have to find out just how painful it can be.

I had a rash of them one year when I wasn't doing the endurance thing so there was no dehydration involved.

A previous poster mentioned creatine, and I can't remember if I was taking creatine during this time but it's possible. I was having a stone every week or two until I stopped drinking gatorade. At the time I was mixing gatorade powder in a pitcher and it was my preferred liquid refreshment.
Even tried an experiment after I'd stopped having stones and had more gatorade...another stone.

Over the last year or two I have had the occassional gatorade, but no problems.

I've also continued to use creatine off and on without problems.
So it could have been a combination of creatine with gatorade or it could have simply been the gatorade formula I was getting at the time. They have sinced revamped their product line and I have no idea if the recent gatorade I've had is the same formula that caused me previous problems.

I've drunk 3 glasses of water just while reading this...very scary.

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Good luck to your dad. Our thoughts are with him.

John

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John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA

Seriously - if you're carrying stones that haven't passed, make sure you have high-powered pain meds within reach at all times. Possible they'll pass easy, but if they don't - it's either strong drugs or you'll be looking for a bullet. Good luck!

Thanks for the well wishes. He had the laser procedure today I think, but still on heavy meds so won't be sure on the pain level till later. Hopefully the doctor blasted that thing like something out of Starwars, haha!

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Making Triathlon Great Again

Finally, a question that I can help with....
Your friendly, neighborhood urologist here.

My "general" advice I give to stone patients:
#1. Drink more fluids. water is good. 1 cup of concentrated lemonade per day is even better. The citrate in lemonade (and in other citrus juices) is a inhibitor of stone formation.
#2. Limit salt intake. The more salt in by diet = more calcium dumped into the urine by the kidneys.
#3. red meat in moderation. The oxalate from protein breakdown in meats can join with the calcium to form the most common stones: calcium oxalate.

Of course, 1 and 2 are difficult for long-course endurance athletes, who tend to walk around dehydrated and also take salt supplements when training.

About 50% of first-time stone formers will form another stone within 5 years. If you have residual stone fragments after passing one or after treatment, I typically recommend surveillance to check that they don't grow to a size that would be unable to pass spontaneously.

In terms of treatment during a stone "attack":
NSAIDS (ibuprofen/naproxen/toradol/etc..) are typically the best for the kidney pain because they help limit blood flow and urine production in the blocked kidney.
Narcotics tend to take the edge off, but come with the trade of nausea, drowsiness, etc.
Flomax (those drugs that help the old guys pee better on TV commercials) can help stones pass through faster. these require a prescription.
Things that mean you need to head to an ER: pain that is uncontrollable, fevers >100, nausea preventing staying hydrated, or anyone with special kidney conditions, a single kidney, bad diabetes or immunosuppression.

If you have more specific questions, hit me up in a DM

Terrific post! Makes me feel like I want to print this and save it somewhere... just in case!

John

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John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA

Thanks for this post. As I write this I'm waiting to see if my stone will pass. I've had two visits to the ER with pain so intense I almost passed out. The last time, two days ago, I threw up about 8 times til there was nothing left. Urologist made me an appointment for next week to go in and take it out if it doesn't come out on its own. I'm really dreading the next few days but want this thing done. As others have said, pain was on the "Kill me, please kill me now" level.

Trifan - you're welcome. I'm lucky, I can talk about stones but I've never had one and I hope it stays that way. Good luck to you from all of us.

John

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John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA

Similar tale as y'all's.

37, M, triathlete/runner. Think of myself as better-hydrated than the average bear, but one night last September what felt like moderate kidney-area cramping woke me in the wee hours. 20 minutes later, the pain had increased such that I thought a honey badger was gnawing on my vital organ.

"To the ER, Coleman!" I exhorted meekly to my girlfriend, and away we went. During the ride while moaning and doubled over drooling on my knee, I asked my gracious driver to stop the car so I could exit, kneel pitifully in the grass and yack stomach contents onto the front lawn of some large house. Standing, I realized it was a local college fraternity, and that they probably have something wired directly into the sprinkler system to deal with this very sort of...outpouring. I fist-pumped skyward, exhaled "Delta Tau Delta!" and collapsed back into the passenger seat. [cue squealing tires]

Long story short, the thing passed on its own after some 18 hours of pain, eventually mitigated by high-powered intravenous pain meds at the hospital. No recurrence...yet.

The whole point of this is really to mention that while I was rocking back and forth on the ER table trying to man past the pain, a nurse entered the room and in the course of her duties said, "You know, last week we had one of those UFC cage-fighters in here with a stone. Absolute pitbull of a guy, and was in so much pain he was crying his eyes out in the lobby."

It's fo' realz, kids.

Passed 2 kidney stones a couple of weeks ago but continued to experience abdominal 'discomfort' and blood in my urine, especially after I ran. The doc thought it could be another stone or a tumour so sent me for CT scan last week and it showed 4 more kidney stones still in there - whew!

Passed another stone Sunday morning just before my swim workout, so just 3 more to go!

The 'discomfort' for me hasn't been as bad as some report, at one point the pain was quite clear and pure - my friends keeping asking if I have a high tolerance level for pain. Not sure how to answer them...I do triathlons...I like going to the dentist...I like a little slap with my tickle...

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