Will this help you pass a kidney stone fast?

In this episode of the Kidney Stone Diet Podcast, hosts Jeff Sarris and Jill Harris discuss the challenges of passing kidney stones, emphasizing the pain associated with them and the various methods to alleviate that pain and facilitate stone passage. They highlight the importance of hydration, movement, and when to seek medical attention. Additionally, they stress the significance of prevention and provide resources for listeners to manage and reduce their kidney stone risk effectively.

Takeaways

Passing kidney stones can be a painful experience.
Hydration is crucial when trying to pass a kidney stone.
Movement may help dislodge kidney stones.
If you’re not urinating after drinking, seek medical help.
Warm baths and heating pads can alleviate pain.
Flomax is a common medication to help pass stones.
Severe pain and fever are signs to go to the ER.
Prevention is key to avoiding future stones.
Resources are available at KidneyStoneDiet.com.
Community support can help those suffering from kidney stones.

00:00 Introduction to Kidney Stones and Their Pain
01:44 Understanding the Process of Passing Kidney Stones
03:39 Methods to Facilitate Stone Passage
07:27 When to Seek Medical Attention
09:46 Prevention and Resources for Kidney Stones

Jeff Sarris (00:00):
Will this help you pass a kidney stone fast? Let’s dive right in.

So today we’re talking about passing kidney stones, specifically in regards to speed and reducing the pain as quickly as possible because it’s something that no one wants to deal with.

The Emotional Reality of Stone Pain

Jill (00:15):
You know, even though I’ve done this for all these decades, when somebody, every time I do a private consult, you know, I take a medical history and I want to know their kidney stone history. And people are not shy in telling me all the details. And there’s never a time I’m listening to their stone history in almost 30 years where my stomach doesn’t do a little flip because of just, you know, and even before I got sick, this is just hearing that the pain and agony people have been through with the kidney stone. Also, you know, when I was diagnosed with cancer, I was just going in for my, at that time, the screening was 50 year olds and I was going for my 50th. I just wouldn’t think I would have cancer, right? So whenever they’re telling me, you know, that news or that,

Whether it was the news they had a kidney stone or the pain that came, it’s just the trauma of having something and it coming from nowhere like, “What? You know, what is this happening to me?” So it’s just, it always gets me. There’s never a time where listening to somebody’s painful story about kidney stones hasn’t gotten to me. So of course patients are always interested in on the Facebook group, Kidney Stone Diet on the Facebook group, you know, often are people saying, “I’m trying to pass the stone, what can I do right away to get this thing out of me?” That’s like the number one thing.

The Hard Truth About Passing Stones

And here’s the bad news about that. Lots of times, the stone’s gonna do what the stone’s gonna do, meaning you can drink, you can move, you can do all the things. You can jump on a trampoline, you can drink a keg of beer, which is just fluids, people. It’s nothing magical about a keg of beer. You can do whatever. It just feels like sometimes the stones are gonna do what they’re gonna do. Now, I’ve had people trying to pass the stone for two months. I’ve had people pass the stone in a day. Was it something they did or was just time for that stone to come out? I think both. I think though mostly,

People are drinking all the water, all the water, all the water, and the stone still isn’t moving. I just think lots of times it just, it’s gonna do what it’s gonna do. I do believe you can always do things to help it, but you know, and then sometimes stones get stuck, and you’re drinking and you’re drinking, and here’s the key to that. Sometimes patients will say, “Jill, I was drinking, but then I wasn’t peeing.” So what happens then? That stone is stuck, and you gotta go to the hospital, because that’s a problem.

Okay, so sometimes the stones get stuck and you’ll know if it’s stuck if you start having fever, you can’t pee anymore. The pain is just unbelievable, so you’ve got to go to the hospital for that. You need help moving that. But in most cases, a lot of people are going to be able to pass their stones.

What You Can Try to Help Pass a Stone

It will help to perhaps make it come out faster if you do some of these things. Drink water like your life depends on it, people. And now remember, remember, remember, if you’re drinking and drinking and you’re not urinating, that is a sign to go to the hospital, ER, okay? Because then something’s stuck, you don’t want that, that’s a problem. Some people like to lie in a warm bath to relax themselves, okay? Relax, warm bath, heating pad, it will help the pain as well, that’s gonna help. Walking.

Movement of any kind. People will say roller coasters. People will say jumping jacks. People will say running. People, the point is moving. Moving may help dislodge the stone. So that could help. The elliptical machine, a treadmill, a jacuzzi, all these things that are gonna move your body, okay? From your doctor you could ask for, many of you have been given Flomax. That’s going to help push the stone out. Now, I’ve had many patients say, “Jill, I was on Flomax, I was doing this, I was doing that, nothing moved it, and I did have to opt for the surgery.” So a lot of surgeons will say, “Listen, I’m gonna give you two months. If you don’t pass it, then you’re scheduled for surgery in two months.” So people try everything.

When to Go to the ER – This Is Critical

So, you know, the main thing during this time is you wanna make sure you’re not having sepsis, which could be fever, chills, throwing up, so nausea, diarrhea, all of these things that can lead to sepsis, also meaning a stone has an infection, a stone is stuck. So those bigger side effects, not just pain, which is unbearable, but all these other things that could be happening, ER for you. Okay, don’t mess around with stone pain. If it’s unbearable, you should go to the ER for pain meds if they’ll give them to you these days.

If it’s unbearable with fever and any of the other symptoms I just said, ER. At least call your doctor’s office and see what they say. They’ll probably say you need to go to the ER. So some of these symptoms should not be overlooked. But I think the biggest thing that I can tell you as far as some people will hang off their bed upside down. Or Jeff, have you ever heard of those…

Is it an inversion table? That thing where you go upside down, is that what it’s called? Inversion table, right? They’ll do that. Some people will say a massage helps. Some people will say acupuncture helps. Everybody says that something helped, could, but also was it just time for the stone to move, right?

Jeff Sarris (06:05):
Mm-hmm. Yeah. Uh-huh.

What I Would Do If I Had a Stone

Jill (06:31):
If I were trying to pass a stone, here’s what I would do. Number one, I would not stop moving if I was able to. If I was unable to move because I was in that much pain, I would go to the ER. And I’m the last person to want to go to the hospital or ER because I’ve been to too many with all my cancer stuff. So, but from the pain I hear about kidney stones, I’d be going to the ER. And then the other thing I would be doing is drinking as much water. And that would be the only thing I’m drinking to help the stone pass. It may help, it may not.

Sometimes these stones move, sometimes these stones get stuck in the lower kidneys, sometimes they get stuck in the ureters, sometimes they get stuck in the UVJ. You know, those are the three things that I would do. I have a whole thing on my blog, how to pass a kidney stone at kidneystonediet.com and there’s lots of things listed there. Also popular drugs that the doctor may order for you to help you pass it, Flomax being the number one.

Important ER Warning Signs

And again, as a nurse, I just want to go over this. When to go to the ER, when you present with fever and chills, when you have severe pain that will not stop. When you see blood in the urine, you know you don’t necessarily have to go in the ER if it’s not accompanied with this other stuff because you know that’s a kidney stone. But you do need to tell your doctor if this is the first time you’ve had blood in your urine, because they may want to rule out other things. It may not just be a kidney stone. You must get that checked. If your urine is cloudy each time you pee, if you have a lot of burning when you pee, again, like I said, vomiting enough that it leads to dehydration, please go to the ER, because those are all signs that it could also be maybe you’re septic, maybe you have an infection, maybe you just you need to check those things out. Don’t mess around with that.

You know, and I’ve had a lot of patients say the patients that wound up with sepsis, many of them told me, you know, “Jill, I’ve had stones in the past. I just thought, you know, I did have a little fever, but I just thought, well, this is just the kidney stone.” And then they got a really big fever and then they ran to the hospital and they were septic. I see you hooked up on IV antibiotics, the whole thing folks, a week long stay in the hospital, please don’t do that.

The Financial Reality and Prevention

Forget about the physical anguish you’re going through, the financial anguish is a whole other ball game. These surgeries, kidney stone prevention is so important. These surgeries can be anywhere from $10,000 to $70,000 depending on what just happened to you. So expensive. Prevention is the way to go. Go to kidneystonediet.com. Free care, we have premium care. Please do what you need to do to get all the tools and resources to never go through this again. And some of you may be super complicated, meaning you will always make kidney stones because you have medical conditions that are predisposing you to them. But I’m telling you right now, so many years in this business of prevention, we can at the very least curb the amount you’re making.

Slow the rate in which you’re making these. Some of you are making these every couple months and you’re really living in hell. And so we do these podcasts, we have all the free information on the website, we have the Facebook page, the private community with almost 23,000 members on there, always answering questions on there, I’m on there every single day throughout the day. Please get help, it’s there for you. Whether you pay for it or not, we have plenty of free care for you at kidneystonediet.com. That’s it, Jeff. I think that will do it.

Jeff Sarris (10:20):
Yeah. Uh huh. Yeah. I think that’s the big thing that once you pass this stone, you want to prevent them in the future. And that’s why we’re here. That’s why Jill has done this for 20, going on 27 years with thousands and thousands of patients. So definitely go over to kidneystonediet.com where you can find everything you need to prevent this from happening. Hopefully ever again. But with that, I think we’ll wrap. Thanks for tuning in and we’ll see you next week.

Jill (10:28):
Yes. Bye!