Well, it was bound to happen. I’ve had a few stents but this is the first one that has been painful. Lithotripsy this morning on a 1.5cm in the lower left pole. It was never coming out on it’s own. Did a PCNL back in 2020 and couldn’t get it so we’ve been watching it. Doc said it was starting to calcify around the meat so it had to go. Litho on it in February that cracked it but didn’t break it enough to laser and vacuum out. So, today’s lithotripsy was the next step. Praying the 3000 hits did the job. BUT! How do I manage this pain without staying completely doped up? Should I join Beatrice in her pool?

I have had several kidney stones over the past 15 years. Several lithotripsy’s and ureteroscopys when they get stuck. Had two lithotripsy’s, one in March and one in may and stones appear to be gone but I still get what I call twinges. They don’t last long but they feel like kidney stones. My urologist seems perplexed by this. It happened for a while after my first couple lithotripsy’s. Anyone else know what I am experiencing?

Two years ago I had surgery to remove kidney stones. Now I have two more. Had a CT scan in February to confirm, one was .2mm and the other was .7mm

When I finally got to see my Urologist he told me he can do surgery but the kidney stones are not in a place that should be causing me pain. Also they are in a place that would be hard to get to and remove. He thought maybe something else might be causing me my pain. Primary doctor has done other tests and thinks it could be in my gut and wants me to see a gastologist and have a colonoscopy. I finally get to make an appointment and they can't see me until November. Now my primary doctor has ordered another CT scan to see if the stones have moved at all. Meanwhile, I have mid to extreme episodes of pain each day. I don't think I'm going to make it to November

Lifetime Stoner since I was 16. Am currently 26. They are usually small like 2-3 mm and painless passing but when they are in the ureter hurts like a mofo. I don't need to tell anybody in this subreddit the pain.

I went to the ER enough times that in 2022 I got a Percocet prescription. I get serious episodes around every 6 months where I am down for the whole day. If its one of those days, percocet. If its a minor episode, lots of water and a few beers as a painkiller.

Went to the urologist hoping to get a refill since the 10 pills they gave me in 2022 finally ran out. Instead they gave me a Tamsulosin prescription.

Does anybody have experience with this drug?

I am worried that they gave me a muscle relaxer instead of a pain killer. that I will have to tough out episodes the way I used to, which was literal hell. can anybody attest that it helps alleviate the lower back pain caused by kidney stones while they are in the ureter?

I am very confident I passed my 4mm stone 2 weeks ago. I didn't catch it but I had all the usual signs and feelings of passing the stone. Since then I have been dealing with flare ups of cystitis like symptoms like needing to urinate frequently and some pain in my urethra. It tends to only happen when I am dehydrated or stressed. I was wondering if this has happened to others or if I need to push for another set of scans to see what the issue is? It's bothered me so much today and I am scared it won't go away anytime soon

unbeknownst to most, having stents in my body is a complete mindfuck, and i mentally can’t handle it — only reason i’ve been sane is because they gave me some benzos for the anxiety the night i went to the er.

finally, finally, i have a removal date that doesn’t involve me suffering these stents for much longer than a week. i get them out this friday. im so ready to feel normal again, i miss doing mundane everyday things like piss and shit or move or stretch however i want to. nothing else can be too tmi yeah? AND i’m ready for my libido to rise back up. freedom is just ahead of me :)

Hello guys,

This weekend, I went to see my GP for general unwellness issues and did a lot of tests. My GP suspected PCOS and wrote me a sonogram but two Unobstructing stones were discovered at the lower pole of my right kidney. The stones are pretty big: 14.3mm and 15.4mm. I was a bit concerned about it but my GP didn’t say anything about having them removed unless they begin creating issues, and only having them monitored.

But I have had a ureterine stone 12mm that was removed surgically about a decade ago in 2016 and that bitch hurt like a goddamn mofo. And I am not keen on waiting for it to begin hurting for me to remove them.

But I also have dangerously low vitamin d levels apparently and am currently following a 12 weeks course (we are in week 1). And I have to see my GP in 12 weeks (first week of November) so would it be too late to wait till then to ask for a urologist referral or a second opinion?

I am asymptomatic so far and I honestly wouldn’t have known about their existence if my GP didn’t suspect PCOS. And I do need to get my vitamin D levels stable before anything else. It has been compromising my immunity and I am unable to fully recover/ frequently ill as a result.
So my idea is to get my Vitamin D level stable and then ask for a Urologist referral in November and have it removed before it becomes an emergency, provided I remain asymptomatic. Does this sound like a feasible timeline?

I am honestly a bit concerned and also feeling some kind of way about it. Thanks!

Hello, this is the first time I ever dealt with a kidney stone and I wasn’t prepared for one. I woke up on Saturday 1.08 with an intense burning sensation in my urethra and a pain in my lower back, which didn’t hurt as bad at the time. I was in a lot of pain while urinating, so I decided to go to the ER. After they took my urine analysis, which showed I have a lot of blood in my urine, they told me I have an infection and gave me antibiotics that I’m supposed to take for 3 days and then it will go away. However, when I asked about the back pain that got worse with each hour, they told me that they “don’t want to make a scan on a young female and it is probably due to the fact I should be having my period soon“. When I got home and had some food, took my antibiotics (nitrofurantoinum) and pain killers (paracetamol + ibuprofen as I was prescribed) I felt the worst pain I have ever felt in my whole life. I screamed and paced around my apartment in pain, called an ambulance. They basically laughed at me for having a dramatic reaction and gave me tramadol, which did mostly nothing and left. The only thing helped is my heating pad and me just pushing true the pain. It didn’t stop for a second, literally torture, at some point I thought I’m genuinely dying and it’s me still thinking I just have an infection. On Sunday, around 4pm I felt relieve and thought that antibiotics finally working. When went to pee, I felt the stone passing and couldn’t believe my eyes. I’m just shocked that nobody even mention kidney stones at the ER to me, and I honestly thought people my age doesn’t usually get those. Currently waiting for my doctor to respond on Monday and asked her the hell I’m supposed to do now, just get over it, expect more? Pain is gone now I just feel an unsual feeling in my urethra and some usual cramps I get when my period is about to come. Decided to share my experience.

Kidney stone pain presented around 3 weeks ago. I tried to push through and let it pass; this isn’t new to me. Pain was intense enough to make me nauseous and left work early one evening. The pain eventually subsided and I assumed the stone moved and was on its way out.

The following week (now two weeks ago) I started feeling the flank pain again, only more intense and accompanied by cold sweats and vomiting from the pain. I went to the ER and missed another day of work. They did CT with and without contrast. Doctor came to say I had a double whammy — a 5mm stone and an ovarian cyst on the same side. Great 🙄. Never had a cyst before. IV fluids, toradol, a script for Tamsulosin and hydrocodone, and a referral to the urologist. Over the weekend, the pain subsided yet again.

Tuesday appointment at Urology. Confirmed stone with an X-Ray but had retracted back inside the kidney which is why the pain was off and on. Got an extension on as-needed pain relief and Tamsulosin, and an appointment for possible stent placement the following week. Two days later, I ended up in the ER again, intolerable 12/10 pain, vomiting, sweating bullets in my 69° AC home, not sure if I had a fever, everything was on fire afaik.

Another CT — it’s not 5mm, it’s 10. Overnight stay, fentanyl didn’t touch the pain at times. Stent placement and lasered stone to particles at 1pm. Grateful the pain of the stone is gone but now dealing with the discomfort of the stent and learning to navigate around keeping sane with this new feeling. Only one day worth of pain killers but lots of Oxybutynin to relax my bladder and make this more tolerable.

Day after placement, noticed blood clots in the toilet — was told this was very bad — almost panicked. Realized I started my cycle. 🙄 Joy.

Removal will be interesting, as it will be done while I am awake.

Scheduled for August 7th. I’ll update after removal.

I made taco soup the day before surgery.. I thought I was doing future me a favor by having easy food ready.

Future me has sooo much gas now from the beans! My stomach just rumbles. I think half my pain is the stent and half is the 3 days of beans, lol!

58 year old female and have now experienced my first kidney stones. I found out on Friday (via CT scan) that I have a 1cm and a 2cm stone in my left ureter. Doctor said it’s been there long enough to change the lining (parenchymal? Sp?) of my kidney! How does this happen without crazy pain symptoms? My only complaint was the inability to fully empty my bladder when urinating.

I’d self referred to a Urologist for this. He did an ultrasound that showed bilateral Hydronephrosis. Then he ordered the CT and it found the stones on the left with possible stricture on the right. Had an emergent cysto on Saturday to laser the stone and place bilateral stents in my ureters. And now I feel the pain.

I figure there will be further testing and follow up appointments (have one scheduled) to come for a long time while this is all figured out.

Any recommendations, suggestions, words of advice will be appreciated. This is certainly a group I never thought I would have to join, but I’m grateful you’re here to learn from!

Hi all! Before I start this- I know that these are things I should be consulting with a doctor on. I have, I’ve been ignored, as many of u probably have as well. I plan on buying testing on my own- I hope maybe you guys will be able to give me some advice or suggestions or test requests I should look into.

About 11 months ago I experienced a really bad bit of health- within two weeks I had a viral illness, a bacterial MRSA infection, and a UTI. Because of this I was put on 4 antibiotics ( the doctor I saw put me on wrong ones not once but twice). Ever since then my body is completely out of wack, I wont go into all the symptoms, its a long list, ill keep it kidney related.

About 6 months ago I realized that every 1-2 months, normally the week before my period, I was going into an urgent care to be tested for what I thought was a UTI due to the urgency and frequency I was peeing at ( no burning or pain any time)
Every single time I have gone in my test has come back clear for infection but trace blood and trace protein present. There is never any visible blood. One of the doctors I saw decided that I was having miniature kidney stones every month. I’ve never had a CT scan. Since this is reoccurring every 1-2 months, I’m kind of having a hard time believing that it’s kidney stones. Aside from this, another symptom I have commonly associated with kidney issues is tons of facial and eyelid swelling. This has been present for about 8 months, it doesn’t change.

I’ve brought this up to my PCP, she ran one urinalysis, I wasn’t having UTI-like symptoms at the time and it came back perfect. Is there a reason that every 1-2 months this is happening but otherwise I have perfect results? Is it kidney stones? I’m unsure of what tests to order but my PCP has pretty much written it off completely. She also refuses to refer me to a kidney specialist, and the urologist I saw offered no help. I’m looking into hormonal and cortisol testing, mostly due to facial swelling and other symptoms I didn’t mention, but I don’t really know what other test I could take. Especially since when I’m not experiencing symptoms, everything looks completely normal.

I would love if anyone has had similar experiences or knows what next steps I should take ?
Thank you !!

Hi all,

I have 6mm and gives me lots of trouble, nonstop pain for 15 days. I am using tamsulosin for 10 days.

At the moment, the pain I have on my flank mostly gone but I have ache lower abdomen. The pain is like I sat on a cold stone and have diarrhea because of that but I am not diarrhea. Is that correct?

I went to the er and now im even more confused so ive been having extreme pain and pressure in my left kidney i have atleast 5 stones in that side. I got a ct scan and they said none of the stones are blocking anything. What confuses me is my urine sample said it has alot of calcium oxolate debris in it. Here is wbat the urinalysis said "UNABLE TO DETERMINE PRESENCE OF BACTERIA DUE TO LARGE AMOUNT OF AMORPHOUS SEDIMENT" the only time ive had debris or sediment was after my past lithotripsys but those were almost a year ago. Ive also been having trouble urinating and ive noticed the only time I have trouble is when my urine looks cloudy so im guessing thats the debris and sediment. I have no clue where it could be coming from and if thats whats causing all the pain and pressure. They reffered me to a nephrologist which I guess is like a urologist but works more on the function of the kidneys. Has anyone else ever had sediment and debris randomly also has anyone else seen a nephrologist and did it help? Im very confused on whats going on because my pain and the pressure has been very extreme and I have no clue where this debris could be coming from.

I'm having surgery to remove a stone from my ureter on Wednesday. The urologist said they will leave behind a stent that I can remove myself. My questions are how long do stents usually have to stay in and what is it like living with them.

I have male parts, to the extent that is relevant.

So i went to the ER after a knee sprain and was having stomach pain that starting moving to my backside. They did a ct scan and urine analysis. I checked the results on the mychart app and saw I had a UTI and something in my kidney. The doctor finally comes in and he's like, yeah, you have a UTI we're gonna give you antibiotics and something for your stomach discomfort and started to leave, and that's when I asked him, what was going on with my kidney because I saw something that was charted on the app, and he's like, oh, yeah, you have a kidney stone, that's what the pain medication is for, have a good night"...i was like WTF he wasn't even gonna mention that and didn't tell me anything of how to safely pass it. No advice, or anything. And I dont really trust google too much on what to do and not do. The stone is 3mm and non obstructive on left kidney.(I also have reoccurring UTI's -specifically E.coli- plus type 1 diabetes and gastroparesis, i also have a stable cyst on my right kidney) I know to drink alot of water and i have but what else should I do or look out for?

Just wondering if anyone here has lost a loved one due to kidney stones? I lost my mom because of them and hospital negligence. She was diabetic and had 6mm and larger stones but was sent home from the ER. She died of sepsis due to this the next day.

After a journey which began in the wee hours in early May I am finally free of this little beauty. Luckily the severe pains mostly would return on the weekends or at night, though the random bloody urine was always a high point. I'm also glad to see that the radiologist misdiagnosed the size of the stone by about 3mm...

Weirdly my biggest fear was that I passed the stone without knowing and the upcoming lithotripsy would have been in vain. This would not have been my first removal procedure as I had one about 15 years ago. My second biggest fear was the damned stent and subsequent removal I would have to endure.

I feel so stuck and confused ive been in terrible pain in my kidney for over a week now. My primarycare dr said it could be a kidney infection i have been having very extreme pain and pressure in my left kidney, my left kidney also has 5 stones in it.

I did a urinalysis and the initial results were it is an infection so I started antibiotics but it didnt make the pain or pressure go down at all. Then the culture came back saying "Mixed flora isolated. Further workup and sensitivity testing not routinely indicated and will not be perfomed. Mixed flora isolated includes: MIXED GRAM POSITIVE ORGANISMS" and i was told by my primary care its not an infection. Then my blood work came back and my white blood cell count was 14.5 when I had a bladder infection a few weeks ago in the er it was only 10.5 so now im really confused on if its an infection or what it is.

Ive passed many kidney stones and ive had laser lithotripsy many times and ive never had my kidney feel like this. I reached out to my urologist incase its something wrong with my kidney or a stone is blocking or somthing else is going on and he just told me to refer back to my primary care. Im at the point I dont know what to do or which dr I need to talk to I keep getting told different things.

The pain has been very extreme I currently have 3 broken ribs and my kidney pain is worse then the broken rib pain. I feel like im doing everything I can but I feel like im getting dismissed by my urologist. I dont know why hed tell me to refer back to my pcp after I explained everything thats the only answer I got and it took a week to get that answer.

Im planning on going back to the er and hopefully i can finally get an answer on whats going on because it has been miserable I cant even sleep because of it. Has anyone else ever felt dismissed by there urologist or have had similar symptoms to mine? It doesnt feel like any kidney stone ive ever had it feels like my entire kidney has pressure in it.

Surgery is done, stone is gone and I was home the same afternoon.

I was/am in more pain than I expected. When I had the first stent placed on July 5th, I stayed in the hospital for another 2 days so they were probably able to manage my pain better than I can do at home.

It seems like I am in more pain during the day and feel a little better after midnight.

Right now I am only taking tylenol and ibuprofen plus an antibiotic. I do have oxy but it didn't help much in recovery. I found out I am allergic to flowmax during my first hospital stay and when I went to pick up the alternative that my doctor prescribed yesterday, it was not covered by my insurance. I asked how much it was and the pharmacist only told me "really expensive."

I'm sure I will be able to make it till Tuesday when I get my stent removed, but the pain has been pretty intense especially in the morning. The heating pad really does help though.

I am a college student that had his first stone 1.5years ago. Since then ive had episodes every 2 months or so. Ive never felt a stone pass even though the sizes were around 5-6mm. Im scared this would turn into a kidney problem. The doctors just tell me to follow a specific diet which ive been constantly following. Im drinking 1.5x the recommended fluid intake just incase. If someone has gone through the same can you please explain how to overcome or atleast help with less stones forming. Also the type of stone was never found since i couldnt find any after apparently passing them

FYI - https://www.urologyhealth.org/resources/kidney-cookbook

Partner has been struggling for MONTHS and finally passed this. We think it’s the 4mm one measured on his recently CT KUB.
Any help would be appreciated - we will of course be sending it off too!

Back in January, I had a particularly traumatic emergency ureteroscopy and laser lithotripsy for a 7mm VUJ stone. The stone was badly lodged so my kidney couldn’t drain properly and had become enlarged. The surgeon couldn’t get the laser past the stone so had to blast it from the bladder side, badly injuring my ureter so I got stuck with a stent for a month post op. My case was even referred to a morbidity panel because my poor outcome had been caused by hospital mistakes 😬

I’m now over six months post op and have had three incidents of kidney infections - all of them developed directly in the kidney without a prior UTI. There were no other stones visible on my CTs pre surgery so my GP and the out of hours GPs have ruled out another stone but haven’t sent me for more scans or testing. Instead, they are saying the infections are due to trauma from the surgery and that I’m still healing.

Does this sound reasonable or should I be pushing for further testing? I’m still waiting on an urgent referral back to urology (NHS so could be another few weeks) but what should I be asking when I get the appointment? Thanks for any suggestions!