Possible kidney stone?

So I am on my period right now and have been having pretty severe cramps. So bad in fact they woke me up at 4:00 am the other day! I took a vicodin and went back to bed. Sat in a recliner almost all day with a heating pad. It helped a little. Woke up this morning feeling ok and when I was finally able to urinate there was a little tiny peeble looking thing in the toilet. Now my back is killing me!!! Any ideas?

As someone who has had severe menstrual cramps growing up (now I take the continuous pill - no period, no cramps!), as well as 3 confirmed stones (all at different times - pre-op), I do not think what you saw was a kidney stone.  I mean, it might have been, but even when I was trying to catch my kidney stones so that they could be analyzed, I never caught one.  I have seen all kinds of stuff come out of me during my periods, though.

Cramps are awful, and when you put a heating pad on your abdomen, they tend to go away, or at least feel better.  Kidney stones are the type of pain that usually generate in your back/sides, and you just cannot get comfortable without meds.  If you ever see someone hunched over a bit, grabbing their back/side, and pacing in an ER - you can bet they have a kidney stone.  I've had ER docs come up to me before and just knew what was wrong when they saw me pacing.  I just cannot get comfortable.  Standing hurts.  Laying down hurts.  Sitting hurts.  Walking hurts.  But pacing seems to at least take my mind off the pain a bit.  I'm not sure why.

I've often had lower back pain accompany my period cramps.  Maybe that is what you are feeling?  I would take Tylenol and/or a muscle relaxer - that is most likely what you need.

Good luck!  Either kind of pain sucks (and yes, it is true, I would rather give birth naturally - which I've done - than have another kidney stone).

 

The first time I had a kidney stones I thought I was going to die.  Like run to the ER kind of pain.  I was vomiting bile.  Vicodin wasn't going to touch that kind of pain.  I needed an IV in my arm STAT with something to knock me out. 

As someone who has now had FOUR incidents of kidney stones since my RNY 6 years ago, I agree with the others... Vicodin doesn't even begin to touch kidney stone pain so it is extrememly unlikely that what you noticed in your urine was a kidney stone.  Even this past time when I had stones that were staying in the kidney (they were too big to get into the ureter at all, let alone move), Vicodin was barely touching just the pain from the irritated kidney.  Kidney stone pain is excruciating while the stones are passing and radiates around from the back to along your flank. 

Since what you saw in the toilet was big enough to see and you did not have debilitating, blinding, just-lay-there-and-cry-and-moan-until-you-get-strong-pain-meds pain (usually accompanied by nausea and/or vomiting), you almost certainly did not pass a stone big enough to see.  Any stone big enough for you to see in the toilet bowl would have been VERY painful to pass and not something Vicodin and a heating pad would have helped at all.

Lora

I agree.  The pain is unlike anything I have ever had and only morphine in the hospital could ease it up.  Jane

I agree with Lora. I have had three ER visits in the last five weeks because of kidney stones, and nothing short of pain relief injections could stop that kind of pain, let alone having the ability to sit in a recliner with a heating pad is not possible.

I can't say whether or not what you have is menstrual cramps, but I hope you feel better quickly

I never, EVER had any period issues from the age of 12 1/2 to 46 1/4. Then I had RNY. OH MY GOODNESS! The pain of each period is mind boggling. I had to take as much Vicodin during each of my periods as I did post-op! I see my PCP again next month and I will be getting a script for it because this is murderous! I was doing Flexiril, but found the Vicodin to be far more helpful!