6. Nausea and vomiting
In most cases, patients with kidney stones come into the emergency room with severe pain, fever, sweating, and past episodes of vomiting. Pain symptoms are usually so difficult to withstand that the whole gastrointestinal system suffers as well and people suffer from loss of appetite, anorexia, and nausea. This is because severe pain is a source of stress in the organism, and this stress activates the sympathetic system, which accelerates the heartbeat, induces sweating, and impairs the normal movements of the intestines.
At the same time, the pain signals trigger the activation of the emetic centers in the brain, which causes the sensation of nausea and may even trigger the reflex of vomiting. Nausea and vomiting are often severe when the pain associated with kidney stones becomes worse, usually associated with the movement of the stones through the urinary tract. When this symptom is severe, and especially in susceptible patients, it may cause an electrolyte disorder the physician needs to address along with the emergency symptoms associated with kidney stones.
