Ok, I thought I was a pretty tough guy, but yesterday I met my match. I was home for lunch when it felt like someone stabbed me in the lower right of my back with a butcher knife. The pain came on so quickly and was so intense that I could barely move. Thankfully I had my cell phone on my belt and was able to call my wife to take me to the ER. They rushed me in and put in an IV and gave me morphine and some other pain meds. After 4 x-rays and a CAT scan, they said that the stone was out of my kidney on it's way out. I am home today drinking as many fluids as I possibly can to try to get this thing out. I do have some pain meds to try to ease my still tender kidney. The nurses at the ER said that this is the closest a man can come to the pain of childbirth, if that is true - all you mom's have my deepest respect!

OUCH is right--you have my sympathy. I had a kidney stone a couple of years ago. I also have experienced childbirth and I definitely believe the kidney stone was worse.

Get better soon! Tough guy!

What causes that? Is it a sign for anything? My brother was just diagnosed with this and I am worried for him.

What is a kidney stone?

A kidney stone is a hard mass developed from crystals that separate from the urine and build up on the inner surfaces of the kidney. Normally, urine contains chemicals that prevent the crystals from forming. These inhibitors do not seem to work for everyone, however, so some people form stones. If the crystals remain tiny enough, they will travel through the urinary tract and pass out of the body in the urine without being noticed.

Kidney stones may contain various combinations of chemicals. The most common type of stone contains calcium in combination with either oxalate or phosphate. These chemicals are part of a person's normal diet and make up important parts of the body, such as bones and muscles.

A less common type of stone is caused by infection in the urinary tract. This type of stone is called a struvite or infection stone. A bit less common is the uric acid stone. Cystine stones are rare.

Kidney stones in kidney, ureter, and bladder

Urolithiasis is the medical term used to describe stones occurring in the urinary tract. Other frequently used terms are urinary tract stone disease and nephrolithiasis. Doctors also use terms that describe the location of the stone in the urinary tract. For example, a ureteral stone (or ureterolithiasis) is a kidney stone found in the ureter. To keep things simple, however, the term "kidney stones" is used throughout this fact sheet.

Gallstones and kidney stones are not related. They form in different areas of the body. If you have a gallstone, you are not necessarily more likely to develop kidney stones.

Here's the link

Take care Thomasj and keep drinking those fluids. My son had a kidney stone when he was stationed in Guam, just a week after my daughter-in-law gave birth to our grandson. The doctors told him that now he could understand what she had just been through!

p.s. I love your tagline.

The first bad one I had was when I was speaking in Boston. Try having one a thousand miles from home. I have had one each year for the last 4 or 5 years now, and each one gets worse. But ain't the morphine great!

In some cases a change in diet will resolve the problem. Mine seems to be calcium (very common) and I am doing some tests, this week in fact, that may reveal the need for regular medication to stop these from building.

The last one took more than two weeks to pass. Usually it was just a couple of days. Drink, drink, drink.

A friend of mine said she had babies and a kidney stone. She said the babies were easier.

Two stones ago I got to the ER and walked in, bent backwards with my hand on my side, sweating, looked like crap and was ready to hurl, again, and the nurse looked at me and smiled, "kidney stone?", I gave her my card and headed for the bathroom for some immediate business. And I still remember later them telling me they had more pain killers than I had pain. I tested them all night.

You have my sympathy.

ThomasJ...I watched my husband go through this once each year for the past two years and it was really tough. The first time was the worst on him mentally because he didn't know what was happening, but now he calls me and tells me to meet him at the ER.

But once he gets his morphine drip all is well again! (For both of us!) What kills me is when we walk into the ER and he is puking and wallowing around in pain and they don't even look his way twice. That is what makes me mad. If a woman came in here in labor you know that they would get scooted right to the front of the line....

Stay away from pop. Dr Pepper is the worst. That is what my doctor told me. Personaly the stones hurt worst than childbirth. But it does give the men and idea what we go through.

Wow! Thanks for the all the info! Thomas - you have my sympathy and, as said before DRINK, DRINK, DRINK. Probably have to stay away from the good stuff though like beer, whiskey, etc. (Just kidding). Hang in there!

Dig, I too stay away from sodas except for an occasional Diet Coke. But, while not medically validated, men in the South have more stones then men in the North. Tea is consumed more in the South than in the North. Some researchers were trying to put these together. I never heard if this was done, but it was a theory.

Still here, Still waiting....

I have been reading about stones and I can't figure this out. I do not eat or drink dairy products at all - maybe 1 ice cream cone a month at the most. I don't take antacids, and I do not drink soda at all. I think I have ruled out just about every dietary possibility. My mother had stones a few years ago and had to have surgery to repair the damage they did. Hopefully this will be my first and last.

I can relate to the poster who said about the people at the ER desk.... I was drenched in sweat, my face twisted in pain and moaning - they just left me stand there and were trying to get my insurance info. I handed my wallet to my wife and jumped into the next wheelchair that came along.

Andy you are right, morphine is a wonderful thing when you are in that much pain. I was hurting so bad I never even felt the needle when the IV went in or they drew my blood.

Waiting now for a call from the urologist, hoping he can get me in today.......

Thomas, this sounds perfectly dreadful. I'm sorry you're going through such an ordeal. We'll all keep our fingers crossed this passes quickly and you never have to endure it again.

Thomas,
I don't want to burst your bubble here, but my impression from my husbands doctors is once you get them they will keep coming back. The good thing is that the cat scans were able to tell us how many my husband currently had so we knew to expect that the other one was going to have to pass eventually. Also, there has been some determinations made that stones can be hereditary. Hy husbands father and brother have both had them.

I don't know what it is about Dr. Pepper...its interesting that so many of you have mentioned this because my husband was an avid Dr. Pepper junkie (emphasis on WAS). He has since switched to a Sprite junkie with only an occasional Dr. Pepper or Coke.

A few years ago there was a lot of emphasis on a machine that hospitals used to break kidney stones into smaller pieces so they would pass more quickly and less painfully - they put the patient in a tub of water and bombarded the area with vibrations or something like that - don't remember too much about it except that those who experienced it stated that it definitely helped. Does anyone else remember this or have you experienced it? It wasn't good for all types of kidney stones as I recall.

I have never experienced it (knock on wood), but I think it was called lythotrypsy (spelling?).

Well, all of you poor souls who suffer from kidney stones:

"Citric acid (citrate) has the ability to increase the solubility of calcium oxalate in the urine and to retard the crystal growth of calcium salts. The use of potassium citrate or sodium citrate in the treatment of recurrent calcium oxalate stones has been shown to be quite effective in clinical studies, eliminating stone formation in nearly 90% of the subjects."

So--- drink lemonade and eat citrus fruits, or at least put a lemon peel in your martini!

How weird to be so fascinated with this subject that I have been researching it for 20 minutes, and I've never even had one!

Lots of dietary issues here, from the list on my wall addressing calcium stones, OMIT asparagus, beets, greens, spinach, concord grapes, cranberries, currants, plums, citrus fruit, citrus juices, tea, cocoa, gelatin, almonds, curry powder, Worcestershire sauce, and cashews. RESTRICT(not more than one serving a day) beans, brussels sprouts, tomatoes, potatoes, pineapple, strawberries.

The directions go on as to limiting dairy products, soda and decaffeinated coffee and tea.

Looks like all you can eat is meat.

Four or five years ago on a hot sumer Sunday evening, my husband was "attacked" (his description) by the killer k-stone. Much later that night while he was in radiology, I was talking with the Dcotor. He asked if my husband had been outside during the heat - I said yes. He asked if my husband had been drinking iced tea - I said yes. He asked if my husband ate a lot of cheese - I said yes.

He said - yep - that'll do it.

Ever since, my husband has been much more cautious about drinking iced tea when working in the heat.

I have never experienced it (knock on wood), but I think it was called lythotrypsy (spelling?).

Yep! Had that too.. It was around $8,000.00. Sure glad I had insurance. But it worked the reason I had it done mine was too big to pass. At the same time I had Galdstone(SPeilling) also

I am currently 8 months pregnant. When I was just 4 weeks into my pregnancy I ended up in the ER overnight for an undetermined abdominal pain. Two weeks later I was back in the hospital with a kidney infection accompanied by a fever of 104. After multiple ultrasounds (no x-rays while pregnant) the doctor determined that even if they couldn't see it on the ultrasound it must be a kidney stone. After not believing this was possible I returned to the ER two weeks later only to have them discover that the stone had moved into my bladder and was too large to pass on my own. They had to give me a spinal and use a laser to break up the stone and remove it. This is a procedure normally done under general anesthesia, but again due to the pregnancy, this was not possible. Needless to say, I'm glad the stone is gone, and that I didn't have to pass it on my own. One "labor and delivery" is enough. Andy, the list I received from my doctor is much the same as the one you posted.

Ok, for those that have had stones, how long did they take to pass? I was in the ER on Thursday and have been waiting for the stone to pass - those who have had them know what I mean. The ER said they could not see the stone on the x-ray or CAT scan and thought that it was in the bladder ready to pass. I have drank gallons of water and cranberry juice and nothing has happened. The Doc said if it did not pass by Tuesday or Wednesday they would have to run more tests. Has anyone "held on" to a stone this long or have a stone that was not detected on the x-ray or cat scan? Aside from feeling sick from drinking so much, the back pain is not intense, just a little sore now and then.