# Looking for General Medical Information

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-general-medical-information/746941>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 24, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-general-medical-information/746941 "2016-02-24T03:06:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![mistymage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mistymage/32/459_2.png) [@mistymage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mistymage)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-general-medical-information/746941/21 "2016-02-28T16:07:00Z")

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Staghorn Kidney stones can cause hematuria and they are otherwise symptomless for years. Well, other than showing signs of a UTI but no pain until it’s really big. And antibiotics won’t clear you up. They have to be removed via surgery (ESWL is _not_ recommended for large stones… wish my urologist had known that). They don’t always show up when an ultrasound is done. They do show up in x-rays. Staghorns hide from ultrasound because they don’t present as a blob in your kidney but rather as a thin layer coating the entire kidney. It shows on an x-ray because the whole kidney is not supposed to light up, so to speak. Staghorns are most commonly found in women.

But this is a zebra guess. And probably not the hoofbeats you are looking for.

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**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-general-medical-information/746941/22 "2016-02-28T16:22:23Z")

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> [@guestchaz](#):
>
> This I know from 3 or 4 nights here and there, inadvertently spent heaving over the toilet while trying to get sips of _water_ to stay down because I allowed myself to get too dehydrated.

Keeping your hydration balanced is one hell of a (pardon) balancing act.

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