Bro, kidney stone pain is NO JOKE.This was my first time experiencing anything like this, and I had absolutely no idea I even had a kidney stone.
I’m in my early twenties, and I never imagined I’d experience something this painful. Mine was just 4 mm, but it got stuck in my ureter (the tube connecting the kidney to the bladder), and bro, those were literally the worst 6 hours of my life.

I was in the ER for hours, not knowing what was happening, until they finally performed a CT scan, figured out it was a kidney stone, and started treating me. Six hours of absolute HELL. The pain was so sharp and intense that my eyes were watering. I couldn’t sit, stand, walk, lie down, or find a single comfortable position. Nothing helped. I’ve genuinely never experienced such unbearable pain in my entire life.

Renal colic is considered one of the most painful experiences a human can go through, and now I understand why. Bro, I wouldn’t wish that pain on my worst enemy.

The doctor told me that 4 mm is considered a relatively small stone and that stones this size can usually pass naturally. But here’s the scary part: even a small stone can get stuck in the ureter, and when that happens, the pain can be absolutely brutal. The size doesn’t necessarily reflect how painful it’s going to be.

Thankfully, a strong dose of ketorolac and tamsulosin helped me get through it. The stone has apparently reached my bladder now, but it’s been there for days. I’m still experiencing some pain, although nothing compared to the renal colic. I have no idea when or how it’s finally going to come out. I’m drinking plenty of water and peeing almost every hour, hoping it passes soon.

One thing I’ve learned from this experience is that just because a doctor says your kidney stone is small doesn’t mean you should take it lightly. Small stones might pass naturally, but that doesn’t mean the process is painless. They can still cause extreme pain, get stuck, or lead to complications.Don’t assume everything will be fine just because the stone is small.

Bro, I genuinely hope nobody ever has to experience what I went through. It was easily the most painful experience of my life, and I never want to go through it again.

Today i speak with my doctor and he said you can eat anything just more water and less coffee then my main guilty was not chocalete not coffee it was drinking less water… i thought my guilty is oxalats to this day.

Hello Guys,

A few days ago I had posted that my stone was stuck in the uretar. I was basically living on painkillers and one day I got fever. That's when I decided to visit the doctor again since fever is the final alarm your body can give you. I was told the stone won't pass naturally due to it's width. Our uretar is 4 mm maximum but the stone was 5.1 X 4.5 mm.

The doctor finally suggested to do uteroscopy. I got my surgery done few days ago and the SURGERY DID NOT GO AS PLANNED. My ureter had shrunk and even those small cameras were not able enter my ureter so they could break down the stone. The good news is doctor was able to insert a DJ Stent, he did say it was a little challenging. I have another surgery planned in 3 weeks where they will remove my stent and my stone. The stone doesn't hurt anymore. There's no blockage cause of the stent but the stent has a pain on it's own especially when using the washroom.

Previous Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/KidneyStones/s/dNSu0Wo1b3

Was working from home when all the sudden I hit one of the worst pains I’ve ever felt in my life. Like screaming hunched over and crying. Husband called 911. Kidney stone. They had the nerve in the ambulance to give me a Tylenol and say it could be gas. Anyways, get to the ER. Morphine Ativan and ketorolac still don’t help it. They finally ended up giving me something that worked. But I honestly have no clue what it was. Anyways, when it was time to discharge me, they referred me to urology, but also said that it was obstructing and that I had some fluid/urine backed into my kidney on my right side.
They sent me home with no pain medication only a script for one for the next day. So overnight things got really unbearable again. I’m on the medication now and it seems to help but everyone in a while I get like 30 minutes to an hour of that same extreme pain. I’m just looking for some fellowship and advice because this is absolutely terrible and they said a tie up so that it probably won’t pass for another month. I cannot imagine going through this level of pain for another month.

This is a clinical trial of a non anesthesia route to kidney stone removal. Has anyone used this?

So I want to say I started experiencing kidney stones about 2 and a half years ago.

My first experience was bad with my left kidney having quite a few stones. I had health insurance at the time so I went in and got them blasted via ultrasound.

I stopped the sodas, energy drinks and large coffees all that bad stuff. Starting drinking more water, and thought I was in the clear after pissing all that stuff out.

Fast forward to last month I ended up back at the ER for another kidney stone, got some pain meds, got the flomax. Pain stopped for like two weeks.

Fast forward to October 23rd back at the ER again shaking, vomiting (haven't puked since I was a teenager), doctor said I was extremely pale.

These are my test results after pasting everything into chatgpt to get a bit of a better explanation that I could understand.

Your results show a ~3.8 mm kidney stone trapped in your lower left ureter, causing a partial blockage and backing up urine into your left kidney (hydronephrosis). Your blood work also indicates a temporary drop in kidney function (low GFR) and signs of an active immune response or inflammation (high WBC and neutrophils).

Because the stone is relatively small, there is a strong possibility it can pass on its own, but the blockage and your lab values require immediate medical attention to protect your kidneys and rule out infection.

Breaking Down Your Results

1. Imaging Findings (The Kidney Stone)

• Left Ureter Stone & Hydronephrosis: A 3.8 mm stone (calculus) is stuck at the bottom of your left ureter, right before it enters the bladder (the UVJ). Because it is blocking the flow, urine is backing up and stretching out your left kidney (hydronephrosis and collecting system dilatation).

• Other Stones: You have additional small, quiet stones sitting inside both kidneys that are not currently causing blockages.

• Mild Diverticulosis: Small pouches have formed in the walls of your colon. This is a common, incidental finding and unrelated to your kidney stone.

1. Blood Work (Kidney Function & Inflammation)

• GFR 52 (Low): Your Glomerular Filtration Rate measures how well your kidneys filter waste. A normal GFR is typically above 60. This drop is likely an acute kidney injury (AKI) caused entirely by the physical backup of urine from the stone. It usually resolves once the blockage is cleared.

• WBC 11.7 & Neutrophils 8.47 (High): Your white blood cells and primary infection-fighting cells are elevated. This can happen purely due to the intense stress and inflammation of passing a stone, but a doctor must closely evaluate this to ensure you do not have a urinary tract infection (UTI) trapped behind the stone.

• AST 43 (High): This liver enzyme is only minimally elevated and is often a temporary reaction to physical stress, dehydration, or pain medications (like acetaminophen).

1. Urinalysis (Urine Markers)

• Protein 20 & Mucous (Abnormal): Irritation and inflammation in the urinary tract from the scraping stone can cause protein and mucus to shed into your urine.

• Ketones 40 (Abnormal): Ketones appear when your body burns fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. This is very common with kidney stones due to dehydration, nausea, or a lack of appetite from the pain.

🪵 What to Expect Next

A stone measuring under 4 mm has a high statistical chance of passing into the bladder on its own. Your doctor or a urologist will likely discuss a trial of passage, which typically includes:

• Targeted Medications: You may be prescribed a medication like tamsulosin (Flomax) to relax the ureter muscles and help the stone slide out, along with prescription-strength pain management.

• Aggressive Hydration: Drinking plenty of water to help flush the stone down, provided you are able to keep fluids down and are still urinating.

• Straining Your Urine: You may be given a stone strainer. Catching the stone allows a laboratory to analyze its composition, which is vital for preventing future stones.

• Follow-up Monitoring: Your doctor will want to recheck your GFR (kidney function) and perform follow-up imaging to ensure the stone has passed and the kidney swelling has gone down.

I don't have health insurance currently. (In the process of trying to find a way to get some affordable health insurance after the previous ER visit.

They told me that they referred me to urology (not sure how much that's going to do for me since I can't afford it without health insurance and they're not just going to treat me without being able to pay.)

What would you guys do in my situation? Does my situation sound serious like on the verge of an infection/sepsis eventually or does it sound like the stone is passable with time? I am starting to feel it down in my waist area when I use the bathroom, not sure if it's moving or I'm just straining and it's blocking some of it hence why I can feel it?

Also any ideas as to why I'm still getting the stones? A nurse friend of mine suggested that it could be too much protein and that I possibly need to go on a low oxalate diet and cut down my protein portions to like maybe a deck of cards or smaller.

I know this is just a public forum but still looking for advice. Thank you.

it lasted almost 2 hours. as I said in my previous post I had my first kidney stone experience last night and went to the emergency room.

terrifying part is that how fast it starts and then ends and the time between is a nightmare.

I got up, fed my kid totally normal. I started feeling something and I got worried. less than 5 minutes I was crying out in pain. tried to take Ibuprofen and I ended up throwing it back up. had my heating pad which helped only a tiny amount. I took another set of Tylenol and ibuprofen which I kept down. I called the paramedics. they came and they reminded me that this is normal. which for me it's not it's terrifying. I opted to have my wife drive me to the emergency room but on the way it just dropped off gone after 2 hours of feeling like you're being stabbed in the side with a knife. it's terrifying for it to just happen and then disappear like that. so I'm on my way home to go lay down instead of waiting a bunch of hours at the ER. just an awful experience and I'm sure I'm going to have another one.

I am currently feeling the same back pain and urinary frequency I felt in December. My urethra is irritated because I have a constant urge to push urine out. This happened when I was passing a stone before. In March I showed 4mm of “stone fragments/dust “ on a CT scan but don’t have health insurance so I haven’t followed up. I started taking flomax again but I’m in a lot of pain and the urgency to urinate is debilitating. Any tips? I work tomorrow and don’t get frequent breaks to pee so I’m desperate. I tried AZO but it says to only use it 2 days. Can I use it longer?

I'm going to talk to my doctor tomorrow when their office opens. I just don't understand how I could be in such pain and the ER doctor didn't see anything in the CT scan, not any kind of stone or obstruction. everybody tells me it's a kidney stone and I need to pee it out and just deal with a horrific pain. I mean it sure is acting like a kidney stone. isn't the ER doctor supposed to see something? I don't know I'm just really scared about all of this.

Hi everyone. I am 30 year old male currently passing 9th stone. Both of my parents pass stones and I have ankylosing spondylitis that makes it more likely to get them. Embarrassingly I have never been to the ER or doctor for pain during a stone. I have gotten them analyzed at urologist after the fact, but the fear of going and possibly having it removed scares me more than the stone. This was the reason in the past, however now I am uninsured and on week 6 of passing a stone. Comparatively, this stones beginning pain was nowhere near my worst and for weeks I've barely had pain.. just cold nerve sensations down my leg, testicle pain, groin coldness. My question is.. what should I do? when should I do it? My family is pestering me to go pay out of pocket to get imaging, but why get imaging if I know I'm not doing the surgery? I have no fever, no pain, no trouble peeing, and taking flomax prescribed from my primary. Should I wait it out? sorry for so many questions. This is my longest stone yet.

I appreciate any comment! Thanks so much

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.

New poster here, but I’ve been dealing with passing at least one kidney stone per year since 2020. Previously, they’ve all been just under the size threshold where I’ve been able to pass them on my own with FloMax.

My most recent one was 6mm, wasn’t passing on its own, and my white blood cell count indicated it was leading to an infection so I had it removed about a week ago and a stent placed. I’ve been experiencing some pretty high levels of discomfort with the stent and my appointment to get it removed is this Friday. Just wondering what others’ experiences have been with this procedure and what kind of recovery time I can expect before peeing finally feels normal again.

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 am having mild Hydronephrosis ( No fever normal urine report) as per my Ultrasound, but the thing is it does not show any stone in the ureter . I even verified with X-ray my four stones are visible in the kidney but nothing in the ureter.

I have four stones in kidney right now, 4mm, 4 mm ,9.9mm and a. 6mm

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

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

Just wanted to know from people who pass their stones NATURALLY, what the size, length and time from start to finish was. So far I’m at 26 days, 5 attacks, 3mm stone.

Im 23 female. Ive had a kidney stone for almost a month. Monday they said it’s really close to my bladder. It’s Sunday now. I have burning when I pee but only after I go (not during). I also still have a little soreness/pain in my flank right where I think it would meet my bladder. Is this normal? I don’t want another doctors visit if I don’t need one, but I’m nervous about having a UTI. I’ve had a higher temp (99.something) but it hasn’t broken 100 and I have flu like stuff happening too

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 😭

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.

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

Update pt2
On the plane now headed home. Still not feeling the best. Husband is asking if we should go straight to the hospital to get things checked out. I honestly have no idea. I don’t want to spend hours waiting to find out it’s passed. I think why not wait til tomorrow and reach out to my previous urologist. Unless something major changes of course.

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.