Stone PTSD
I'm 42F and I just got through with my yearly stone. I passed 2 at home, which is an improvement over the last big disruptive stone I needed surgery to remove, but hoo boy, was it AWFUL. I get stuck in a cycle of nausea, reflux and vomiting that leads to dehydration only trips to the ER for IV fluids & anti-nausea meds can cure. A week ago I was in the ER so dehydrated I couldn't generate enough saliva to dissolve the Zofran I had at home, this week I'm back to work. (I still have stones in both kidneys but they're not on the move, thank god.)
I was sitting on the couch tonight and got a twinge in my lower back. It could be because I've been sitting at my desk for the first time in about a month or the nap I took after work, but my brain just went "STONE! STONE! STONE!" and all the feelings of helplessness and fear and desperation I wasn't able to process when I was sick came flooding out. I hate this, my urologist can't even see me until June, and I legitimately don't know what else I can do to prevent them. I am TERRIFIED of another one dropping, I'm nearly out of sick time at work.
Anyway, just wondering if this happens to anyone else after passing a difficult stone. It's so disruptive, my life stops for a few weeks unexpectedly, I have to somehow manage a bunch of admin tasks to get leave from work while I can't stop throwing up, and then after the stone passes and I'm feeling better, I have to go on the apology tour at work. It sucks. I can't do this once a year anymore and it's truly starting to harm my mental health.