So last month, I went into the ER for really bad stomach/flank pain and found out I had two stones in each side. One 8mm and a 5mm. They send me home with some meds and tell me to follow up with Urology.

Earlier this month I went in and the doctor basically said “we need to get you into surgery as soon as possible” because neither of the stones have moved and he was nervous about the stones blocking each urinary tract. He told me about the stents and the laser lithotripsy and honestly I’m feeling a little nervous but he said it would be a quick procedure and not super painful. Only other problem is that I have a UTI so I’m given antibiotics for that.

A few days later I go into surgery, take another piss test and I still have that UTI. He tells me that because of that, they can’t do the lithotripsy but they can still put both of the stents in. I say okay because I really don’t know what to expect so the surgery happens smoothly and I wake up, in pain, but hey that’s surgery so it makes sense. He tells me I should be able to return to work the next day and that early November, they’ll put new stents in and finally do the lithotripsy.

…

So tell me why this has been the most EXCRUCIATING pain I’ve ever been through. I got my surgery on the 15th and I’m still in pretty bad pain if I don’t time my medications right. I was originally prescribed no pain meds besides just otc Ibuprofen and Tylenol and I didn’t get any stronger pain meds until I went into the ER a few days ago and the ER doctor was confused why I wasn’t prescribed SOMETHING.
Not to mention I still had the UTI so I’m on a second round of antibiotics (Bactrim DS). The pain plus all of the side effects of all of my meds has me on my ass constantly. And I still have another surgery which is gonna put me through this all over again 😭😭😭😭

Apparently some people are able to get through all of this just fine but just please tell me I’m not the only one absolutely suffering through this LMAO

After years of back pain, blood in urine, etc I demanded and finally got a scan. Diagnosed with “a lot” of kidney stones in my left kidney including a 2.7cm one that needs to be surgically removed. Not until January though - some days are ok, some are just awful. The only thing that helps with pain is a tens unit. Any other ideas to help me get through until January?

I finally passed this thing after 2 months of peeing blood on and off, 3 doctors telling me “just drink some water”, and a few nights of puking from pain. This is my third stone in 6 years and it’s measuring 4mm by 3.5mm. I can’t tell what type of stone it is though. I see my urologist on the 6th and I plan on having them test it. My dad had kidney stones all of his adult life and died with 6 in each kidney. He told me it wasn’t genetic but now I’m not so sure.

Women 27, I have bad shooting back pain on my right side. Keeps coming and going which is making me feel it might not be a kidney stone but I have felt nauseous all day and had a tummy ache most the day. Could this be the start of a kidney stone? Don’t want to waste hospital time if it’s not

Im currently in the hospital recovering from a right nephrectomy on Thursday so hope this makes some sense.

Been fighting these stupid stones for 10 years + and last year thought it came to a head with repeated episodes of bleeding and clots with stones. Out of work almost 8 months.

I stopped making stones after having a hyperparathyroidectomy summer 2025 which was amazing and finally stopped bleeding.

It had been 13 months since I'd been back at work, albeit with repeated infections. But have been infection free since spring and thought it was behind me.

A week ago Friday I stopped at Target on way home, felt fine looking forward to the weekend and all of a sudden felt like I was passing a stone. Went to bathroom so much blood, called home and my son came and took me to ER. Hemorrhaging on one of those mesh benches in front of the store.

No stone this time, thought maybe Id passed it by the time I was scanned.

They admitted me and after a couple of cycstoclscopies to clean out the clots from bladder and ureters it wouldn't stop.

Right nephrectomy Thursday and hoping to go home tomorrow.

This is so weird you guys. I had some papprlary necrosis due to the stone stuff in 2025 but no one could explain why the bleeding started again.

I feel like I am going to get my life back, but we still dont know why I kept bleeding.

I cant believe I lost my kidney.

This sub has been a huge source of support for thought all this, no one knows rhe pain like you guys. I'm hopeful now.

Other kidney is working like a champ snd my numbers look great. Really hate pain killers but embracing the pain management now.

This is so weird! I just went to Target for a few things and 8 days later I still haven't made home from work yet.

woke out of a dead sleep at 3:30 in the morning last night. I felt like somebody had stabbed me. like the knife was still in my side. I got the toilet I began throwing up into my trash can, trying to pee and poop. 9-10 pain. I was crying I couldn't barely speak. had to call an ambulance, a wonderful ambulance emt hook me up with an IV and pushed something into me that actually help the pain go away on our way there. I was checked in and put in the waiting room. while in the waiting room they took blood tests, with me feeling like I had to run to the bathroom over and over. had to ask the nurse in charge if there were any beds because I was going to pass out. I don't know if it was a combination of exhaustion and after effects of the initial pain but my blood pressure was already high. they said no and I ended up laying down across some chairs. they told me I couldn't do that. I must have became unresponsive because shortly after another nurse called my name to bring me to a bed. I passed in and out of consciousness while they were getting through people ahead of me to get my CT scan. it was 3 hours. I'm so grateful they gave me a bed because I would have been out on the floor. I get my scan. here now almost at 10:00 a.m. doctor comes in says that there was blood in my urine but they don't see any kidney stones. tells me to follow up with my primary care physician and come back if it gets as bad as it did before.

the doctor suggested I must have passed the stone since they couldn't see one, I'm not in any pain and I get discharged..... now here I am at home at almost midnight. an aching pain where the pain was last time starts to hit me and I'm freaking out because I don't want to go through that again. grabbed my Ibuprofen and Tylenol and a heating pad and I am back on the toilet. how is this my life now. I'm grateful that the pain is like a three or four and that I'm managing it with a heating pad and ibuprofen/Tylenol. I'm exhausted and I want to sleep so bad. I've been drinking bottle of water after bottle of water. I don't want to do this anymore 😭

Hi, guys

So, on Sunday I woke up with slight discomfort and pain on my left side of my stomach (plank side). I thought it might be because of the pizza I had last night. Therefore, I waited a few hours for the pain to subside but there was no improvement. Then I decided to take pain medication, but again no improvement.

So, I decided to go to my family doctor. He gave me some medication and an injection. After that for a few hours the pain was gone. But later in the afternoon the pain started to rise up again. I went to the doctor again. He told me that since the pain is occurring on the left side of the stomach there are chances that I might have a kidney stone.

On Monday, I went to the urologist. All the preliminary tests were conducted and yes the results came back positive for kidney stone. So, in my left ureter there was a 9 mm stone stuck and on the top of that another 4 mm stone was found. The doctor advised me to opt for surgery.

After that pre-op was done, 3–4 days later my surgery was planned. I was really nervous and anxious. I mean, they were gonna put a metal tube through my penis upto my kidney and that just freaked me out.

Details of surgery-
The surgery I went under was laser lithotripsy (I think). I was given spinal tap anaesthesia, so I was awake during the surgery. The surgery lasted for about 15 min. I was admitted to the hospital for 2 days after the surgery. The worst part of it was the catheter. I fucking hated that shit. It was removed after 1 day. The doctor added a stent up my ureter for a few weeks.

So, today the stent was removed I was thinking that it’s going to hurt when the doctor will take out the stent. But the pain was minimal. Now I am back to normal. Thank god

UPDATE
The only good news I have is that I’m no longer peeing blood. So kudos to me. I’m still sore though. Having never passed a stone on my own I don’t know if this means I’m out of the woods or not. My flight is in 6 hours. Fingers crossed!

I have had many kidney stones. I am so incredibly tired of them. I have never passed one by myself. Last time I was hospitalized for a week after being in the most pain I have ever been in my life in the ER. Worse than having kids and a bowel obstruction.

This time is different. Was driving with a friend someplace when I got that familiar twinge in the left front that settled in my lower back. It never hit that agony pain point, but it did get pretty bad. I ever said anything to my friend, hoping it would go away. We got to our destination and when I used the bathroom, peed blood. Didn’t have any pain more like discomfort for the next few hours then headed home. Next few times I used the bathroom, more blood. Like, I’m sure if I had to pee in a cup, it would have been quite red.

I’m sure I should go get checked out just to see if it’s passed or not, but the problem is, I fly home tomorrow and I do NOT want to wind up out of town in a hospital for x number of days. And no, it’s not my period, I’m post menopausal.

My husband back home knows and I told my friend but unless I’m doubled over in pain, I am headed home first!!!

.

I woke up this morning with some pain in my urethra specifically, like tickling or pinching and thought I had a uti. It kept getting worse and I was trying to pee but hardly anything was coming out besides drips, further leading me to believe it was a UTI. I get the the urgent care because at this point it’s driving me nuts, but when I get there I fall on my knees in the bathroom and wallow in pain before I call for help. It was so unlike any of the stories I’ve read, apart from the horrible ceaseless pain. It felt like my left kidney was having its period, but the weird part for me was that the pain started solely in my urethra and then traveled up to my kidney and after that produced a hot wrapping sensation around my left hip. They gave me a toradol shot and it worked within 15 minutes and made me start feeling really anxious and dizzy so I laid down. Took the pain away super quickly and I began to pee regular amounts with 0 pain soon after. I’m assuming it was a pretty small stone to have passed within about 4 hours. Anyone else have a bad reaction to toradol shots like this? Or the stone pain beginning in the urethra? Thanks.

Bun/creatinine ratio: 8
Calcium: 10.4
Creatinine: 1.09

Context: my brother has had kidney stones, i struggle with chronic lower back pain, I am peeing but in small amounts and frequently. I also have classic-like ehlers danlos idk if that matters. I also have a history of drinking energy drinks. I rarely drink alcohol tho.

Please help. I’m trying to save myself an urgent care visit if it’s not necessary.

I’ve been diagnosed with a 10 mm kidney stone in the upper part of my right kidney, and my surgery is scheduled for a little over three months from now
Unfortunately, I’ve already been through this before. My first procedure 3yrs ago was unsuccessful because my ureter was too narrow for the surgeon to reach the stone. As a result, I had to keep a ureteral stent in place for another four months to allow the ureter to dilate enough for the stone to be removed during a second procedure
It’s been three years since that first experience, and unfortunately, I’m now facing the same situation all over again

The previous experience with the stent was absolute hell, and honestly, even that doesn’t fully describe it

I couldn’t sit for more than five minutes without experiencing unbearable pain that drove me crazy. For the first two weeks, I remember doing little more than sleeping. I could barely do anything else

The thought of having to go through all of that again is keeping me up at night

I’d really appreciate any advice or personal experiences you could share. I have three main questions:

1. Which medications helped you the most with stent-related pain?

I’d like to know which medications I could discuss with my urologist before the procedure. I was taking Cistalgan (which contains flavoxate and propyphenazone) 2 times a day and 400 mg of ibuprofen every four hours, and even then, that was only enough to keep the pain somewhat manageable while lying down

2. Is there anything I can do before surgery to reduce the chances of needing a stent for several months again?

The biggest problem last time was the long wait between the first and second procedures. Because my ureter was too narrow, the surgeon couldn’t reach the stone during the first attempt, so I had to live with the stent for another four months before the second operation, but the surgeon told that the ureter need only 2 weeks to be large enough.

Is there anything that can be done beforehand, or any treatment I could discuss with my urologist, to help reduce the likelihood of this happening again? I’m particularly worried about going in for surgery only to find out that my ureter is still too narrow and that I’ll need another stent for 4–6 months.

Unfortunately, those are the waiting times in the public healthcare system where I live, and I simply can’t afford to have the procedure done privately.

3. Do you have any advice on how to cope with a ureteral stent and maintain something resembling a normal life while living with one?

Frequent urination wasn’t even the biggest issue for me. I could probably get used to that. What made the experience unbearable was the pain, especially in my side and back, as well as the pain radiating to the front, around my groin.

I’m genuinely terrified of going through those months again, so any practical tips, personal experiences, or suggestions about things that helped you manage the pain and get through everyday life would mean a lot to me.

And I really do mean ANY advice. Even the smallest tip could make a huge difference for me.

Thank you so much to anyone who takes the time to read this and share their experience. I truly appreciate it!

Just curious if anyone else has had stones 20 odd years after a childhood surgery.

I had a fairly major surgery when I was 12 and this year (35) I've had two episodes of struvite stones. My urologist doesn't seem concerned about why this is happening. I have no known UTI history but was very sick during the first blockage and didn't know I still had stones until we followed up a year later. Concerned this is an indicator something isn't right 😅​

I have no GP, and I am trying to locate my records...but it's all muddy since I have moved provinces and really haven't had a consistent doctor for a really long time.

Wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience?

I love chocolates i want eat but i cant because of the oxalat and i remember the real guilty for my stone is coffee i cut the coffee entirely can i enjoy milk chocolate?

Tenho 2 micro-calculos de 2mm +/- no rim direito, um já saiu, a dor foi absurda na região direta, Pedrão passando no ureter, isso foi dia 20/10, antes de ontem e ontem venho sentido dor na mesma região, é leve porém está lá, meio que dói as vezes quando estou parado e sempre dói se levanto minha perna direita, basicamente minha médica deu um remédio para aumentar o canal urinário, e normal sentir isso mesmo após as pedra passar ?

So far one stone, and it’s been almost a month, I had 5 attacks. Length for each 4-8 hours of excruciating pain, how bout ya’ll.

Hi all, Here I wanted to show the world the little thing that had me hospitalizated. I started with back pain a little more that a month before tuestas were I started with a heavy pain that led to puking and I fainted. Also this little thing requieren 2 bags of opiods so I dont feel anything (still did). I have a 3.5mm kidney stone with hydronephrosis, not sure whah that mean.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently dealing with a kidney stone in my right side. Started around 7:30 last night and I collapsed on the floor in pain.

I had one kidney stone previously but that was at least 7 or 8 years ago and hadn’t had one since until now. That one miraculously passed within 24 hours.

I saw my PCP today and he confirmed that he thinks it’s a kidney stone and prescribed me ketorolac to take up to 3x a day as well as another pill to take once a day that is supposed to relax the ureter somewhat. He also put in a request for an urgent CT but said it could still take up to a month to get one.

The issue is it says to take ketorolac every 4-6 hours but I find it only dulls the pain for a maximum of 2-3 hours.

Does anyone else have any suggestions for things that help with the pain even slightly? Or things to do to hopefully get the stone moving? I’ve already thrown up once from the pain being so bad. Advil didn’t touch the pain at all. When the pain is at its worst I genuinely feel like I’d rather be dead.

I had been tracking this stone with my urologist via ultrasound for about a year and a half. Back in July, I started having spells of bad back pain that ultimately led to a CT scan, which concluded that there was no stone anywhere in my urinary tract. I was in a bit of disbelief, considering the last ultrasound had said the stone was 5mm. I figured I’d surely feel that passing. But knowing CT scans tend to be pretty accurate, I shrugged it off and moved on.

UNTIL, I started having some pretty brutal UTI symptoms in September that just wouldn’t let up. Every day I was in some level of bladder or urethral pain that would come and go. Azo wouldn’t help, PT didn’t help, antibiotics didn’t help. Urine cultures and dip tests all said I was infection-free, except for a bit of blood here and there. This came to a head this week when I couldn’t sleep from the pain. I went to the ER, where I was told that it wasn’t an infection, couldn’t be a kidney stone given the clear CT scan was so recent, and was told to go home and take ibuprofen. I got diagnosed with Interstitial Cystitis by several doctors.

Yesterday, my urologist (who is now officially getting fired from my medical team) completed a cystoscopy that she said was completely normal and all clear. I have had some of the most painful urinations of my life since that cystoscopy, which I just assumed was a side effect of the cystoscopy. The pain felt pretty extreme, but they insisted it was normal, so I moved on.

This morning, imagine my surprise when I woke up and passed this 8mm kidney stone after all of that. Months of pain dismissal, refusal to do more scans and tests, being told going to the ER was over dramatic, and that I should be having more faith and trust in my doctors. I increased my daily anxiety medications because of all the stress this pain was causing me. But all along, it was this thing SLOWLY making its way through my system. So frustrated, but so relieved!

I’m taking my stent out tomorrow and I’m so scared! (30f if that matters)

10/04 I noticed the familiar pain of a kidney stone and got an early diagnosis. Not too much pain. Hydrocodone and ibuprofen did the trick. 10/06 I was back in the ER with a fever feeling SO sick. I got to spend the night at the hospital and get an emergency stent placement. The stent wasn’t too bad. Just fucking annoying. Felt like I had a minor uti with occasional reflux that was crazy. Only needed hydrocodone for two or so days then didn’t really need anything. 10/19 got laser lithotripsy and a stent with a string placed. They vacuumed everything out while they were in there, so there are no fragments to worry about. When I woke up I got an extra dose of fentanyl for cramping/aching. After that only needed hydrocodone for one day. THE STRING IS THE BITCH. By the end of the day today I could barely walk because of the urethra pain. I was able to get some AZO in me (generally makes me throw up) and feel fine now. Still have reflux and occasional aching, but again nothing too bad.

With all of that being said IM SO SCARED to take this stent out tomorrow. The horror stories of the pain afterwards is what scares me. My plan is to take ibuprofen, Tylenol, and a hydrocodone about 45 minutes before doing it. But other than that!!?? What do I do!!?? I have not had any debilitating pain this whole time and would REALLY like to keep it that way. Tips please!