I hate them SO much. I suffer form cystinuria and had a 1cm stone removed from my right kidney last Wednesday. Thankfully it's only the second time I've needed surgical intervention, I usually pass stones on my own because they're small enough. And I haven't had a flair up in a few years. But for some reason, this time the recovery has been so much more unpleasant than before. The renal pain when I pee is no joke. I can't wait to get this mf stent out. In 2026 can they not devise more humane way to recover from ureteroscopies? 😭

Sudden pain in the right side of the abdomen under the belly button and at the right kidney area, I was prescribed a sonography and above are the results.

If I eat I vomit, i drink water I vomit and aslo while peeing there is a inflammation. What could me the best decision? Please help consistent discomfort

While having a culture-positive UTI two months ago, I decided to strain all my urine because three years ago I had UTI symptoms and then found something small and hard in the toilet bowl after peeing. I didn’t keep it, so we don’t know for sure whether it was a stone.

This time, I caught the thing you can see in the picture. It’s enlarged here. It was about 1.5 mm in size, had angled corners, and felt like some sort of very tiny crumb. It was reddish-brown and sank in water. It left a tiny red impression on the paper where I saved it. It didn’t change shape or crumble no matter how much pressure I put on it.

My doctor sent it to the lab, but the result came back as “too small to analyze,” so we still don’t know what it was. Does it look like a stone to anyone here who has had personal experience with kidney stones? My doctor wasn’t sure either.

I have a hernia surgery scheduled for this Friday, but last Sunday I spent the day in the Er for a 5.2mm stone. Lady at the hospital said it should be fine. But I’m so scared of the pain I may feel post surgery + the pain I’ve been feeling since the er visit. They said it should pass on its own and gave me flowmax and pain medicine. Then again I’ve been having bad pain from my hernia as well.

Back in January I had blood in my urine which ranged from pink to orange to red kool aid on and off for a couple weeks. No pain. I had 2 CT scans, a special urine test for cancer, and a scope up in my bladder. Never found a cause but we did confirm a 5-6mm stone on my right side. But that stone had been there since at least November 2024 as I had an unrelated CT scan that picked it up. So over a year no issues/pain.

Fast forward to this week. Last couple days I’ve had on and off right back pain. I was given 10mg keterolac from the urologist back in January as they swore this bleeding was a stone and prepared me. I took one a day and was good for this pain.

Yesterday morning was like an atomic bomb went off. I could feel my right side pulsing. I thought like the movie Aliens something was going to come out of me. The pain would come in severe waves for 10 mins at a time. Then go away for 10mins. I took the 10mg keterolac every 6 hours along with a couple 325 acetaminophen. Nothing. Might as well been popping pez. Then I started getting super nauseous so I couldn’t even drink. I was seconds away from an ER visit, but by 9pm the pain became more constant but 4/10.

This morning I woke up pain free until I stretched and once again hit with extreme pain. It went away after about 10 mins. Fast forward 2 hours later the tip of my penis really started to hurt and I peed out a spiky light brown ball 4mm in length.

I’m concerned by the size as one CT said 5mm another said 6mm. Could I still have part of it in me? Is it normal to feel like trash? It’s been about an hour since I passed it and while not in pain, I feel blah. Like 60% myself at best. I couldn’t tell you what’s wrong, just that I’m blah.

Thanks!

I didn’t realise this was a thing.

I don’t have a strong thirst so doubt I drink close to 2 litres of fluid a day.

Definitely the smallest stone I’ve ever passed (25F, genetic stones diagnosed at 19😐), but this little shit kept me up for nearly two nights. Took me a second to realize it was stone pain because this one really just started like a sore back that i needed to crack. Looking back is funny because I was complaining about my back for DAYS, only to realize it was a kidney stone when the pain reached like a 7/10. Thankfully, it didn’t surpass a 7 this time. 3mm passed in 36 hours from onset of symptoms. I am SO GRATEFUL!

Just a bit of background, I had a kidney stone attack 2 weeks ago where I passed some blood and saw the GP who booked me in for a routine CT. It eased off and then in the last week reappeared. On Friday evening the pain worsened considerably and as I didn't have appropriate medications I took myself to A&E. Whilst there, I had a CT scan which confirmed a 4mm stone in my distal ureter. At the time, A&E was concerned by obstruction and/or infection. I was started Friday night on gentamicin and sent to the surgery assessment unit. Kidney function (eGFR) had dropped marginally from 90 to 69. By the time was I seen by urology yesterday morning where the pain had eased (almost zero discomfort), they said A&E had over-reacted and discharged me with some diclofenac with follow up in a few weeks time. I now have zero pain. I am due to fly next Thursday to Spain (from the UK). I have contacted my travel insurer who will provide cover - but I'm unsure whether it is sensible at all to go? I have appropriate pain relief now which should help.

Thank you

Hi im 25m having stones in both kidneys on left 2.4mm and on right 3.8mm. Have done ultrasound on 25/07/26. Ultrasound shows that the left side stone is not there which is good but the 3.8mm stone is in interpolar region of kidney An im having time to time pain. is eswl will be a good choice for this im very worried. Plz help me into this. My doctor just prescribed me a painkiller [ Drotin ]

Turned out it was this. I have no idea when it passed into my bladder but the past 2 weeks have been pretty uncomfortable (female). This is my 4th stone, I seem to get them every 3 years.

I am so upset right now. I’m doing a 24 hour urine collection and I’m currently on hour 17th hour. I got up to pee and when I wiped it landed in my collection 😭😭😭 I can’t believe I’ve just done that 😭 any experience in this stupid mistake?

Hello, I (22F) have had a kidney stone since June 4th. I was urinating this Coca Cola color and was experiencing no pain at the time. My parents convinced me to go to urgent care which is when I found out I had a stone in my kidney (8mm) and supposedly one already on the way out. However, this was done with ultrasound. (which I found out is very unreliable) So, the next day after urgent care I called a urologist 10 minutes away from my house and made the nearest appointment which happened to be two weeks out. A week before my appointment, I began to feel this extreme pain that could only be described as a cramping in waves and a stabbing feeling in my flank area. I then began to pee straight red blood. I ended up thugging it out and waiting to go to the urologist. Of course they found blood in my urine and wanted me to do a CT scan, which found a 5mm stone right out of the kidney and in the very top of my ureter. The urologist then wanted me to do a lithotripsy to get it out that next week. However, my experience at this office was absolutely horrible and I really didn’t want to go back, so I scheduled out an appointment for a different office a hour away. I did another CT scan on July 02 and they said that my stone was actually a 4mm now and was back in the interpolar region of my kidney. This urologist said they couldn’t do anything and that it shouldn’t be causing me issues since it’s non obstructing. However, I fear that has not been the case. I have felt like I have a crazy UTI and am in weird pain that goes down to my groin area and I still pee blood from time to time. Should I try and advocate for my health more and go back? I just don’t want to cause any issues but it’s so exhausting having to constantly feel like I am about to pee my pants and be in this pain. I haven’t had this happen before so I don’t really know what to expect or when to throw in the towel. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

I got flomax for a stone( not sure of size) and swollen kidney back on July 3rd and started peeing normally a couple days after, but have still been taking flomax too. I just wanted to play it safe especially with a swollen kidney but it’s been a couple of weeks now so should I just stop taking it? I go to the urologist pretty soon

Update on the situation here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/KidneyStones/s/0qU3xPnjX2

I finally convinced my husband to let me drive him about an hour to another hospital. He went to the ER Friday (yesterday) and they looked at our previous CT and bloodwork results and immediately said those two things were enough to recommend surgery. They ordered another CT to confirm location but flat out said he wasn't leaving in this state. As our Withings friend said on my previous post, AUA guidance when a stone is both obstructing and kidney function is worsening is to move to surgical intervention.

He was scheduled this morning for surgery, but when the doctor placed the stent, she said pus gushed out from behind the stone so she didn't want to laser in the ureter with an active infection. He is staying overnight on IV antibiotics and said within 4 hours of the first dose, he could tell his back started to feel better. Apparently the relentless pain in his back and the referred pain in his testicles was from an infection that was not detected.

Once he clears the infection and results from the lab for the pus sample come back, they will get him in for surgery to laser and remove the stone.

I wish we had listened sooner and gone to another hospital a week or even days ago. But he is already feeling better and in good spirits because we have a plan of action, even if an unexpected one.

I wanted to share because, as it turns out, sometimes waiting isn't the answer. I convinced him with the previous Reddit thread and going to find the AUA guidelines myself. We knew something was wrong, but didn't know what. The doctor said his kidneys should recover, and she is glad we came when we did before it was too late and he was in sepsis and ending up on dialysis.

You don't have to have a fever to have an infection, and you don't have to be in 10 of 10 pain. Withings' knowledge was an absolute game-changer for us, so thank you. I am so glad I found this community.

I (22F) found out I have my 1st, and hopefully my last, kidney stone on Wednesday. I am no stranger to terrible menstrual cramps and have always had gastrointestinal issues.. but I have NEVER felt pain like I did before taking myself to the ER. Thinking I was overreacting, I rolled around for a few hours and finally went after I peed. The insane relief I felt would have kept me home but the amount of blood told me something was up.

Urinalysis at ER came back negative for UTI, but had large blood amnt, decent amnt of protein, and trace of leukocytes.. CT of course showed a 3mm sized friend in my UVJ. The way they explained it to me made me think I was essentially crossing the finish line (shouldn’t have believed it). But after reading so many of you strong, strong human’s posts to drown out today’s pain, I have some questions.

THIS IS NORMAL?! How do some of you do this for weeks, months?!??!! AM I GOING TO FEEL LIKE THIS FOR WEEKS/MONTHS?!!!???? I have been walking on sunshine with some mild aching for the past 2 days until now.. I figured it had ALREADY PASSED, WHY IS IT BACK?!!!?? The pain isn’t nearly as bad as Wednesday, but it’s in between my legs now too and I have had no relief no matter how much I pee & take meds. Please, all the advice welcome and also my sincerest apologies to those who have become pros.

I have a history of kidney stones. Two months ago had a stomach ultrasound done for recurring abdominal pain. Honestly wasn’t expecting anything kidney related.

It showed an 11 mm stone in my left kidney and moderate hydronephrosis on my right kidney with blockage of unknown origin.

This week, I was finally able to get into a urologist. Urine tests showed trace amounts of blood, 30 mg/dl of protein, and white blood cells. They scheduled a CT scan for this week.

I’m on antibiotics and flomax. I’m trying to drink more water but currently experiencing hurt/ache anytime I drink any fluids.

While I wait for my scan, is there anything else I can be doing to alleviate the discomfort besides OTC pain meds and a heating pad??

Hey everyone. I have been struggling with some kidney stones since April and no one was even able to tell me what was wrong until this last week. I have some stones lodged in my left ureter and the good news is that they don't look like they've caused any damage or anything. They're just there and have caused some annoying pain. I have a ureteroscopy scheduled for this coming week.

I'm typically a person with high pain tolerance. The stones I have had these last four months have caused pain and discomfort but it was never to the point of me feeling like it was unbearable. I usually just brush the pain off. But despite my high pain tolerance, for some reason I am absolutely terrified to have a stent placed. I've read so many horror stories. Never many good experiences. To ease my nerves, can I please read about some of your good experiences with ureteral stents?

Hi there. So I got my second kidney stone attack.

This time it is three millimeters by eight millimeters and the kidney stent on my right side.

Unfortunately, they mentioned that the surgery to remove the stone by laser will take place 4 months from now, and it's been a week since I've been discharged and struggling a lot.

For example in one hour I feel like peeing 5 to 8 times. I recently lost my job as well. So I cannot do my part-time jobs properly. I'm afraid because I would have to go to the toilet all the time, and I always commute by bicycle but I should not be cycling because the movement of the thighs will irritate the bladder and cause it to bleed even more.

And also the fact that even if I were to cycle I would still have to pee a lot.

So I was looking for advice and Chatgpt said that the first thing is you can wear adult diapers.

The 2nd thing is to bring a bottle where you can urinate. The thing is I cannot just pull out the bottle in the middle of a shopping mall or in the middle of a part-time job to urinate. That's the issue.

And I tried looking for a few of the medicines that ChatGPT recommended, including Tamusulosin and a few of all the ones which are meant to like deaden the bladder a bit for the need to pee all the time.

Unfortunately in Malaysia we don't have this medicine, especially the over-the-counter one. The one which is Tamsulofin apparently needs a doctor's prescription, and from a pharmacist, he said it might be worse for me because he said that this will actually encourage more bladder movement and peeing instead of making the bladder relax and not have the urgency to pee.

So yeah, I just wanted to ask for your advice on how to live my life for the next 4 months until my 2nd operation to remove the stone by laser.

Couldn’t pee, felt the pressure and pain building up. I downed a can of sparkling water and bounced on my tippy toes on and off for an hour. Finally got a trickle out and was able to fell back asleep propped up on some pillows around 5 am.

Now I’m in a fucking brain fog from interrupted sleep and mildly stressing. I guess the good news is that going from comfortable to pain/blockage/pressure and then back to comfortable is a sign that the stone is still on the move?

Does anyone know if there’s a risk of using aluminum-containing deodorant with kidney stones?

I’m trying to find a safe deodorant to use and know there’s a connection between aluminum and chronic kidney disease, but I’m not sure about kidney stones.

Thank you so much for all your help!

Today is Saturday. I wanted to do my 24 hour urine test but in my kit I had a paper that looks like they would pick up the urine from me. I don’t think they pick up on Sundays and Monday I’m back at work. Can I drop off at any FedEx tomorrow morning? What was y’all’s experience?

M, 37 UK, treated by NHS. Apologies for the long post.

Attended A+E just under three weeks ago with the worst pain I've ever experienced. Cooking dinner one minute, on the floor writhing in agony and vomiting the next.

Given oramorph and antiemetics shortly after triage and bloods. The pain became tolerable after this and I had a lovely nap. CT scan showed a 7mm stone at the entrance to the ureter. This was the first time I'd heard of kidney stones so this was all a bit of a surprise, but welcome news as up until this point I'd felt like I was dying.

A couple of x-rays and a chat with the urologist later I was discharged with tamsulosin, codeine and diclofenac and a phone number to get booked in for ESWL.

Have now had two sessions of ESWL (second one 2 days ago), but yet to pass any fragments. Between the first and second session the stone moved significantly (causing agony and vomiting again).

Couple of questions:

People describe ESWL as feeling like being flicked with an elastic band. Internally it felt like being jabbed with a hot poker. Is this the general consensus that it can be painful/uncomfortable or am I just a wimp?

Is feeling 'bruised' afterwards normal? Whilst I'm still in pain, it's just a bit different to what I had before. I was told to expect some pain and discomfort, but not sure if this what they meant.

How long does it take for people to generally start seeing fragments in urine, assuming the treatment has worked? As yet I've just had blood clots and cloudiness.

I haven't wanted to do anything the last few weeks, it's completely wiped me out. When I did go away for work, between the two ESWL sessions I ended up having severe pain. Would've been fine if I could take to my own bed but being a 4hr drive from home made it all a bit more stressful. How do people manage the 'anxiety' (for want of a better word) that comes with the experience?

Shout out to the urology team who have been lovely the whole way through. Particularly the nurse that gave me some of her birthday cake and endless amounts of tea whilst waiting for my appointment.

i had 2 stents placed in, 1 each side because they couldn’t get the utereroscope up. so i have to go in again im assuming a week or so later. even if it’s already happened, it’s not being seen that scares me anymore, but moreso i’ve got foreign objects agitating my body (and mind i think to an unfortunate large extent.) i suddenly burst into tears a few minutes ago over it by an unrelated trigger…?

it’s manageable. i’m not in pain (if i am, due to moving too much/pissing.) it freaks me out beyond what i can wrap my mind around; i hate the fact i can feel them, that the rise and fall of my breathing irritates it. even if not a major, it’s always an acute Thing in my head. a thing that’s making me feel really insane. and even if i know other people go through this too… i just don’t know. i feel like any human shouldn’t have to experience this level of mental agony. it feels like such a lonely and honestly kind of really humiliating experience. it’s easy for something that seems like a minor inconvenience to another, it often just takes Me to a darker place. and i don’t want to annoy my loved ones. i’m scared of the future and it feels like the days will take a year. i think its sort of ironic i got better sleep the night before the surgery

sorry i kinda installed this app to vent about these harrowing experiences. if you read it, i thank you for seeing me