How long does tamsulosin take to work for kidney stones

Question:

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How long does it take for tamsulosin to start working?
Does tamsulosin shrink kidney stones?
Can Flomax help pass a 7mm kidney stone?
How long does it take to pass a kidney stone with medication?

I'm a 38-year-old woman who recently went to the hospital for left-side pain that turned out to be a 4mm kidney stone. What was surprising was that the doctor in the emergency room sent me home with a prescription for Flomax to help the stone pass.

When I went to fill the prescription, my insurance plan wouldn't pay for it because I'm a woman and Flomax is only FDA-approved for treating a man's prostate. The stone eventually did pass without the Flomax, but have you ever heard of using it for kidney stones?

Answer: Yes. Doctors are now using the male prostate drug Flomax to aid in the passage of kidney stones - even in women. While it's not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for that use, it's a widely used and proven kidney-stone treatment.

At least nine clinical trials in the literature show that beyond the usual advice of increasing fluid intake and straining the urine to capture the stone, Flomax and the calcium-channel blocker blood pressure drug nifedipine (Procardia, Adalat) decrease the spasm of smooth muscle cells lining the junction where the two kidney ureter tubes connect with the bladder, aiding in the passage of kidney stones.

With nothing but extra fluids, pain meds, and time, a 4mm kidney stone like yours has a 60 percent chance of passing on its own. But with the addition of Flomax 0.4 mg per day for up to one month, a kidney stone will pass 2 to 6 days faster. Anyone who has experienced the pain of a kidney stone can appreciate the benefit of adding Flomax (and to a lesser degree, nifedipine).

nolead begins

Blue skin resulting from use of liquid silver

I recently saw a video of a man whose skin turned permanently blue from years of ingesting liquid silver. Why would someone do such a stupid thing?

A: I'm sure he had no idea that taking liquid (colloidal) silver could, over time, turn his skin Smurf blue, and that its medicinal properties are nil to limited at best.

The medicinal use of colloidal silver goes back hundreds of years as an antibiotic and disinfectant. Before the era of penicillin, sulfa drugs, and other modern antibiotics, colloidal silver was used for short-term treatment of infections.

As modern antibiotics proved themselves to be safer and more effective, colloidal silver was largely relegated to the unregulated "alternative medicine" category.

For the last 20 years, colloidal silver has made a resurgence as an unproven alternative medical treatment for conditions like cancer, tuberculosis, HIV, and the general prevention of infection.

At present, there are no evidence-based medicinal uses for colloidal silver. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine issued an advisory warning against its use and stated that its marketing claims are unsubstantiated. Nonetheless, some people still believe it does them good.

The condition you saw is called "argyria," and is the result of long-term colloidal silver ingestion or long-term topical application for some sort of skin condition. While the folks who have turned blue from colloidal silver staining do not seem to suffer organ damage, the blue discoloration of argyria is considered irreversible. To see pictures of some blue folks, check out this Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argyria.

The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00762424

Recruitment Status : Completed

First Posted : September 30, 2008

Results First Posted : December 17, 2014

Last Update Posted : December 17, 2014

Sponsor:

Information provided by (Responsible Party):

WellSpan Health

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Brief Summary:

Tamsulosin (Flowmax)is approved by the FDA for the treatment for enlarged prostate. Several studies regarding the use of Tamsulosin for the treatment of lower kidney stones have been carried out in the non-Emergency Department setting. This study will compare Tamsulosin 0.4 mg with placebo in regards to rate and time of stone passing and will also look at amount of pain. The purpose of this study is to compare the usefulness of Tamsulosin versus placebo on time to stone passage and pain relief in Emergency Department patients with kidney stones.

Condition or disease	Intervention/treatment	Phase
Kidney Stone	Drug: Flowmax Drug: placebo	Not Applicable

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Study Type :	Interventional (Clinical Trial)
Actual Enrollment :	53 participants
Allocation:	Randomized
Intervention Model:	Parallel Assignment
Masking:	Double (Participant, Care Provider)
Primary Purpose:	Treatment
Official Title:	Effect of Tamsulosin on Stone Expulsion and Pain Resolution in ED Patients With Ureterolithiasis
Study Start Date :	June 2007
Actual Primary Completion Date :	January 2011
Actual Study Completion Date :	January 2011

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Arm

Intervention/treatment

Active Comparator: Tamsulosin

Drug: Flowmax

0.4 mg once a day until stone passage total = 9 tablets

Placebo Comparator: Placebo

Drug: placebo

cornstarch

Primary Outcome Measures :

Time of Stone Passage [ Time Frame: 10 Days ]
Upon discharge, patient must be able to take the medication for 10 days and strain his/her urine. Patient must log the date and time of stone passage, if known.

Information from the National Library of Medicine

Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.

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Ages Eligible for Study:	18 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
Sexes Eligible for Study:	All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	No

Inclusion Criteria:

18 y.o. or older
diagnosed with a kidney stone less than or equal to 10 mm determined by CT scan
physician has made the decision that you will be discharged to home
must be able to take study medication for up to 10 days and strain your urine
must be able to keep a record of pain medication taken and complete a pain scale rating

Exclusion Criteria:

patients currently taking: Tamsulosin (Flowmax), calcium channel blockers, beta blockers, alpha blockers, Sildenaphil (Viagara), Tadalaphil (Cilias), Warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven), Cimetidine (Tagamet, Tagamet HB)
patients with a clinical and laboratory signs of: urinary tract infection, multiple kidney stones, diabetes, kidney failure, hypotension, pregnancy, fever
patient known to have hypersensitivity to Tamsulosin
patient history of cataract surgery
inability of patient to perform visual pain scale
allergy or intolerance to acetaminophen/oxycodone
patient is unable to understand informed consent
prisoners

Information from the National Library of Medicine

To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00762424

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United States, Pennsylvania
York Hospital Emergency Department
York, Pennsylvania, United States, 17405

WellSpan Health

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Principal Investigator:	Marc Pollack, MD, PhD	WellSpan Health

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Responsible Party:	WellSpan Health
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00762424
Other Study ID Numbers:	0607030
First Posted:	September 30, 2008 Key Record Dates
Results First Posted:	December 17, 2014
Last Update Posted:	December 17, 2014
Last Verified:	December 2014

Keywords provided by WellSpan Health:


Kidney stone Ureterolithiasis Tamsulosin Flowmax Emergency Department

Additional relevant MeSH terms:

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Kidney Calculi Nephrolithiasis Ureterolithiasis Ureteral Calculi Calculi Pathological Conditions, Anatomical	Kidney Diseases Urologic Diseases Urolithiasis Urinary Calculi Ureteral Diseases

How long does it take for tamsulosin to start working?

The effects of the drug can usually be felt within the first 48 hours. Complete urinary relief may take up to two to six weeks. If a 0.4-mg dose is unable to provide relief, your healthcare provider may recommend that you double the dose to 0.8 mg once daily.

Does tamsulosin shrink kidney stones?

The tamsulosin meta-analysis included more than 1300 patients from 15 trials and found a 24% improvement in clearance rate with tamsulosin 0.4 mg daily compared with control for upper urinary tract stones. The results were not stratified by stone size. It also found more benefit with 0.4 mg compared with 0.2 mg daily.

Can Flomax help pass a 7mm kidney stone?

Now, a new study finds that the drug tamsulosin (Flomax) can boost the passage of large kidney stones, but not small ones. "Small stones usually pass on their own, so it's not too surprising that drug therapy did not help in this study," said Dr.

How long does it take to pass a kidney stone with medication?

With medical expulsive therapy, most small stones (less than 5 or 6 mm) will typically pass within a few days to a few weeks. Provided you are in good health, you can try for up to 6 weeks to pass a stone, although most patients elect for earlier intervention.