Pyridium (Phenazopyridine) Replaces Narcotic Pain Medication For Acute Kidney Stone Pain

I just discovered that taking Pyridium (Phenazopyridine)three times a day significantly reduces, if not completely eliminates severe pain caused by a [reasonably-sized] kidney stone scraping its way down a ureter. This is one of those lessons you have to learn on your own, especially since narcotics are the first line of defense for severe kidney stone pain.

Anyone who has presented to a doctor's office or ER with kidney stone pain before knows they are loaded with narcotics in the hospital, and sent home with buckets of percocet, dilaudid, or something similar, only to experience the common side effects of these medications, without experiencing much if any relief.

For those who aren't familiar with this drug, Pyridium is not a narcotic or traditional pain reliever. It is a dye that happens to be a natural numbing agent. When ingested, it travels to the kidneys where it is processed with urine. As the Pyridium-filled urine moves from the kidneys to the bladder, it numbs the ureter along the way.

Pyridium is commonly used to relieve bladder infection pain, but for kidney stone patients, it's used to relieve pain associated with post-op ureteral stents. While most kidney stone patients are familiar with Pyridium, how many of us have stopped to wonder what else it can tackle?

A couple nights ago, I was lying in bed with bi-lateral stone pain, with occasional 8/10 pain in my left flank. It hurt to breathe in or yawn. Normally, this level of pain has me reaching for Percocet, but not wanting to become nauseous, my thoughts turned to Pyridium. If it could take away much of the pain I've experienced from ureteral stents, why couldn't it do the same for kidney stone pain?

I took my first dose late that evening. By the next morning, my kidney stone pain was completely gone. I was prescribed one pill three times a day, so I took that amount and by the next morning I felt the need to feel where I was at, so I stopped the medicine. By 1:00pm, the telltale dark orange Pyridium urine had changed back to normal, and I was starting to feel the stone in my right ureter. Now, nine hours later, it's obvious that the stone on the left must have moved, because I only feel the stone on the right.

While the stone on the left shifted to a position or point in my ureter that's less sensitive, I wouldn't have been able to tolerate the pain without the Pyridium. It spared me hours of agony. Pyridium doesn't "kick in" as quick as a traditional pain killer, but it does work, and it works better than a narcotic. Other than the color and staining ability of my urine, I experienced no side effects.

Everyone's bodies are different, but I believe Pyridium could benefit most stone sufferers out there. Ask your doctor for a prescription in advance, and keep it on hand until your next stone appears. Try Pyridium instead of whatever pain killer you would normally use, wait until the dye starts showing up in your urine, and let me (please!) and your doctor know what your experience was like.