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  • Any Kidney Stone sufferers on here – is this right?
  • cheddarchallenged
    Free Member

    Just wondering if anyone has any relevant experience on this one as I’m not convinced the advice I’ve been given is right…

    Quick background to the issue.. I was admitted to Hospital at the start of the year with crippling kidney pain – writhing round on the floor, vomiting, the whole shebang. I had a CT scan which showed a small stone and after a lot of pain relief was being prepped for discharge. The consultant urologist is a “Character” by which I mean complete devoid of the ability to listen or stop being patronising.

    After asking the same question a number of times about how I was supposed to cope with the pain at home (even morphine wasn’t touching the pain) and being told not to worry because the stone “will have moved” and me asking “how do you know?” another junior doctor eventually went and had a look at the CT scan and came back with a 3rd doctor who told me the really acute pain was also due to a rupture that hadn’t been noticed when they first looked at the scan.

    I had an operation to fit a kidney stent and was discharged the same day with no pain relief or antibiotics and to go to the GP if I needed them. We discussed the likelihood of being able to get a GP appt and I was told it would be fine and somewhat predictably landed up back at A&E in agony having failed to get a GP appt. I subsequently had another 2 admissions through A&E, the last of which kept me in hospital for over a week due to a severe kidney infection that’s taken 3 excruciating weeks to clear.

    I’ve now been back to hospital to see the same Consultant – I’ve had 5 weeks of near constant pain and 4 weeks off work because anything other than shuffling round makes me feel sick and I also feel like a need to pee every 3 minutes.

    The Consultant doesn’t know if the stone has gone or not but is proposing to remove the stent and then request a scan to see if it’s gone.

    Due to the byzantine nature of the NHS, no-one can tell me or the Consultant when this scan might take place – it might be after a few days or a week or two. The Consultant has told me the CT scan can’t be done before the stent is removed because the stones don’t always show up.

    This will be ok if the stone has gone, but if it hasn’t I will almost certainly be back in excruciating pain, possibly at risk of another rupture and looking forward to another couple of weeks off work which I can ill afford.

    The alternative, which the Consultant doesn’t want to do, is to put me under general anaesthetic, remove the stent and look for a stone at the same time and remove it if it’s there. This option has few downsides apart from the risk of anaesthesia and completely avoids the risk of a stone remaining in situ and the pain / additional treatment required.

    So – for those who have had stones before do the two options ring true i.e. remove the stent and see what happens vs. remove the stent and check / remove the stone if it’s there?

    Has anyone else had the “remove the stent and see what happens” approach, and is the info on stones not showing up on CT scan if a stent is present correct?

    Bregante
    Full Member

    Whilst I haven’t experienced kidney stones you do have my sincere sympathies. I’ve been suffering with a recurring kidney infection since October and have been hospitalised four separate times with it – most recently last Thursday night until Saturday morning. It’s absolute miserable agony. Especially “Rigor” (severe shaking).

    Still waiting for a formal diagnosis but stones, cysts and cancer have all been ruled out. I do have an enlarged kidney and I’m told that the likelihood is I will need a stent in the near future.

    prettygreenparrot
    Full Member

    I’d expect the stent to create artefacts on CT that would obscure the stone if it was within the stent or nearby. Stents are radiopaque cf: “excellent radiopacity for improved visualization

    taking the stent out might allow the stone to flush out. Other treatment options include lithotripsy – tricky for ureteric stones. Laser intra-ureteric lithotripsy. And probably some surgical options beyond ‘pull the stent out’.

    Stents can induce bladder irritation/stimulation giving you the feeling of needing to wee.

    Hope things improve. And get your pain relief sorted out. There’s no need for pain in the 21st century. It doesn’t improve character.

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    froggy67
    Free Member

    I have previously had 2 cases of kidney stones, both went down the stent for a few weeks followed by operation to remove both stent and stone. I am currently on another one and have a date in a couple of weeks time for the operation to remove it. They haven’t ruled out the possibility of me waking up with another stent – it depends on what they find when they go in.
    I too suffered the pains and constant feeling of needing to wee from the stent. Kidney stones are something I wouldn’t wish on anyone.
    on my first one, I was initially given both ultrasound and x-ray scans, neither of which showed the stone but mine have always shown up on a CT scan.

    papamountain
    Free Member

    A month or so back I too had to go to a&e with crippling kidney pain, rolling around on floor etc. They did a ct scan and found 2 stones making their way down. As you mentioned even the iv morphine doesn’t touch it.

    The pain subsided while i was in hospital so they discharged me saying they should pass. They gave me codeine, paracetamol and Volterol suppositories to take home. They asked me to sieve my piss to try catch them.

    Couple of days later they passed and i caught them. I had follow up ct scan a few weeks later (they dont like doing too many ct scans, radiation etc, usually no more than 1 per month) The follow up ct scan showed they had passed and that the ureter looked ok. No infection. It’s been ok since.

    I still have a stone in the kidney which has been there for over 10 years and isn’t causing any pain/trouble. Luckily i haven’t needed a stent.

    Cant help with whether they should remove the stent first or not but they are the experts, let them know your concerns regarding pain meds but none seem to help much with the pain as you know.

    They are ridiculously painful and i wouldnt wish them on anyone. Good luck.

    cheers_drive
    Full Member

    Can’t help with your question but I can sympathise a little on the pain front having had kidney stones 17 years ago. I’ll never forget the pain at the time and the subsequent kidney infection wasn’t fun either. Luckily they passed quickly and relatively easily and I haven’t had any since.

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