[amandalee]

I need some help figuring out what this pain is.... I have suffered from kidney stones for the last 6 years, so not a lot surprises me. Just had another lithotripsy procedure the end of last month. Yesterday I was sitting in my office when all the sudden I felt extreme pressure in my kidney area on both sides. It felt like it was running between both sides, filling the area in between the kidneys too. I thought it was maybe from needing to use the bathroom, so I went and the pain was not relieved. It was so bad I could hardly walk, but it wasn't like the stabbing pain I've felt from kidney stones before. Has anyone ever experienced this symptom with their stones? The pain would not go away until my painkiller kicked in. Later in the evening, I had mild flank pain, and a bit this morning too. I am an otherwise healthy 22 y/o female. But the pain yesterday was intense, but not like normal- almost like gas buildup- which I thought of, but it wasn't really affecting me in the normal "gassy" areas of the body. I would like your opinions on this type of pain, especially if you've experienced something similar.... it worries me!

[mctripat]

When in doubt call your urologist or at least an internist. it sounds like x rays or a CT scan could rule out kidney stone involvement. When did you have your last x ray after your procedure? I would call my urologist first.

Kidney stones may move around: you may have full blown colic, if they move then an obstruction develops and infection follows (if not properly treated), you may pass stones or gravel (with no pain) or with pain .... etc for at least 3 weeks after a procedure. Some people have passed stones 3 or 4 months after a procedure, I think ESWL according to the book mentioned below.

Also you may have a procedure, recover from it in a few days and not pass stones (or gravel) and have no pain. This does not mean the procedure did not work either... your doctor may have got all the stone fragments that caused the problem out. These are considered to be side effects of kidney stone surgery or common complications.

As the kidney and ureterers heal after a procedure... things change (the physiology) and this may cause the stones to move around. There is no way to predict in advance what will happen. Sometimes urologists will give us a general idea of what happened or what to expect... but... this is actually a more of a guestimate. That is usually all our doctor can tell us: what kidney stones do (move), when this happens and everything else that follows is impossible to predict. Hospital admissions, having semi-emergency treatment in your urologists office, emergency room visits and emergency surgery are all possible. This is something good urologists have trained for and know how to deal with.


For me the aftermath of kidney stone surgery seems to be like taking a car title to Las Vegas and gambling with it.... but, I have had emergency surgery before... and not the 3 more modern procedures they do now, but one with an incision (open surgery)... which tells you this was prior to 1984 or 1985. ESWL, utererscopy and PCNL started to be commonly used around 1985.

Go to http://www.kidneystonebook. net and order the Kidney Stone Handbook, it is around $20.00 including shipping. This is the book I mentioned above.

The internist may want to order tests to rule out appendicitis, some GI problems etc. Come to Yahoo and join our kidney stone board...our group is active and we have a urologist who helps us. http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Kidney-Stones-Group

Trish

[cathrine001]

Bladder and kidney pain are common in UTI and kidney stones. Try taking a couple of AZO 100 mg and a couple ot Tylenol, along with ice in the corresponding hip area (which helps ease the kdney pain) and see if this helps. If not, see a doctor. Anytime you have pain in bladder/kidney area/abdomen, ruling out kidney/UTI is important --- don't wait. Also, take your temperature and keep a record of your symptoms on a daily basis.