Post: #26

(10-02-2018 09:16 AM)porscheguy Wrote:  They did shoot me with Toradol. And they sent me home with a prescription for it. I agree, it works well. But it appears to be a very potent NSAID, Toradol got me through Saturday when I had shit to do, but I was taking the max dose and was paying the price Saturday night with a severely upset stomach.

Yes. It's for very limited time use (no more than 4-5 days I believe), but it blows any narcotic away in terms of getting rid of kidney stone pain - FAST.

Post: #27

I will say that the last shot they gave me in the ER was Toradol. Didn’t even use the IV, just straight in my arm. And within 5 minutes, I thought the stone had moved on through because the pain stopped. Not sure why they didn’t administer it 2 hours prior. If I have another, and I go back to the ER, I’ll ask for that shit right away. But I’ll also say that I’ve got about half of my prescription left, and if it happens again, I may just use what I have and try to skip the ER.

As a further update, I’ve had some pain today. 1 or 2 spells where it kicks up to about a 4. Not enough enough to justify taking a pill IMO. Hopefully this fucker is almost through me. I’m gonna hit the gym tonight for some cardio and light weights. Hopefully the increased activity will move it along.

Post: #28

Latest update to the saga. I visited my primary care doc today for a refill on another prescription. As I was leaving the girl at the desk asked if I was going to have my hospital records sent as per our discussion from the other day. I had faxed the request to the hospital and told them to fax the records to my primary care doc on Wednesday. Hadn’t happened. So I called the hospital. Apparently those requests can take a few weeks to process.
Issue 1: how much is wasted by patients having redundant procedures due to failures to share info in a timely fashion? If I go to the hospital for an issue that will ultimately be managed outside the hospital, shouldn’t they make haste when sending my records?

The woman in the records office said they’d send them right away, and they did. I left to go home.

On the way home, my primary care doc calls me. He’s already reviewed my hospital records. Apparently I had not one, but two kidney stones. And the first stone was a bit larger than I was told in the hospital. So I’ve got to see a urologist ASAP this coming week. I’m still annoyed that they found the stone at 7 am and fucked around with ineffective morphine for over 2 hours before giving me a shot of Toradol.

Issue2: it appears that a demonstrated ability to communicate effectively is not a requirement of nurse practitioners.

Post: #29

Did you just start getting your shit together too? I seem to remember a thread where you were in the gym more and trying to eat better. Related? Maybe your body is purging itself?

Post: #30

Dammn - sounds painful man. What do you think caused it and how are you changing your lifestyle?

Post: #31

Yes. I finally found motivation to make real changes back at the end of July. Since then I’ve lost close to 30lbs. I’m hitting the gym 5X/week, and going ultra low carb dieting. I went back to the gym for the first since since getting this problem, on Thursday night. If I skip the gym, I work out on my water rower at home.

The big risk of low carb dieting is that you stop being thirsty. I let myself get too dehydrated. That coupled with high protein resulted in kidney stones. Now I’m drinking a minimum of a half gallon of water per day. I’ve not been adhering to rigidly to the diet this past week, but I’ll dig in and resume this week.

Post: #32

I know the allure of low carb dieting is almost impossible to pass up... but it's got 1 Big consequence... as it's extremely taxing on the Body. I'm not saying not to do it... but if I was in your position... I would let my metabolism chill out for a bit...especially if the stones aren't out. Temporarily switch over Liquid Protein would be a start. Man I was almost in your position once... and just reading your ordeal pains me. Hopefully you get better soon!

Post: #33

(10-07-2018 01:14 AM)porscheguy Wrote:  The big risk of low carb dieting is that you stop being thirsty. I let myself get too dehydrated. That coupled with high protein resulted in kidney stones. Now I’m drinking a minimum of a half gallon of water per day. I’ve not been adhering to rigidly to the diet this past week, but I’ll dig in and resume this week.

Water is required for the breakdown of protein in metabolism. So, if you're consuming a lot of protein you need to do the same with water, whether you feel thirsty or not.

Post: #34

I'll chime in w/ a couple things.

Opiates are typically used before NSAIDs in the management of undifferentiated abdominal pain because:

1) if the MD/DO/NP/PA decides you need a CT, they may choose to do one w/ IV contrast (to rule out appendicitis, diverticulitis, etc), which does cause transient renal insufficiency
2) If you have pre-existing kidney disease, the use of NSAIDs and CTs w/ IV contrast need to be used judiciously
3) if you have a surgical emergency, it's best to leave it to the managing surgeon to decide whether or not they want NSAIDs used at that point in time

If they find your creatinine is normal (a marker of kidney function - which they'll see on basic blood work typically back w/in 20min), at that point an NSAID is given... unless you look like you're having a surgical emergency

Opiates have a great short term side effect profile: predictable dose responsible, cleared by the liver instead of the kidneys, and the risk of dependency occurs w/ chronic use, not 1, 2 or 3 time doses in the ER.

@ Porscheguy:
re-reading your post, sucks that they made you wait 2 hours after discovering the stone to get you the Toradol. NSAIDs are PROVEN to be more effective in managing pain 2/2 kidney stones.
And communication b/w clinics, hospitals and every segment of the healthcare system is very fragmented - (I believe) this is done purposefully so that health-systems, electronic medical records companies, etc can leverage their size to increase their catchment of patients and negotiate favorable contracts. I'm pretty sure lobbyist spending by the health care industry outstrips the military industrial complex and oil and gas... combined

Get well soon!

Post: #35

To wrap up this story, I haven't had an issue with pain since last Tuesday. Went to the urologist yesterday. Pissed in a cup, he asked if I had any more pain. I told him no. He said I only had the one stone and it was 90% through the ureter when the ER did the CT scan, so in all likelihood, it's either rattling around in my bladder or I've pissed it out already. Aside from drinking more water, watching salt and protein, that was really about it. There were trace amounts of red blood cells in my piss. He said that could be the result of the stone. I'll go back in a few months and have it checked again. If it's still there, they'll investigate why, but it's not grounds for concern at this point.

Post: #36

Spoke too soon. I pissed it out today. 4mm x 7mm. It had been trying to come out all day and I felt some strange pains way up in my pelvis. So around 3:30, I go to take a piss. And I felt something enter my urethra. There was a quick interruption in urine flow and and then I finished. But I had this pain like broken glass in the end of my dick. I looked in the toilet and there was nothing.

20 minutes later the pain is still there. I have to piss again. Then it just popped right out and all the broken glass feeling went away.

It’s no surprise these things hurt so much. There’s not a single smooth surface, it’s all jagged edges and points. But it’s done, and this ordeal is finished.