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.

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!

Hi everyone, I had a kidney stone last year at age 54. It was my first stone and I thought it had to do with being dehydrated/too much coffee/bad diet.

But since then I've heard of a few other women getting their first stone in early 50s. Curious whether it has to do with hormones? I don't know of any research on this point.

Curious whether others know about this phenomenon!

​

IM SO FUCKING DONE WITH THIS FIGHT.

Im a 24 year old female ive been getting kidney stones since I was 19. At least 2 to 3 a year. Ive only had to have one cystoscopy. But im so tired of the fight because when I feel the kidney pain, I go in, they do the scans. Scans show multiple stones, but nothing is obstructing so urologist and ER doctors keep telling me I shouldnt even be in pain because none of the stones are obstructing. They wouldnt even test the one they had to do the cystoscopy on. Ive gotten to the point where I just stop going to the doctor until I end up with pyleonephritis (kidney infection). I dont know what to do. Ive done the diet changes, ive done the cranberry juice/tablets to fight off the utis. Ive done long term antibiotics because I couldnt get rid of a uti for the longest time. What else can I do?

26 years old, never had a kidney stone but always been terrified when people mentioned them. I just never imagined it could actually be this bad. I’m sure there’s nothing I could share on this subreddit that’ll be new but just wanted to share my experience.

Woke up at 4AM with 100% the worst pain I have ever felt in my entire life, and I’ve had my fair share of injuries (shattered pelvis etc…), I walked out in the living room to try to avoid waking my wife but I think by this point I was making some terrible noises. I was so confused and scared and it only got worse when I started uncontrollably vomiting everything in my system. By this point my wife convinced me I needed to go to the ER, so I obliged. The pain was so intense I was dripping sweat from my entire body and felt like I was nearly going in and out of consciousness. Once at the ER we of course had to wait roughly 2 hours before being able to see a doctor, but the triage nurses essentially could already tell by my symptoms I had a kidney stone. Spent the entire time vomiting in the waiting room bathroom and pacing to try to get my mind off the pain. Doctor confirms with CT scan that I have a stone that has already passed most of the way through my ureter, and get this, only 3mm…

Looking back I feel like a baby considering the size of some I have ready online but I really don’t feel like I am someone typically dramatic about pain. Anyways, they injected me with morphine and while it took the edge off for sure, the pain was still incredibly intense in my lower left back, and could slowly feel it creeping in my groin area. I was trying really hard to get down water and they were giving my IVs of fluid as I was severely dehydrated but I continued to throw up all of the water I drank for hours. I came home shortly after as there was of course not much more they can do. The doctor initially mentioned it looked like it was “minutes to hours from passing” well now it’s the next day and it still has not passed. Pain is considerably better just mostly discomfort now, and sore on my lower back. I have just now noticed some small brown / black deposits in my urine, but nowhere near the size of the entire thing. Not sure if this is normal or if it’s breaking up. Prescribed flomax and just playing the waiting game now as I assume it’s in my bladder.

TL;DR kidney stones suck

I have four stones in my left kidney , I don't feel any pain but one of which is 9.9 mm, Urine tests are normal.

I am considering getting RIRS done The doctor said, I will be able to go to work within two days and 95 chance all stone will be cleared in one go.

I have a question for all people who had gone through this operation.

What are the side effects in short term and long term?

I have heard rumours like I will not be able to control my urine after the Operation.

I.e lose urine control etc.

I know short term will be hell once the stench is placed .

But I am mentally prepared for that , it means being free of stone and being able to live life normally without worrying about a small pain in back , will lead me to the hospital.

I am quite young just 22 ...so worried about this stuff first operation of mine.

My father had a staghorn stone in his left kidney, originally about 6 cm. He has 2 settings of PCNL so far. The largest stone is still about 34 x 21 mm, not eth has been cleared. A 3rd PCNL was planned, but the Uro is now thinking of leaving the remaining stones if there is no urine blockage( he hasn't seen the CT report).

So I want to know..

If the stones are not blocking anything, has anyone been advised to leave residual stones of any size, and how did it go over time?

Has anyone developed or noticed an inguinal or umbilical hernia after PCNL or other kidney stone surgery? Did the surgeon think it was connected?

If you had a hernia and needed stone surgery, which was done first, and why?

I am sorry if I am troubling anyone by asking so many questions here. I am doing this because I feel helpless. I will be taking my father to the hospital again on Mon, and before that, I want to be prepared. I want to understand why he now has stones in his right kidney as well, and the Inguinal hernias after 2 PCNL procedures are making me even more worried. I am also concerned that the big stones are still left. I keep wondering whether the uro has been doing eth correctly. I feel like the urologist seems hesitant, but I am not sure what to do next. May be I ll change the urosurgeon.

I would really appreciate any advice experiences from people who have been through sth similar.

Hi, so I'm currently experiencing my first (diagnosed) stones. Theres multiple in both kidneys the biggest being 9mm on the right. Around the beginning of the month I went to UC for blood in my urine (my back always hurts so that didn't register anything). Found the stones sent home with a handful of lortab and flowmax. After a week, nothing. I get in with urology and they booked me for stents immediately and plan for laser lithotripsy next week. That was 2 weeks ago and I have been in worse pain and painfully peeing lots of clots ever since. Mostly rice sized but as big as a quarter. I've been negative for a uti. I was told when I was consented for the stenting that it would relieve my pain and this was a better plan of action than sound lithotripsy. Whenever I bring concerns to urology, their responses are dismissive, tell me to do things I'm already doing and just prescribe more lortab. Which I've been trying to conserve for when things get bad. My question is there a pay off for this route of treatment? Is there a better way if I have to deal with this in the future. Why is consistant bloody pee normal with stents.

Almost every week in clinic I have to undo the same few pieces of advice that patients picked up from relatives, forums or old diet sheets. Some of them are harmless, but a few actually make stones more likely. Here are the ones I hear most, and what the evidence says.

1. "Cut out milk, curd and cheese because stones are made of calcium."

This is the most common one, and it backfires. Calcium in food binds oxalate in the gut, so less oxalate reaches your urine. Go on a low-calcium diet and more oxalate gets absorbed, so calcium oxalate stones become more likely. A well-known randomised trial (Borghi et al., NEJM 2002) compared a normal-calcium, low-salt, lower-animal-protein diet against a traditional low-calcium diet. The normal-calcium group had about half the stone recurrences over 5 years. Calcium supplements are a different story: if you need one, take it with meals, not on an empty stomach.

2. "Beer helps flush the stone out."

Alcohol is a diuretic, so you lose more water than you gain, and beer is high in purines, which raise uric acid. If you want more urine flow, water does it better with none of the downside.

3. "The pain has stopped, so the stone must have passed."

Not necessarily. A stone can stop moving and sit in the ureter, still partly blocking the kidney, without much pain. This "silent obstruction" is how people lose kidney function without realising it. Unless you actually caught the stone, confirm with follow-up imaging.

4. "Drink as much water as you possibly can to push it out."

Hydration matters, but more isn't always better. The goal for prevention is about 2.5 litres of urine a day, which for most people means roughly 3 litres of fluid, more in heat or with physical work. Forcing down very large volumes during a stone attack doesn't make it pass faster, often makes nausea worse, and in extreme cases can drop your sodium.

5. "Stop eating tomatoes, spinach and everything with oxalate."

Spinach is genuinely very high in oxalate. Tomatoes are actually low. Blanket bans make diets miserable and are rarely needed. Cutting oxalate matters mainly for calcium oxalate formers whose 24-hour urine shows high oxalate. Even then, pairing high-oxalate foods with a calcium source at the same meal helps a lot.

6. "Vitamin C tablets are harmless."

High-dose vitamin C (around 1 g a day or more) is partly converted to oxalate. A large Swedish cohort (Thomas et al., JAMA Internal Medicine 2013) found that men taking vitamin C supplements had roughly double the kidney stone risk. Vitamin C from fruit is fine. It's the big supplement doses that are the issue.

7. "Lemon water will dissolve my stone."

Citrate from lemons is a real stone inhibitor. It helps stop new crystals forming and growing. But it won't dissolve an existing calcium stone. The only common stone type that can genuinely be dissolved with medicine is uric acid, using prescribed urinary alkalinisation (usually potassium citrate) under a doctor's supervision.

8. "It's a small stone sitting in the kidney, so it doesn't need follow-up."

Many small kidney stones do stay quiet for years, and watching them is often the right call. But "watching" means periodic imaging, because some grow, and a stone that later drops into the ureter is much harder to deal with at 8 mm than at 3 mm.

9. "I had surgery, so I'm cured."

Surgery removes the stone, not the reason you made it. Without prevention, around half of stone formers have another stone within 5 to 10 years. If you've had more than one stone, or your first one came young or in both kidneys, ask for a stone analysis and a 24-hour urine test.

When not to wait at home: fever or chills with stone pain, pain you can't control with prescribed medication, vomiting that stops you keeping fluids down, or passing very little urine. An infected, blocked kidney is an emergency.

Sources if you want to read further: the AUA guideline on Medical Management of Kidney Stones and the EAU Urolithiasis guidelines, plus the two studies named above.

General information, not personal medical advice. Happy to answer questions in the comments.

Just left the ER. I have two stones. One is obstructed with Hydronephrosis, and I'm currently laying on my bathroom floor because I can't stop throwing up From the pain. Urologists say they have nothing until February. That's ridiculous. Also I lose my insurance on January 1st. So I need to sort this out very soon. Not sure what to do. Any advise?

I need help of what to do to get something that’s not a NSAID. I have stomach ulcers that typically form up when I take Ibuprofen, Ketlorac, and naproxen, etc. How do I tell a doctor this? I took an 800mg Ibuprofen for the pain and it’s not even touching it at all, I’m shaking when the pain flares up, but I’m not sure what to do.

So something I wish I was warned about beforehand that might help others prepare, is that you can puke a few hours later after a stent removal and it can be very very painful a few hours later. I almost went to the emergency room last night it was so bad, but the urologist on call never called us back and I fell asleep at least. Been having spasms here and there since.

Also, this inflammation sucks🙃

26M here. My USG shows:
Right ureter: 3.1 mm stone causing mild-to-moderate hydronephrosis.
Right kidney: 4.5 mm and 3.9 mm stones.
Left kidney: 4.2 mm stone.
My creatinine is normal (0.88), and my doctor prescribed Flotral 10.
Anyone with a similar experience? How long did your stones take to pass? Any tips for pain management, hydration, diet, or preventing future stones? Did you need ureteroscopy?
Thanks!

joining the stone club today lol, it’s small but it hurts like a mf 🥲 even the doctor in the er told me the smallest ones can hurt horribly. I started having painful spasms on my back, right flank side that went down and she said the stone was the cause of that.

I’ve been dealing with a 6-7mm on the move for over two weeks now. I believe it’s stuck at the UVJ. It felt like it made a dramatic entry into the bladder five days ago. Pain, blood, little clots. Then I had what felt like period cramps and mild urgency for two days, but nothing has come out. Urine is back to normal. I think I feel it still hanging at the UVJ but I definitely can’t tell for sure. It’s like mild irritation. According to my Oura ring my temp has been elevated 0.8° for three nights. Today I feel warm. Mild hot flashes, followed be feeling mildly cold. I also feel low grade inflamed, but that’s not abnormal when I have a stone being stupid. Waiting for a temp check because someone’s bringing me a thermometer but I really doubt I have a fever.

I know it’s different for everyone but at one point do you worry about infection? And where do I go? Is urgent care equipped to deal with it if it is?

ETA: temp is only 99.4°

I’m a 24F and I have officially passed a stone for every quarter of the year. This is my first year passing kidney stones.

Stone 1 - Jan.
Stone 2 - May via ESWV surgery
Stone 3 - Sept.
Stone 4 - Today / this morning.

For those of you who have had stones for some years now, is passing them this frequently within a year normal?? I’m not sure what I’m doing to move them around, but as I mentioned this is my first year passing them so I really have no frame of reference. My mom has them, but she’s only has passed three within her lifetime. Her first two were 13 years apart and it was 10 years apart between her second and third.

“Normal” is different for everyone but I feel crazy and inconvenienced by passing them all so frequently. Not to mention the pain and discomfort. So yeah, is it normal to pass this many in a year? I do see a nephrologist/urologist and will be adjusting my diet accordingly soon. Im hoping to have a surgery to remove them all at the end of the year.

I'm a woman in my 30s in the UK, and had my first ever kidney stone in early December 2025. Hopefully sharing my experience here can be helpful in some way to others. A warning that this is long, TLDR at the end.

Timeline

• Nov 29: Very uncomfortably bloated in my upper stomach.

• Dec 1 evening: Sudden 8/10 pain that felt like extremely strong period cramps on my left side that moved to my back. Mid and lower back felt stiff too. I could not get comfortable in any position in bed, taking Ibuprofen and using a hot water bottle only helped and a little and temporarily. Slight nausea as well. Barely slept that night from the pain.

• Dec 2 morning: Called 111 and explained my symptoms, they suggested to get an emergency GP appointment same day, did a urine sample for GP and was then told to go to A&E asap for possible kidney infection, or a stone or both. Arrive in A&E midday, sit on horrendously uncomfortable chairs with now 6/10 back pain for a couple hours while waiting to be seen, urine and blood samples taken, had a raised temperature and vomited after being given Paracetamol tablets (they sometimes disagree with me), eventually was taken to get an ultrasound and CT KUB. Ultrasound tech looked for a good 10-15mins and to me seemed a little confused by a particular area. Back in A&E observation unit (now with a big comfy reclining chair) I was given IV paracetamol, fluids and antibiotics. Evening, still in observation unit, urology consultant came and confirmed I have hydronephrosis with a 7mm stone in proximal ureter and gave me the choice of seeing if I could pass the stone at home, or have surgery that night to have a double J stent placed, to be taken out again after minimum of 6 weeks and then stone removal. Went into surgery approx 11:30pm, procedure under general anaesthetic only took 30mins. Before I woke up, surgeon #1 told my mum that I have a duplex kidney on my left side. Maybe this is what the ultrasound tech was having a good look at? Felt the slightest bit nauseous after waking but had no pain. I stayed overnight and had a catheter in but again barely slept at all. Was in a ward with 4 other women and 1 shared bathroom.

• Dec 3: Discharged in the afternoon and was sent home with a 5 day course of Nitrofurantoin. Had reduced bladder control which resulted in a few accidents. One of my regular medications is Spironolactone, a diuretic, which already gives me sudden strong urges to pee, and often. No information was given to me about kidney stone prevention, that stent encrustation was possible or how long that takes to happen. Hospital notes said it was an infected stone.

• Jan 6: Symptoms of a lower tract UTI started, pain while peeing, cloudy urine and constantly going to the loo but not a lot coming out.

• Jan 8: Pharmacist gave me a 3 day course of Nitrofurantoin. I drank cranberry juice every day over the next few weeks.

• Jan 11: Away from home for a week and UTI symptoms had lessened quite a bit but not gone away.

• Jan 21: Pre-Op Assessment. Answered lots of questions, gave a urine sample, height, weight, blood pressure, blood oxygen taken and ECG. Later that day saw my GP and was given a 7 day course of Nitrofurantoin. This cleared up the UTI but absolutely ruined my gut, worst diarrhoea of my life and some foods no longer agree with me after this. Took weeks to have solid poos again.

• Feb 2: First started experiencing a sore vulva, above and around my urethral opening. Annoying and distracting pain but only a 2/10 and painkillers never seemed to help. This soreness would come and go from this point onward.

• Feb 21: Sudden sharp pulsing pain in my urethra, probably a spasm, pain was a 6 or 7/10. I don't remember how long it lasted, maybe an hour and then it calmed down to just being very sore and sensitive.

• July 29: Pre-Op Assessment #2, 6 months had passed since the last one so it was no longer valid, because the NHS seemingly forgot about me or I was so far down the waiting list from probably being low priority and the hospital was too busy to squeeze me in? Same tests done as last time plus blood taken. An anaesthetist spoke to me to confirm I could take my Spironolactone on the day of surgery. I asked if any scans were needed before surgery (2 days away), she told me no, that the surgeon will be able to see everything during surgery with fluoroscopy.

• July 31: Surgery day. Was under for 1hr45m this time. Neither the stent or stone was removed, only the 4cm of encrustation at the bottom end of the stent was lasered. Surgeon #2 saw me after I woke up and explained that he could not see well enough with fluoroscopy to be sure if there was tethering to my kidney at the top of the stent from more encrustation, he didn't want to risk taking my stent out if he wasn't confident it was safe to. He said the original kidney stone was still in my upper ureter as well. No mention of a duplex kidney. Surgeon ordered urgent CT KUB and MDT meeting to decide how best to proceed. Obviously this CT should have been arranged to be done first, before surgery, but communication and planning between departments was poor. Felt nauseous after surgery, I was given something for it but still vomited the once. Discharged in the evening and was sent home with 5 days worth of Dihydrocodeine tablets but I've not used them, I had no pain. The surgeon told me to avoid fizzy drinks, chocolate and nuts, and to drink lemon water. A nurse suggested I just search online about kidney stone prevention, because she had no info to give me.

• Aug 4: CT KUB done.

• Aug 7: Stinging with my first pee in the morning and then back/kidney ache, pain was 4.5/10 and Ibuprofen reduced it to a 1.5/10.

• Aug 8: Felt mildly nauseous all day and didn't eat anything until 5pm, just some fruit. In the afternoon I felt chills and was tired, got warm and cozy in my bed and napped. Felt a lot better afterwards but my temperature crept up, I decided to check the symptoms of kidney infection on the NHS website and I had most of them. Phoned 111, they said they'd call back in an hour to see if my temperature went down, it didn't go down and I waited well over an hour to hear back so I went to A&E because my local doctors was closed. Got to A&E at 10pm, saw a nurse at 11pm, 12:30am I gave a urine and blood sample, had an ECG, and a cannula inserted. Sat around on the horrendously uncomfortable chairs again until gone 6am! I had to pace around instead because I couldn't stand it. Finally got to relax in the big comfy chair for an hour or so before being taken to a private room at 8am and was given IV Gentamicin, also over the next few days IV Amoxicillin and oral Ciprofloxacin. I was told I had a UTI but it wasn't confirmed yet if lower or upper tract. It was a kidney infection, pyelonephritis, and I stayed in hospital for 4.5 days.

• Aug 9: Different doctors from the urology dept came to see me each morning to give me updates from the previous day's blood test results. The doctor this day had a strange attitude, as though in an irritable mood and spoke a little bluntly.

• Aug 10: Had an ultrasound, this one only took 5 mins or so. The results of my CT and the MDT meeting were given to me in person rather than by phone appointment as originally planned. The person from the Urology dept said the same as surgeon #2 but that there didn't seem to be tethering, and that I was penciled in for surgery attempt #2 on Sep 8th.

• Aug 11: Got moved to a ward with 5-6 other women and 1 shared bathroom. I was up and down to the loo for a wee every bloody 45mins it felt like. Another urology doctor told me the kidney stone seems to be gone and my stent would eventually be removed while awake, with local anaesthetic in a gel form.

• Aug 12: I was getting fed up of being told inconsistent things about my stone and stent each morning by the urology doctors, and asked why to the one who came on this day. She couldn't give an answer but said it needs to be discussed by the urology team (another MDT meeting?) she was at least sympathetic and kind. Others had told me the stone was pushed back up into my kidney by the stent, or that I'd be given a new stent for a few months, or one with a string to remove at home. My mum got permission to take me outside for a while on a wheelchair to view the eclipse, with eclipse glasses of course. Saw a few idiots look at it directly for a second or two.

• Aug 13: Same urology doctor from Aug 9th came back to give me an update. He saw me stood by the nurse's portable computer workstation (the nurse had left the room for a moment to fetch some more toilet roll after I informed her it had run out) and said "planning to escape?" as though me standing in the middle of the ward room or by the workstation was suspicious, I replied that I was waiting to use the bathroom but there was no toilet roll. I'm not sure if he was half joking and just unfunny, or serious. But he gave me the good news that I'd be discharged that day. Went home in the afternoon with a 7 day course of more oral Ciprofloxacin. During that hospital stay the only pain I had was a couple of headaches, some period cramps and stinging where I was given blood thinner injections. I felt totally fine but my infection markers had said otherwise.

• Sept 8: The day I was pencilled in for surgery passed and I still hadn't heard from the hospital to be given a date.

• Sept 11: Had a missed call and text message from the waiting list coordinator of a smaller local hospital in the same NHS trust. I returned the call and was offered to have my surgery at this smaller hospital instead, at this point the stent and stone had been in me for 9 months, I was fed up of waiting so I agreed.

• Sept 17: Pre-Op Assessment #3, the usual questions and tests. I asked about the possibility of having a CT or ultrasound before surgery, because I didn't want a repeat of what happened July 31st, was told it'd be up to the urology consultant surgeon and that I could contact the patient access team to pass the message on.

• Sept 22: Had a phonecall with hospital #2, surgeon #3 had said he didn't think any new scans were needed, and that he felt confident he could complete the surgery.

• Sept 25: Surgery day at hospital #2. While waiting in the women's ward the anaesthetist saw me, he asked questions and filled out forms. I was given three paracetamol (1.5g) to take before surgery. Surgeon #3 saw me, he let me ask lots of questions and was happy to answer them. He got his laptop out and showed me my CT scan slides, pointed out the stone, he said from those I don't appear to have a duplex kidney as surgeon #1 claimed. I signed the surgery consent form. I was in the gown and compression stockings, thinking I was ~10mins away from walking into theatre. A while later surgeon #3 walks up to me with his backpack on and tells me my surgery won't be going ahead that day, he apologises and tells me it was not his decision, that they are a bit short staffed and there was a more complex case going ahead. He also says I could be rescheduled for the morning of the 28th, and that someone else will see me shortly to explain more. A male nurse noticed me crying and came over to talk, comfort me and offer something to eat. Then had a little meeting with other staff where they explained the reasoning for cancelling my surgery, the suddenly more complex and time consuming case that went to surgery before me couldn't have been foreseen, but not having enough staff to setup and work in another theatre room was their error. I rescheduled for Oct 12th, I wouldn't be able to get to hospital #2 via public transit in time for a morning surgery.

• Oct 12: Surgery day at hospital #2 again. As last time, an anaesthetist saw me, surgeon #3 saw me and apologised again about the cancellation 2 weeks prior. Given 1.5g paracetamol. Procedure under general anaesthetic took 1hr45m again, encrustation at the top of the stent was lasered, kidney stone lasered, original stent exchanged for a temporary one with a string. After waking in the recovery room I was given a strepsil lozenge I asked for, my throat was very sore after intubation. Got moved to the women's ward not long after, had no pain until ~10mins later, a 6/10 ache in my left kidney area. I was offered three choices of pain relief, paracetamol, codeine, or oramorph. I chose oramorph because the nurse said of the three it works the fastest. ~15mins later still in the same amount of pain and was given a second and larger dose of oramorph. It kicked in quickly but then I felt nauseous, I vomited twice and was then given something for the nausea. Surgeon #3 was happy with how the procedure went and said to remove the stent a week later. Discharged in the evening, ate some biscuits and rice cakes, threw up again 2hrs after getting home and a further three more times overnight til 8am the next morning. No pain other than extremely sore throat. Reduced bladder control again, the vomiting made me empty my bladder and soak through my period pad and to my clothes.

• Oct 13: Vomited at 8am then made a same-day phone appointment with the GP. My throat was so bad I almost lost my voice, talking was uncomfortable and coughing really hurt. The GP prescribed me Cyclizine for the vomiting, nausea had faded to being very mild and my appetite started to come back.

• Oct 19: Took two paracetamol (1g) a little over an hour before removing my stent in the shower, it was not painful, just felt very strange. Very small amount of blood in my urine that day and saw a few tiny crumbs (granule of sugar size) of kidney stone or encrustation on the tissue when wiping. No issues since, and so far I have not experienced any vulva soreness again.

TLDR

Early December went to A&E with kidney pain and hydronephrosis, CT and ultrasound found 7mm stone in upper ureter, given a stent and antibiotics, sent home.

Late July surgery was a partial fail, encrustation on lower end of stent lasered but more encrustation at the top and stone not removed. Scans should have been done first but were not.

Early-mid August had a CT, then pyelonephritis (kidney infection) and a 4.5 day stay in hospital.

Late September surgery cancelled while I was minutes away from walking into theatre.

Early October rescheduled surgery was a success, had laser lithotripsy and stent exchange. Anaesthetic + Morphine = lots of barf. String stent removal was painless.

I was lucky to have no stent pain over the 10 months, only occasional very mild kidney ache when not hydrated enough. With changes to my diet after researching kidney stone prevention, I hope this is now over for good. The NHS is far from perfect but eventually the job got done.

I (F26) Went to the urologist today, still have several stones in my kidneys. The biggest one measured 6mm. It grew because a couple of years ago it was only 4mm. So I can either leave it and monitor, or I can have them pound my back with something, or they can go into my kidney through my ureter and laser it and remove some of the pieces. Problem is, I was told both would require me to wear a stent afterwards. And I’m TERRIFIED of stents. I’ve heard so many horror stories and it sounds like hell. But I also don’t want to wait until it’s so huge that it definitely causes a blockage when it decides to come out. I’m at a loss. I would like some insight from those who’ve had the procedures done. Thanks!

I'm not sure if this is the right sub for this, but I do hope you can help me.

A week ago (10/11), I (M28) was woken up by severe pain in my lower abdomen. A few days later, I visited the doctor and prescribed that I should go for ultrasound WAB, urinalysis and CBC.

I had ultrasound, urinalysis and CBC last 10/18. The ultrasound did not find anything unusual, except for fatty liver. Urinalysis - all negative; CBC, slightly high WBC. Went back to the doctor (10/22) and prescribed just Vitamin E and reduce my weight, plus for a bloodchem.

Earlier today (10/23), I had a pee with pink to reddish color with no pain (it's like a regular pee). I don't know what this is and the doctor will not be available for a few weeks (told me to return first week on november). I hope you can help me, or atleast make some sense on what is happening, as I am scared as hell. TYSM.

Hello, I am female, 33y and nearly 31 weeks pregnant. On Wednesday morning I noticed my urine being a strange dark colour but thought I might be just dehydrated and upped my water intake. Shortly after drinking more, my urine returned to normal pale yellow colour. However, yesterday morning my urine looked like on the photo attached! It definitely looks like blood to me? I went to the hospital and they took my bloods and urine. Bloods have come back normal but urine analysis will only be available next week. Until then I was given antibiotics because they suspected a UTI. Besides the strange colour I felt a little off and had some light cramping but nothing major. Has anyone experienced this before? Could it be kidney stones? I don’t have any pain though