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Have you tried riding rollercoasters with kidney stones?

Apparently some people did a study and found that it can be effective at passing kidney stones. Was in news last year https://www.ems1.com/medical-clinical/articles/129734048-Stu...

They also said it's good as preventative measure (dislodging before they get too big).

I would think a trampoline would work even better.

Roller coasters have vibrations that trampolines don't.

Why?

Someday in a glorious future doctors will prescribe rollercoaster rides.

I wonder if certain professions have a lower incidence of kidney stones, which can be linked to exposure to G forces or vibrational forces applied (Pilot, truck driver, etc.). That'd be an interesting occupational health study (When controlling for all other occupational factors).

That's interesting.

I would bet rollercoasters could be as or more effective as tylenol for milder pain too, at least while you're distracted and pumped full of endorphins.

> I cannot describe to you how much more effective it was than the opioids. The pain wasn't gone, but it was just an interesting sensation now

I had that experience too when I dropped something heavy on my toe, which sounds a lot funnier than it felt when the pressure under my toe went up (which I should have relieved by puncturing the nail, which I was not capable of doing to myself at that point)! But weed didn't make the pain go away, it just made it tolerable somehow. And I managed to puncture the nail after all. I also saw someone with chronic pain get prescribed oxycontin, which isn't only very addictive, it also didn't work for her the way weed did. And with the latter being not-so-addictive, it would only make sense to me to use it more often for pain relief. It can be such a relief for so many people.

Cannabis doesn't actually kill pain. It detaches us from our emotional response to pain. Which in my opinion is a much more effective tool for healing than removing the pain entirely.

I have a friend who lost a bunch of weight (and was very overweight) in a relatively short period. He then developed gout, which is apparently agonizing. He did the same things as you, and like you, is "in awe". Just having seen the difference in him I'm prettied impressed too. I'm glad that you've found something that works for you.

Pain from gout is excruciating. It is incredibly painful, and you can't put pressure on it, you can't even cover it with a light sheet, you can't sleep... and it goes on for days, sometimes weeks. My longest attack was 2 months long.

Standard opioids didn't touch. Should have tried MJ instead.

Have you tried Naproxen? Works well for me.

Yes, it only helps partially.

Do you drink much alcohol?

Nope. Almost none.

for you or others reading -- you need to find a rheumatologist. go to urgent care if you need to, and get a recommendation. there is absolutely no reason for you to suffer for weeks on end. it's fucking awful. stop doing this to yourself. it's 2017, these problems were solved decades ago.

an acute attack can be stopped with prednisone (a steroid) and toridol (a super strong nsaid) these injections are like $20 each without insurance. and long-term care with allopurinol or alternative is extremely cheap, like $10 a month without insurance. under a doctor's care the prednisone and toridol are very safe. these are extremely common, cheap, widely available drugs. when i say 'stopped', i mean it's fucking GONE within a day, and then you can be given long-term care. gout has a huge genetic component and can flare up while you're living the healthiest of healthy lifestyles.

if you have it bad, it will get worse and worse and more and more frequent, until you get to absurd, comical levels of pain in both sides of your body, to the point of complete functional shutdown of your life, you are NOT going to fix this yourself, or with anything over the counter like naproxen sodium (aleve) or smoking some weed.

my doctor said gout is the worst pain and debilitation you can experience short of physical trauma. the only thing that compares is the worst types of migraines. i let it get to the point where i ruined a 2-week vacation before i snapped out of it and went to see a doctor.

Havent heard of those here in the Nordics (edit: cortisol being destructive it is not a good long term solution, hence avoided). Naproxen worked for me, but took days.

It took me two years to realize what is the source of gout. D/RNA molecules. They are 50% purines which humans dont metabolize, just excrete (other animals can metab them). None of the "what to eat with gout guides" stated this clearly, which stymies me. Anyhow, now i know to avoid eating DNA rich stuff - go milk!

Thank you for your comments... I am on meds and have had the prednisone shots and whatnot, still have attacks that last weeks on end. Was told by my doctors that unfortunately it comes with the territory.

I also have gout. Weed does help somewhat during intense flare-ups. However, NSAIDs inhibit cannabis reuptake (or something), so you can't effectively use both weed and an NSAID. And given the choice between the two, NSAIDs are much more effective for me.

Given the incredibly low toxicity of cannabis, "more cannabis" should be a working strategy here. 2x, 5x, 20x the dose until you get past the new threshold caused by NSAIDs?

You can only get so high. After a while more cannabis won't have an effect.

Ever tried concentrates? You might go to sleep for a while, but "not have an effect?"

Heh.

I've tried moon rocks, edibles, concentrates, vaporizers, bongs, stream-rollers, hash, and anything else you can name. You only get so high.

COX2 inhibitors can, but not Advil or Aleve... maybe a weaker NSAID and stronger/more cannabis would be a good combination?

> And I was flabbergasted that no one I touched in the medical establishment had ever recommended it.

A very American problem. Speaking with some of my Canadian colleagues, recommendations for cannabis usage in managing pain and other conditions is much more frequent.

As someone who suffered kidney stones at 16 and is closing in on age 30 without the benefits of health coverage... an account like this is promising and semi-comforting to me.

I don't know if they'll strike again but when they did last I lived a month on percocets, a day on morphine, and had to have a stint installed and removed to stay functional in high school while also undergoing ultrasonic stone blasting.(this was when I had my parent's coverage).

Not looking forward to it again.

You should look in to what kinds of food are least likely to increase your risk for kidney stones. Apparently, some foods just build kidney stones like crazy in some people.

To be honest with you, maybe it's my part of the country (northeast, now southwest) - I don't know of many colleagues who are comfortable with opioid use or prescribing. Most of us won't prescribe it and will refer to a pain management specialist who knows what they're doing. Most of us are also aware that there have been few long-term studies that show any sort of toxicity or dangers of cannabinoid use other than at ultra high doses, so personally, I think it's probably safer than using something like Xanax or clonazepam. Certainly safer than opiates.

The limiting factor - you cannot just write a prescription to the local CVS, so if patients want it, I can only recommend that they and their family seek out a reputable dispensary...the limiting factor, I would say, would be getting the medicine in a form with the tolerances and safety of a typical FDA approved med.

My understanding is that opioids also constrict the ureter and make it more difficult to pass the stone. Whereas since weed is an anti-inflammatory it may even have some benefits.

Yeah, they also give you tamsulosin, though, which relaxes expands the ureter, maybe that's part of the reason

Opioids can also cause extreme constipation, which can also result in extreme agony when you're coming off of them. That's what happened to me when I was coming off morphine and oxycodone given me in the ER to treat kidney stone pain. It was hell, and that experience alone makes me seriously contemplate refusing all pain killing medication if I'm ever offered it again.

It becomes a weird opioids to laxatives dance. Not fun I guess.

I'm not suggesting you use opioids again but, if you need to, I recommend Lactulose for the constipado. It's a sugar that can't be digested and pushes things along nicely. That's a little better than going though agonising pain or needing to overdose on a laxative with an LD50.

I would just like to point out that cannabis is not a cure-all or even effective sometimes.

Here's my anecdotal story: I personally have constant extreme pain (the joys of Ehlers-Danlos) and when I tried cannabis for my pain it not only was entirely ineffective, it greatly amplified my pain. So not only was I stoned, I was also in way more pain than usual. So I had a pretty bad time.

I think issue was that a lot of my pain comes from muscle overuse because when my muscles relax too much my joints stretch or pinch the nerves passing through them (which is super painful). So cannabis most likely made me too relaxed to not hurt myself constantly.

The reason no one in the medicine has even mentioned cannabis to you is because it is a schedule 1 drug. The DEA does not allow doctors to prescribe or administer schedule 1 drugs for any reason. You can read more about their guidelines here https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/manuals/pract/pract_...

Thanks for that advice, I'll have to try that next time. I too have had kidney stones that hurt to the point of vomiting and being unable to even speak. Same thing, given opioids that barely helped with the pain. And in my case, they ended up triggering a light panic attack sensation. Not to mention the $4,000 hospital bill for getting a scan and prescription, of which my insurance only covered $2,300 of it.

Yeah, the cost is crazy. This attack was extremely unfortunate in timing re: cost. I had signed up for better insurance in case I kept having stones, and this one happened the day before that insurance started. So I got a $5K bill, which would have been ~$0 24 hours later :(

Know that there are whole lineages of yoga associated with the use of this power plant. I recommend exploring the combination while remaining open to being led (as in moves and timing) by the plant and by the enhanced awareness of what needs attention/release in the body.

It may be helpful to commit the mind prior to the session and create a distraction- and thinking- free environment.

It does seem bizarre.

My wife had an acute, severe medical issue that resulted in a hospital admission.

I don't know if cannabis would have been appropriate, but the heavy opiod doses given to her weren't exactly amazing at managing her pain, but their side effects were almost worse than the pain and likely extended her stay.

Have you tried chanca piedra? It's an herb, but has been run through medical trials in Germany with great success. I use it and it seems to have lessened my kidney stone issues.

No, thanks for the rec!

> flabbergasted

Not really surprising at all.

http://m.motherjones.com/politics/2016/09/opioid-lobbying-ph...

why do you get so many stones, if you don't mind me asking?

I know someone who gets them about once a year. It can be genetic, and has a higher incidence in men.

I just learned (or read, at least) the other day that spinach can cause them, I imagine other foods as well.

Intriguing. Spinach and other dark leafy greens are also goitrogenic (can contribute to goiters). I wonder if there is a correlation.

Do note: eating massive amounts of spinach is unlikely to cause a goiter or kidney stones if you are not already susceptible to them.

However the supposedly "experts" in medical profession have batted against legalization of marijuana.