Kidney stone advice please
Posted , 4 users are following.
Hi I would really like some advice please. I have had for about 8 months a pain in my right side at the bottom of my back. Sometimes I get tingling sensations running up and down my back. The pain at the bottom when it's bad feels like it's about to explode. About 6 months ago it started to really hurt with a numbness feeling in my vagina the next morning in bed I made the mistake of poking the pain in my back and went straight to hospital they gave me morphine and the pain went after about 3 long hours. I stayed the night in hospital and was left feeling drained. A ct scan showed it was a kidney stone. At the hospital after the pain I was still feeling the need to wee a lot. A few months passed and every month for about a week I get the same pain and full bladder I went back to the doctors they said I still had slight blood in urine. They booked me in for another ct scan waited 6 weeks got there and they couldn't do it as there was a chance I could of been pregnant. "I'm not" so r booked it for another 6 weeks. The pain in my right side again is feeling like it's ready to explode. I had a nervous breakdown 2 years ago and now suffer from server health anxiety. So this pain I keep thinking it's something much more serious. I went back the doctors and he said if you keep going for ct scans you will get cancer from all the radiation. So this has made my anxiety levels sky high. My questions are the last time I had a ct scan the kidney stone was shown to be stuck in my urethra can it still be there after all this time with out infection? And if in my urethra why would it hurt the lower back? And is there any way I can find out if the little sucker is still there with out the deadly ct scans. I would be really grateful for any help. Many thanks 😀😭
0 likes, 13 replies
Barb1705 verity56501
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verity56501 Barb1705
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Luna_Sea verity56501
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First things first, I'm not pleased with your doctor for telling you to avoid CT scans because they might cause cancer. The risks are minimal compared to the risk of damaging your kidneys. Small increased risk of cancer or unchecked stone leading to losing a kidney? What a negligent thing to say. In 2016, I had three CT scans and I had one in 2017. I've also had an ultrasound and several X-rays in that time. I'm going back to the urologist in February for a follow-up x-ray to see if I have more. They could at least do an x-ray to see where it is or if it has gotten bigger. Ultrasounds are the safest, but not the most reliable way to see a stone. If it's a big one, they can probably see it. I think because CT scans are so expensive, some doctors try to avoid them...but they are the best way to see a stone.
If you aren't seeing a urologist, it's time to put your healthcare in the hands of one. Hospitals take care of the immediate problem, but you need to address the stone or stones. Urologists are specialized in kidney stone treatment and most will not drag this out. I would have severe health anxiety if I was getting the kind of treatment you are getting. Did they at least give you some pain medicine to take home for when the pain strikes? Have you seen or even been referred to a urologist? I'm sorry you are being made to suffer.
Luna_Sea verity56501
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verity56501
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Hi, Thanks for getting back to me. I had seen a urologist I told him my symptoms. And he booked me in for another ct. Thanks for your advice I will go ahead with it I just have another 6 weeks to wait 😨
Luna_Sea verity56501
Posted
Are you in the U.S.? Six weeks is a long time to wait. My first kidney stone grew dramatically in the three weeks between it's first sighting and my lithotripsy. It can go from being passable to needing a procedure for removal, especially if this started six months ago. If you have the option of finding a urologist that can see you sooner, I recommend it. If not, should you have another bout of pain that leads you to the hospital, insist on some kind of scan, be it CT, x-ray or ultrasound. A few people on here that are on national healthcare have been able to get things moving faster by doing that, especially if the scans reveal something that can't wait. And if it can wait, they can at least give you a mix of drugs to make that wait much more tolerable.
verity56501 Luna_Sea
Posted
I am in the UK. Thank you for your help I will go back the doctors to try and get it a bit sooner although it was my fault in the first place as there was a chance I could of been pregnant so wouldn't allow th st scan hence the 6 week waiting list again
Assassin1999 verity56501
Posted
Pain from kidney stones can light up your whole body. I had a stone stuck in the ureter just before entering the bladder and the pain it caused wrapped around my lower side and radiated down to my groin area. About the CT scans. Once my doctor knew where the stone was, he quit doing CT scans, and did simple x rays to track the stone during the few days while I was waiting for the operation. When I asked about it, he said the Ct does emit a higher dose of radiation which is why it gives a better image, but since he knew where the stone was, he just needed to confirm that it hadn't moved much, so an x ray was the better choice. KUB I think is the name of the x ray. I am just repeating information that my doctor told me....
Also, yes you can have a stuck stone without getting an infection. Mine was stuck for a month and even though my white blood count was elevated, I didn't have an infection the whole time.
Assassin1999 verity56501
Posted
Also wanted to clarify something....there are 2 types of CT scans. One where they just snap a picture and takes 30 seconds. The other involves injecting you with a radioactive liquid then watching it travel through your blood vessels and organs and takes about an hour. They are completely different, and the one involving the radioactive dye is the one that has the really high amount of radiation. That type is usually only used when they are no known causes of kidney problems.It's a last resort because it is dangerous. I am assuming that type of CT scan is not the one you are having?? They shouldn't even both be called CT scans. They are totally different! Most of us just have the regular snapshot CT scan.
verity56501
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Hi many thanks forgetting back to me. This is a great site. Could I ask what you mean when you light up your whole body? Yes it's a photo ct scan that I had and waiting for. Did you have yours removed or did you pass it? Can you have x ray at the doctors or do you have to go to the hospital? Thanks
Assassin1999 verity56501
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"light up your whole body" = cause pain all over. I just meant that a kidney stone seems to mess up your whole body. Makes you hurt in places that you wouldn't think it would affect. Mine was removed via ureteroscopy. It's a 1 hour operation where they go up your urethra and blast the stone apart and/or pull it out. My stone was stuck for 3-4 weeks and by the time they realized it was not moving, my kidney was shutting down. My blood panel results were really messed up. A lot of us on here dealt with "episodes" of pain whereby I would be fine for a few days, then the pain and nausea would hit me suddenly. 2 days before my operation, I laid on the bathroom floor in the worst pain I've ever felt for about 16 hours, trying not to hurl my guts out. It was worse than the previous episodes up to that point. My wife took me to the ER the next morning where they dosed me with dilaudid and zofran. I laid there for about 5 hours feeling the best I had in weeks. This was my first stone and they kept telling me I would pass it on my own because it was only 4mm. But, I had some scar tissue from a kidney infection that I had when I was about 5 years old. That scar tissue built up around the junction where the ureter enters the bladder. That's where it got stuck. My urologist also performed a cystoscopy in conjunction with the ureteroscopy to remove the scar tissue. As for the xrays, it's usually in the same place as the CT scan. Usually in the hospital. The CT scan is a better image, but like I said, he already knew where the stone was and just wanted to confirm that it hadn't moved.
verity56501
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Thank you so much. When you said light up your body, I thought that is what you meant. I just feel so unwell and nausea and constant aching in the lower right back. I'm going to try and get something sorted earlier as I don't want to go through the pain again of it moving. Many thanks for you help much appreciated 😁
Assassin1999 verity56501
Posted
You're welcome! Did you get pain medication yet? Also, you should ask for Zofran for the nausea. It works very well and is dissolved under your tongue, so it works immediately. It's a life saver. I also suffered from the nausea really badly in addition to the pain. I hope you feel better soon.