Tom Conklin
Active Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Frances (2016)
Porto (Fall 2017)
Via (2022)
I can't remember seeing this before so here goes. After my 2017 Camino Portuguese my wife came over from Canada and we travelled in Spain for a while. At a roundabout in Cordoba I was forced to pull over in my rental car and dry heave due to some very serious pain. This was not my first experience with kidney stones so I knew what was coming. Luckily we managed to complete our trip with no serious incident (and a lot of water) but six hours after landing home in Ottawa I was in emergency. In the ER shortly after landing they filled me up with three litres of saline so I was clearly very dehydrated. I also discovered that I actually had two stones making their way through very narrow passages. One passed quite quickly but the other took much medication and three procedures to vacate the premises. But I digress.
On all of my Caminos, one before and two after the Portuguese, I have not felt the urge to drink except on very hot days. I made sure to irrigate on my Via in 2017 and had no issues. After my most recent trip through northern Spain I made sure to stay hydrated through the first hot days on the Norte but I kind of lost my rhythm in the last couple of cooler and rainy weeks of the Primitivo. On the bus from Santiago to Madrid I felt the early stirrings of stones and passed out when we stopped in Lugo but the searing pain passed and I continue on to Madrid. I visited the ER in Madrid, was given some meds and have had no real stirrings since. Having said that, I have had an ultrasound and consultation since and I have been gifted once again with a stone in each kidney.
My point here is not to share my unfortunate medical history but to wonder if anyone else has dealt with dehydration and stones. I know everyone says the Camino provides and all, but this I was not expecting.
On all of my Caminos, one before and two after the Portuguese, I have not felt the urge to drink except on very hot days. I made sure to irrigate on my Via in 2017 and had no issues. After my most recent trip through northern Spain I made sure to stay hydrated through the first hot days on the Norte but I kind of lost my rhythm in the last couple of cooler and rainy weeks of the Primitivo. On the bus from Santiago to Madrid I felt the early stirrings of stones and passed out when we stopped in Lugo but the searing pain passed and I continue on to Madrid. I visited the ER in Madrid, was given some meds and have had no real stirrings since. Having said that, I have had an ultrasound and consultation since and I have been gifted once again with a stone in each kidney.
My point here is not to share my unfortunate medical history but to wonder if anyone else has dealt with dehydration and stones. I know everyone says the Camino provides and all, but this I was not expecting.