Still stuck in kidney stone hell!!

I was diagnosed last Sunday in the ER with a kidney stone on my right side.  The Dr. said that it was right at the entrance to the bladder and was small enough that it should pass on it's own fairly easily.  So I followed up with a urologist on Tuesday who said the stone was in the same spot and to stay hydrated and gave me a script for Loratabs with indtructions to follow-up ina week.

So last night the pain started to increase and by this morning was nearly unbearable.  So I called the answering service at the urologists office hoping to get a refill called in for more pain meds.  Well, the NP on call treated me like some sort of drug addict and told me I was have to go to th ER if my pain wasn't controlled by Tylenol.  Really?  Is any pain controlled by Tylenol?  So off to the ER I go where I was finally given some pain relief along with the scan results showing that the original stone has passed, however I now have two new ones.  One starting it's travel down the ureter and another forming in the kidney. 

Will this ever end?  I really keep doing this every week and if the doctor is going to keep being so stingy about pain meds I won't be able to function through the pain.  Has any ever experienced multiple stones in such a short amount of time?  And on top of the pain I am also having a lot of nausea, so my eating has not been much and I know I'm not hitting my protein goals.  Sorry for the long post, but I am really frustrated and begging for any advice or personal experiences.  Is there anything I can do to make this easier?  

Sorry you're having such a rough time. I would absolutely get a new
urologist. Going to the ER for every episode is ridiculous. That's
why you're seeing him. I would demand a treatment plan of some
kind other than the ER. You can do that without him.

I'm so sorry!!  I can't beleive your doctor's staff would expect Tylenol to be enough for kidney stones.  I understand kidney stones are incredibly painful!!  I wonder if our new diet contributes to getting kidney stones (you know, with the high protein)?

When I had my very first kidney stone issue, the urologist I followed up with (after the ER visit) would not give me any pain meds because my PCP had given 5 days worth of vicodin between the ER visit and getting in to the urologist.  He said the stones I had were small enough that they shouldn't cause "much" pain and if I did have pain I should go back to the ER.  So your urologist isn't the only idiot.  NO wonder the ERs are so busy!  (Although when I passed the most recent stone, even several vicodin would not have touched the pain... it even took quite a while for the dilaudid to stop it.)

I had two stones in the same kidney when we first found them.  One passed, and then later there were two stones again in that same kidney).  I then had a CT (for my belly pain) that showed stones in BOTH kidneys.  Only a couple of days later, I had the crippling pain when the stones from one kidney all passed (the day they gave me the dilaudid).  I still had the stones in the other kidney though.

Although VERY high levels of protein can cause kidney problems because of stress on the kidneys, the protein does not directly cause stones.  The calcium citrate that you should be taking as your calcium supplemengt also should not cause stones, but calcium carbonate WILL and that is the kind that is almost always in the multivitamins, so you might want to see if you can find a multi with less calcium (since we don't absorb it well anyway).  I have been told that the best way to prevent new ones is to stay very well hydrated.

Lora

Many doctors (& their nurses or nurse practitioners) can be very insensitive to the pain felt by their patients. After all, THEY aren't feeling it. Maybe it is a case of having had people trying to get drugs out of them by faking or magnifying problems, but they should still consider a patient's needs without prejudice. Knowing how much pain a kidney stone causes, that NP should have given you the help you needed ASAP.

And it isn't just urologists and the like--I was at a gynecologist once after my hysterectomy for a check-up and he was sticking that metal do-hickey up my hoo-hoo. I told him it hurt, to which he replied "if you'd just relax it wouldn't." I told him to give it to me so I could stick it up his ass & we'd see how well he could relax after I'd inserted it. He became a LOT more understanding about the pain he was causing me...

I'm a chronic stone passer (with hundreds in each kidney). I would ask your Urologist to do a 24 hr Urine study to help find out what your stones are made of. I have seen 4 different Urologist hoping one would be different (from what you described), but they have ALL been the same. That's not to say you shouldn't try another one, I just struck out, unfortunately.

Because I pass several stones a month, I currently see a Pain Management Doctor, who prescribes some extremely HIGHLY POTENT narcotics for the break through kidney stone pain- that way, when I have one, I can take them, and if THAT doesn't help the pain, I know it's time to go to the ER, where I basically demand they remove the stone (Ureteroscope if it's small enough, or laser, or if it's too large- lithotripsy). Not all hospitals do these procedures, so check to see which ones do, and make sure you go to their ERs in the future.

I'm sorry you have to deal with these nincompoops. I always wish dozens of stones on them and their posterity.

Thanks everyone for the replies.  I do have a follow-up appointment with the urologist tomorrow and I plan to tell him about the way his NP on call treated me.  The first time I saw him he spent all of about 3 minutes with me and I will not accept that this time.  I cannot keep going to the ER every week and I can't function through the pain without meds.  Hopefully the second appointment will be better than the first.

Hi Kristie-I feel your pain.. i first went to ER on Sunday they were of little help-although the CT showed a kidney stone. The next day I stay home from work since I have been in the ER until 4am. By noon the pain was so unbearable my friend I called called 911 and I was taken by ambulance to another ER of my choice. They were wonderful, pain medicine and help with vomiting was such a relief. Another CT scan and it showed the stone had moved ....pain was controlled and I was feeling sooooooooooo much better. They finally sent me home with pain meds, nausea meds, and flomax to relax urinary tract. I can not believe the difference in the care I received at the two separate hospitals. I have contacted the urologist they referred me too and they will be checking on my records and calling me back.

The hospital gave me pain pills for five days and I am to stay home the next three. My pain is managed which was worse than anything I have ever had. No way Tylenol would have even touched it.

CAll them and ask for meds for nausea,,,I haven't been eating much last several days as Ihave not really been hungry....but I think that is b/c of pain meds.

hang in there and demand help...or seek a new doc.

S