Kidney Stones

[Huayrat]

What Test and where to go to see if i have them?

[worgeordie]

You need to go to hospital and get an xray done,that will tell 

you if you have them.

If you have them you can get ultrasonic treatment  (I believe thats what its called)

where a machine send ultrasonic pulses into your kidney to break up the stones,

so you can pass them,the other way is surgery.

About 18 years ago i was diagnosed with a kidney stone ,and had treatment at

the government hospital up here in Chiang Mai,there was a problem as they had

just taken delivery of the machine a couple of weeks before,and i think they did

not know how to use it.

 

With a bigger body mass than your average Thai,i think they put the setting too

high,it was very painful, the cost then was 25,000 THB for a course of treatments

until they had got rid of the stone,when i got home i was peeing blood and bits

of kidney,felt terrible could not eat properly for 3 months ,lost a lot of weight,

which unfortunately has returned over the years, i never did go back,but have had 

no problem since.

 

regards worgeordie

[lemonjelly]

Get down to your nearest decent hospital and make an appointment with the urologist, they’ll test your blood and urine, possibly a CAT or regular X-Ray...if you’re In severe pain right now, get down to the A&E. So many possibilities, stones, infection due to urine retention linked to enlargement of prostate etc

[mfd101]

You'll know if you've got it - just about the most painful thing you can experience. The pain is caused by the stone moving. You may have had it for quite a while - building up - but with no movement so no pain.

 

While preparing to visit hospital/doctor, drink lots and lots and lots of water. Add citrus juice to it (limes). Can help to pass the stone, if it's not too big. Mostly that's all they'll do for you in hospital anyway - painkiller + water drip. The ultrasonic zap is for when it's big or there are several stones.

[DavisH]

Why do you suspect you have a kidney stone? The small ones I've had (still in the kidneys), give no symptoms. It's only when they try to pass out that they can give extreme pain. I guess if one was in the kidney and it got extremely large it could also give pain. In that case they would need to remove it. It may be too large to pass naturally. 

An ultrasound can detect them, and a hospital may use that method. For the few small stones I had (which were uric acid stones), I was given uralyt - it makes the urine alkaline and helps dissolve the stones. I guess that would not work for calcium stones. 

[Huayrat]

5 minutes ago, DavisH said:

Why do you suspect you have a kidney stone? The small ones I've had (still in the kidneys), give no symptoms. It's only when they try to pass out that they can give extreme pain. I guess if one was in the kidney and it got extremely large it could also give pain. In that case they would need to remove it. It may be too large to pass naturally. 

An ultrasound can detect them, and a hospital may use that method. For the few small stones I had (which were uric acid stones), I was given uralyt - it makes the urine alkaline and helps dissolve the stones. I guess that would not work for calcium stones. 

Pain for 2 months now under ribs and around my back on right hand side

[Huayrat]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

You need to go to hospital and get an xray done,that will tell 

you if you have them.

If you have them you can get ultrasonic treatment  (I believe thats what its called)

where a machine send ultrasonic pulses into your kidney to break up the stones,

so you can pass them,the other way is surgery.

About 18 years ago i was diagnosed with a kidney stone ,and had treatment at

the government hospital up here in Chiang Mai,there was a problem as they had

just taken delivery of the machine a couple of weeks before,and i think they did

not know how to use it.

 

With a bigger body mass than your average Thai,i think they put the setting too

high,it was very painful, the cost then was 25,000 THB for a course of treatments

until they had got rid of the stone,when i got home i was peeing blood and bits

of kidney,felt terrible could not eat properly for 3 months ,lost a lot of weight,

which unfortunately has returned over the years, i never did go back,but have had 

no problem since.

 

regards worgeordie

Thank you

[DavisH]

3 minutes ago, Huayrat said:

Pain for 2 months now under ribs and around my back on right hand side

My pain was spasmodic, and not constant -that's when the stone moved (usually into the ureter). And it is intense pain when it hits. Best to go and get it checked ASAP. I don't know much about large stones that sit in the kidney, but perhaps if you have a large stone it will give you constant pain. Is it like that?

[Huayrat]

20 minutes ago, DavisH said:

My pain was spasmodic, and not constant -that's when the stone moved (usually into the ureter). And it is intense pain when it hits. Best to go and get it checked ASAP. I don't know much about large stones that sit in the kidney, but perhaps if you have a large stone it will give you constant pain. Is it like that?

Yes for 2 months now.. Thought it was maybe Appendix but pain is in the wrong area for that maybe

[richard_smith237]

An abdominal Ultra sound... See a Urologist at any hospital - Kidney stones are not uncommon.

 

Through Ultra Sound a Urologist will be able to measure the size of the stone. A conventional X-Ray may miss a stone and is thus not useful if you are sure you have one. A CT Scan 'should' identify a stone with sufficient resolution (how far apart the 'slices' of image are - usually about 2mm - but older machines could be 3 or 4mm) - but, if you have an ultra-sound and have a stone confirmed a CT scan is pointless.

 

[Caveat: this is as I understand it anyway - hospitals in Thailand will / may recommend a CT Scan, I'm cynical about this money spinner... when an Ultrasound is much cheaper and tell the Urologist all they need to know].

 

The Ultrasonic treatment worgeordie mentioned is called Lithotripsy. Focused sound-waves which don't harm tissue, but 'can' (but not always) fracture and breakup up a kidney stone into smaller 'passable' fragments rendering surgery (usually key-hole) unnecessary. 

 

Theoretically it's like getting 'flicked' repeatedly with an elastic band - minor repairable damage is possible when the fractured stone 'scratches' the kidney, hence the usual 'peeing blood'. If I'm not mistaken, the individual success of Lithotripsy treatment is variable but a good first choice before surgery for stones which are large enough not to be expected to pass naturally. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sheryl]

12 hours ago, Huayrat said:

Pain for 2 months now under ribs and around my back on right hand side

Very unlikely this is a kidney stone. But it does definitely need to be checked out.

 

Could be related to liver or gall bladder but that is only a guess and in no way sure. Could also me related to the lung ior lining of the lungs (pleura).

 

Do not try to guess what it is and then self order tests for that condition, you will likely just waste time and money and further delay appropriate treatment.

 

You need a thorough evaluation by a doctor who will then order any tests s/he thinks indicated based on differential diagnosis.

 

[Mike Teavee]

12 hours ago, Huayrat said:

Pain for 2 months now under ribs and around my back on right hand side

I had the same and was convinced it was Kidney stones (Father & Brother both suffer really bad from them), but it turned out it was an UTI that cleared itself up after a couple of months.  At the time it was like somebody had put your mid section in a vice & clamped it shut, pain was shocking but not constant & most often occurred when I was  lay on my back in bed so being woken up 2-3 times a night as well.

 

As has been mentioned, Ultrasound is the way to detect kidney stones.