r/KidneyStones

I have had three kidney stones in my life that I have passed (50f) however two and half weeks ago I felt that familiar pain and thought I could gut through it. Ended up in ER four days later as I was barely lucid from the pain and vomiting etc. Found out I have a 8 mm stone that popped out of kidney and didn’t go far. My creatine levels were bad, low level infection and had hydronephrosis. I was taken to OR and had a stent placed . Mind you I have never had a procedure in my life or any kind of sedation . I have always had health anxiety and I was losing my mind from fear. I have managed the stent for two weeks now but I’m leaving in unbelievable fear waiting for them to call to schedule the laser removal . I’m terrified of going under and terrified there will be complications etc . How bad will this next step be?

I have a ureteroscopy scheduled 7/7/26 at 6pm. The stone has been stuck in my left ureter for at least 2 months. CT results indicate it is a 11mm 1140UDH which is very hard. They will use laser to destroy it. Doctor says it will not pass on is own but given that I don't feel any pain, I think I should just wait. I also have health anxiety and fear complications. I also read someone passed a stone this big but this is considered a big one. I M28, never had a surgery in my life. I am using claude AI to learn more about it. I just wanted to share this. I would have to use a stent for 2 weeks, they told me. My family (brothers) say this is something minor, I will have my 20 year old newphew taking care of me till 2 days post surgery. Is it enough? Thank you.

About a year and a half ago I started getting lower right flank pain. I thought I had pulled a muscle. A few weeks later I noticed my urine getting darker and cloudy then one day I peed cola color urine. I went to urgent care and they found blood in my urine test and said it was likely a kidney stone and to stay hydrated. Fast forward 6 months I never passed it and the pain had been on and off. Sometimes at night it was a lot worse but it was never severe or debilitating. I peed cola colored blood again so I went back to Urgent Care. They took an Xray and said they “believed” they saw stones in both my kidneys and to see a Urologist. I know it’s stupid but I don’t have insurance and that as long as it wasn’t debilitating I could deal with it and not spend money on a Urologist, well a year after that last visit to urgent care (just last week) I peed the darkest blood I had ever peed and had blood clots in the urine. I freaked out, went back to urgent care and they told me the same thing about that it’s stone and to see a Urologist. Early this week I got in with one. He said he was worried since I’d peed blood a few times and that it was painless that it might be bladder cancer. He said I need to do a CT Urogram and a Cystoscopy. I got the Urogram done Thursday but still haven’t gotten results and am supposed to do the Cystoscopy in a couple weeks. Anyways, my question is could this still be kidney stones? It seems almost everyone has debilitating pain with them and that it isn’t just mild for an extended period of time. It’s crazy to say I’m actually hoping I have them instead of something else.

Hello (M28)

I have nephrocalcinosis but got my first active stone diagnosed in the ER 1,5 month ago, 6mm got sent home to see if it passes. Have been taking painkillers and tamsulosin since then but no stone yet. Colic pains are gone but i have this annoying burning sensation and pain in the groin. Any tips or experiences similar to mine? How did you know the stone was about to pass or help with the symptoms? 🙏

So I got a few bilateral kidney stones around the beginning of June. My dad passed away. Had my dad's funeral on 06/12/2026 and surgery immediately after (missed graveside because family wouldn't stop visiting among themselves and proceed out of cemetery). I had a Bilateral simultaneous ureteroscopy (BS-URS) and laser lithotripsey along with the doctor adding bilateral stents.

The trouble now is I believe the bilateral stents are more painful than the stones. I toughest it out until my appointment on 06/29/2026 to have them remove. I literally pulled into the parking garage at the clinic when the clinic called to tell me there was a scheduling error. They rescheduled me for 07/29/2026!! They could not see me any sooner.

I am going out of town for 2 weeks where I will be put of network with any providers. I thought the best decision would be to go to the ER that is affiliated with the hospital where I had surgery. The clinic had told me they always have a provider on call with the ER. I got to the ER where the ER doctor informed me he couldn't remove the stents. He then contacted the on-call provider with the urology clinic several times with no reply. I sat in the ER for 3 hours for nothing to be done. If I hadn't asked, I wouldn't have been told for a longer time. I finally left after 3 1/2 hours. I am completed defected and at a loss. The clinic has just advised to drink plenty of fluids and use a heating pad which I've been doing since discovering I had kidney stones.

I guess I am just venting to people who understand

So my father who has diabetes and is 60 years old has recently found out that he has multiple kidney stones and after doing all the tests and scans, the doctor has suggested to remove the whole kidney itself. Let me share the report finds

Right kidney which has stone is reduced in size of 8.5x4.2 cm
Left kidney has enlarged to cover it 13x5.3 cm,

Right kidney has multiple stones in all calyces with largest in lower pole of 7mm,

There is a staghorn stone in renal pelvis of size 2.6x1.4cm.

Normal serum creatinine of 0.9-0.99.
Total gfr is of 68ml/min, out of which
Right kidney damaged one has 13.6 and left enlarged one has 54.6.
Overall the kidney which has stones is working at 20% and the left one is at 80%.

The written report also states:
Left kidney: Normal size, normal tracer uptake, normal drainage.
Right kidney: Small in size, grossly reduced cortical tracer uptake, delayed cortico-calyceal transit, but adequate excretion of tracer.

So the doctor says that removing the kidney is a better option because removing so many stones will leave little scar which might result in infection or some of the stones may come back.

Can you guys give your opinion?
Although one kidney is enough but what if after removing the damaged one the left over kidney also faces reduced function then what?
Does removing this much stones and stag-horn really damages the tissue?

Please suggest your experience and suggest or ask anything if i have left to share.

hello! i’m talking to my doctor about autoimmune symptoms on wednesday and suspect lupus (i get butterfly rashes amongst other things). i started having a flare up, including the butterfly rashes on 6/30 and kidney pain started on 7/2. my lymph nodes have been swollen this whole time and i started running a low grade fever on 7/3. this is my sixth kidney stone in a year and i’ve gotten a butterfly rash on the first day with each one.

i went to the er last night and in triage had a heart rate of 130 and high blood pressure (don’t know what it was exactly). they took a urine sample and blood, but didn’t tell me what tests they were doing. all they told me was that my urine came back clear (which it wouldn’t? i had a kidney stone) and that my blood was fine. i had on the ct a small kidney stone in my left kidney, but i was having referred pain in my right side. this is my first stone from the left kidney. they didn’t mention my pulse except for my nurse who wouldn’t let me leave until it was ~100.

today i had a fever of 99.6 that’s dropped to 99.1 and bilateral kidney pain. i passed the stone at around 7pm today. now my kidneys still hurt bilaterally and i still have tachycardia (around ~114). normally i have a kidney stone and there’s very minimal pain on the day i pass it and then no pain after.

is something weird happening here or could this just be bc of the flare up? i don’t want to possibly ignore kidney infection and this flare up does appear to be about my kidneys. my BUN was low on my last metabolic panel and so was my BUN/Creatine ratio, but my chloride serum was high. anyone else have something similar happen to them or is actively going through something similar?

i’m going back to the er or urgent care tomorrow for a second opinion if the fever and pain persist and i've called my urologist and have an appointment with my pcp wednesday so im not looking for that kind of advice (unless you’re urgently telling me i should go sooner) just looking for a similar experience.

I had a kidney blockage from birth that was repaired back in 2019, then had a second stone in 2021. This time I started peeing blood, a pinkish hue, but no flank pain, this was Thursday.maybe a stiffness or pinch but that’s it. So I went to the er. For context I got kicked off my states Medicaid and once I did I stopped going to the doctor.

They gave me an ultrasound and couldn’t tell me if there was a kidney stone( every other time they were able to tell me) but they did tell me I have a swollen right kidney, and that it’s more than likely a stone. They were really pushing hard that I “ shouldn’t get a CT unless you’re in pain or feverish” Basically just referred me to the urologist and sent me home with flomax. It’s now going on Sunday and my pee seems to be clearing up.

Anyone else have an experience like this? Did I pass the stone without knowing after the amount of blood increased, and then now has been going back to normal? I wish I could’ve got some answers at the er…

Although it has been almost a month since this entire saga began, I am still having trouble dealing with it. I am an almost 50 year old female, relatively healthy, and a stuck 5mm stone almost killed me.

This was not my first kidney stone- have been dealing with calcium stones for about a decade, and I thought the sucker had passed. Five days later, huddled under a blanket and feeling like absolute hell, I had the realization that I might be going septic. By the time I was admitted to the hospital, I was in a state of severe sepsis, shock, my fever was over 103, and my blood pressure fell quickly enough that I had emergency surgery before 8am the next day to place a stent. I spent three days in ICU, and have been recovering since then. I had a lithotripsy to remove the stone on the first, and the ability to pee without pain is amazing.

My biggest takeaway from this is to not ignore my symptoms and try to tough it out. If i had not had the insight that I was going septic, I would have waited until the next day to seek medical attention, and I might not have made it.

I went to the er and got a ct scan I used to have 7 on the left and 1 on the right now i have 5 on the left and one on the right i know I passed atleast one on the left a few weeks ago but my pain right now is on the right. Im wondering if I ended up getting a second on the right and im feeling the residual pain of it passing. Im still having pain in my right ureter and my kidney feels like it has pressure in it so im confused. In March the one on the right was 6mm now they said the right just has a 5mm so I wonder if I passed the bigger one and got a new one. Has anyone else had something like this happen i dont know if they read the ct scan wrong because ive had ones where they said one amount of stone then my urologist said a completely different thing. Im going to ask my urologist to look at it Monday but it was very confusing having them tell me theres no stone in my ureter but even though ive passed many stones and had many lithotripsys this is the most my ureter has ever hurt.

Has anyone had a ureteroscopy after having a ureteral stent in place for a few months?

I had a kidney stone that caused severe renal colic, so during the first procedure they placed a ureteral stent. It will stay in for about 3 months, and then I’ll have a second procedure where they’ll remove the stent and break up the stone with a laser.

I’m wondering: what are the chances that after the second surgery I won’t need another stent at all? Or do most people end up getting another stent (with or without a string) for a few days or weeks?

Or is it more common that after the second surgery i am fine and wont need another one, the one that will pull out with a string?

I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thanks!

I’m 23/m and apparently have 10+ stones in each kidney, they didn’t tell me the exact amount. Recently I have been experiencing issues at a way greater rate than before and am currently dealing with a 5mm stone that is giving me hell.

I was told there is no stone larger than 6mm but I don’t want to pass 20 stones.

Is it possible to get a surgery to remove all of these in one go, is there anything I can have done? To put it lightly my urologist seems quite mentally retarded so I am going to a new one.

Why hasn't someone made a small portable strainer for kidney stone sufferers? I'm almost always passing stones at this point and I have to carry that stupid strainer the hospital gives you in a grocery bag to the bathroom at work. Why isn't there a better option?!

I rarely post here, but this reddit was a nice resource for me before my scary kidney stone journey. I will share my experience and what happened to me.

About 2 months ago I was having lower back pain. I had ran 2 mile on the elliptical and then used mt theragun all over, including the right side flank pain. It is my thinking and only mine, that the theragun loosened the giant stone i had becuase it was the next day that i had extreme right flank pain and went to emergency room.

They did a ct scan and found two masses, 14mm and 19mm. I got flomax and painkillers was sent home. Pain got worse so I went back to my main hospital with the additional ct scan info on a CD. This is where multiple tests were performed over 2 weeks. I did a ct scan with contrast now and it was more accurate. I got a Radio isotope kidney function test, where they put you in a tube which scans the isotope that is injected into my body with a machine. Then a diuretic is injected after to see how when liquid is forced into the kidneys how they function and drain. The left side drained in 2-3min which is good, the right side was 7-8min draining. I am told 10-20min draining it mandatory surgery for blockage. The function is also estimated at 47% for my "good" left kidney, and 53% for my blocked drain with stone right kidney. I found this interesting the jammed up one was doing more work.

They followed up with a ultrasound as well. They said I have hydronephrosis as well, which is a larger kidney due to it not draining, and I could see on the screen it was indeed larger.

I get scheduled for UPJ reobotic surgery, and they do a "2 for 1" as I nicknamed it. They remove the restriction which can be genetic, a crossed vessel, or trauma from a stone passing and scarring a small section of the ureter. Usually only a few millimeter. As I go in for surgery they made 6 small 1cm incisions on my abdomen. I am completely knocked out and surgery takes 3.5-4 hours!!

This is where they can conclude the restriction. It turns out I have a high exit ureter I forget the term, but basically my whole life (40 years old), I was never fully draining the urine and it was pooling up a little. This makes a breeding ground for stones. When they cut the high exit open, they were able to see a 20mm stone, and the other mass was calcified kidney, which nothing can be done. They remove the 20mm stone whole, and leave the calcified kidney area as its not an issue. They make the ureter drain proper and leave a temporary stent from kidney to bladder for 28 days.

I was doing fine after but then pain set in extremely maybe 12 hours later. My catheter got blocked and the bladder filled up and maybe my kidney too. I thought i was dying I was screaming for help. The nurses drained basically 1.5 bags of red urine that was pressurized. I now habe lots of pain. Thinking maybe something burst or got damaged from the blockage. I am able tio shuffle around with a walker slowly the next day in the hallway. Catheter removed and I pee on my own red urine which is normal. There is a blood drain on the side they remove as well.

Im now at home and I have to take 5mg percocet at around 3-4hours, they recommend 6 hours but its too much pain. Im hoping the pain lessens in the next couple days because I wake up in the middle of the night around 4 hour mark and have to redose my pain meds. I walk hunched over like an old man very slowly and folded over. I also take stool softener and a anti spasm medicine for the stent being a foreign item and spasm pains.

When the catheter jammed up or kinked it was worst pain of my life. crying and asking for my mom. I got angry as well I thought i was in the clear and this blockage made it all worse. My advice is always check your catheter draining every 30min and have nurse emopty the bag often. Im sitting at home on couch with my meds and waiting for things to calm down.

I get stent removed after 28 days and giving it the best outcome to heal well and good tissue.

I will answer any questions tou may have. Once stone is analyzed and i know composition, I will odify my diet as well depending on uric or oxalate or hybrid stone. Mine was a staghorn oblong shape.

now for painkilers and rest.

So, I (22M) got diagnosed with a 4mm kidney stone there on Monday. First time getting one. Went home with some alpha-blockers and suppository painkillers, but the stone got caught and I had to go back to Accident & Emergency.

Got a uteroscopy yesterday to remove the stone with some lasers and fit a stent. Peeing since has stung quite a bit so I was looking forward to being rid of the stent after reading so many posts about how it doesn't hurt, just feels uncomfortable.

So the docs show up to try and pull it out... And it got fuckin' stuck. I had to wait another half an hour with half a stent hanging out of my mickey before a surgical doctor showed up to pull the rest out. They said it was inflammation or something that made it harder to pull out, but I haven't felt pain like that in a long time. Not even when I was feeling the full effects of the stone.

I just want to know if anyone here has had a similar experience. I honestly hope none of you have, because it sucked. I'd also like any advice on managing the discomfort and pain that's gonna be left over from this ordeal.

Also, I'd like to give a shoutout to the Irish healthcare system and my doctors and nurses for getting it done despite the complications.

I know this isn’t the right community for this. But I’ve I had surgery to have a 6mm stone removed about a year ago. Ever since than I’ve had major anxiety issues about anything and everything. From heart related issues to anything to do with my health. I been to tons of hospitals to check to see if I’m okay which I am. I haven’t been lately. I always get chest pain feels more on the sore side than anything. I’ve always had anxiety but ever since the surgery it go some much worse. Did anybody else have something like this happen afterwards?

I went to the ER last night. They did a CT scan and I was told there's a stone in my left kidney but that it's small. I was sent home with no pain meds and told to check with my primary care doctor in a few days. The pain isn't unbearable, just very bad. NSAIDs don't do anything.

I'm not sure where in my body the stone is. My bladder feels weird, but I've been able to pee a little bit (only when taking a hot shower; maybe the hot water loosens up my muscles) and no stone has passed.

I'm planning on moving out in one week, so oof course I had to have a medical issue right before then. And a few months ago when I had my last stone, it was a week before my birthday. These damn rocks have the worst timing.

Looking for recommendations for a private urologist in London who does a high volume of PCNL and FURS for kidney stones, someone who handles complex cases day in, day out rather than the odd one, and whose main focus is stones rather than mostly prostate work.

For context, I’ve got a 2 cm, 1800 HU partial staghorn, likely calcium oxalate, plus a few smaller stones spread across multiple mid and lower calyces, so I’m after someone genuinely experienced with this kind of stone burden.

Currently no obstruction, dmsa is good, no pain, swollen kidney or fever (although ever since I found out “what’s there”, I now feel some mild discomfort… typical), so the surgery is fully elective at the moment.

It will likely require a main PCNL, with FURS at the same time, and then another FURS a month or so later to mop up any leftovers. I’ll most likely have the full kidney treatment, tube after procedure for a few days, double J stent, and then a string stent after the final procedure when they remove the double J one. :s

If you’ve had a staged PCNL + FURS done privately in London, I’d really like to hear how it went and who you’d recommend. Thanks!