What are kidney stones?
While I'm obviously more susceptible to getting kidney stone I'm nowhere near as bad some folks who get several each year - thank goodness. I got my first one back in 1984, a year or so after getting home from my mission. At the time I had no idea what the symptoms meant but I remember waking up in the morning with back pain (lower flank) that just wouldn't go away. I also had blood in the urine which tints it a dark reddish-brown.
It wasn't until I went into labor at the dinner table after church one Sunday afternoon that I came to understand what was happening. My father took me to the ER and following a course of morphine and drugs to dilate my plumbing I was able to pass a stone into a strainer on the spot. It was quite the ordeal, but I was lucky.
The pain associated with kidney stones comes when the jagged little rocks decide to migrate from the kidney and get lodged in the ureter - a little tube that runs from the kidney to the bladder. Some describe the pain akin to that of childbirth, although women who've had them say it's worse. One fellow claims to have been shot in each leg with a .45 caliber bullet and it was nothing compared to kidney stones.
Flash forward to February 7, 2009. I had been passing traces of blood but had attributed it to other health issues. When I awoke early that morning that intense, unabating lower flank pain was knocking at my door and knocking hard. You break into a cold sweat, uncontrolled shivers, nausea - oh yeah, I was going into labor and knew what was happening this time. Marnie took me to the ER where all I wanted were drugs to take the pain away. They seemed to take their sweet time but eventually I found some relief. They took some pictures, didn't find anything, and sent me home a few hours later with a prescription for hydrocodone and a $1000 bill - after insurance.
Weeks went by and I sensed I had passed the stone through the ureter but it was now floating around in my bladder. You know it's there by the intermittent sensation of someone poking you in the nether regions with an ice pick. Not comfortable but I'll take it over the stones' upstream trek any day. That's when I started researching on the internet how to get rid of these evil little bast**ds. There are several home remedies out there and I generally view that kind of stuff with a jaundiced eye. But there was one that people consistently reported as being effective - not 100% for everyone but a success rate too high to ignore. I tried a couple of "doses" and within about a week I passed the stone effortlessly.
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| Feb. 2009 stone |
Fast forward again to January 2011. A little over a week ago I noticed I was passing traces of blood. I couldn't be sure of the source. On Saturday the 22nd I passed a lot of blood and sensed some vague left flank pain but couldn't be sure it wasn't related to the regular back pain I experience periodically. By Sunday or Monday I noticed those ice pick sensations in the nether regions and concluded I probably had a stone that had moved to the bladder. On Tuesday I picked up the ingredients for my home remedy and downed a dose that day and on Wednesday. I'll explain what it is later. On Thursday I skipped the dose and tried something called Chanca Piedra - translated means stone breaker. Its a plant based remedy from South America. More on that later too. Friday morning (today) I effortlessly gave birth to this little darling:
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| Jan. 2011 stone |
How to get rid of a kidney stone (or what worked for me)
Most docs will just tell you to drink lots of water and take an over the counter pain reliever. If the stone gets stuck somewhere or you complain long enough, then they'll go in and extract or break it up into smaller pieces so you can pass them.
You can read about the home remedy I found here which includes over 200 testimonials from folks who found success with it. The remedy, or cocktail as I like to call it, calls for two ounces of lemon juice mixed with two ounces of olive oil. It sounds a little disgusting and it kinda is. But if you chug it down and don't 'stop to smell the roses' you'll be left with a brief, oily aftertaste that's manageable. After a few minutes you should follow this with a couple of 16 glasses of water. Within an hour you'll have the urge to tinkle - probably several times - and soon things will flow clear as you flush your kidney's out.
Some claim relief or actual passing of the stone with one dose. For others it takes more. The theory is that the lemon juice changes the pH level in the urine and promotes a breakdown of the stone. The olive oil? Probably for lubrication. Could I have passed the stone without the remedy? Most likely, eventually. Did I pass it sooner with the remedy? I'm going to say, yes!
Last Monday, while doing more research, I came across the Chanca Piedra. You can read about it here and here. It's interesting. Again, I generally don't buy into holistic medicine but I'm sure there are a lot of things found in this world that we don't fully understand outside of traditional western medicine. I ordered the supplement here which also has some information and reviews on it. (I used promo code: BIT806 for a $5 discount). It arrived on Thursday (yesterday) which is when I took it. Added to water it tastes a little like prune juice. It would be a miracle if the Chanca Piedra contributed to my passing the stone today, so for now I'll reserve judgement.Anyway, this is my tale - and I'm stickin' with it.
