Just received my CT scan report. I've got a 2.9cm calyceal diverticulum with a 1.7cm nonobstructing stone in my right upper pole. Has anyone else dealt with this? I'm on the fence if I should get a pncl surgery to remove the stone, but my urologist doesn't think it's a good idea.
I've also got a small angiomyolipoma on the left kidney that we've been keeping an eye on the last 4 years as well. My thinking is, I'm still young, recovery will suck, but might suck even more down the road, especially If it becomes an emergent situation.

My husband and I have a very healthy and happy marriage. I love him dearly, I want to be very clear about that. I am frustrated, but I’m in no way trying to blame him for any of this.

That said, Flomax has absolutely decimated our sex life. We already have mismatched libidos. I would love if we could have sex just about every night. My husband is happy with once every week and a half or so. I’ve struggled (but am working on it) with feeling like this is a personal attack. I know logically that it isn’t, but I can’t help but wonder if he’s just not that into me. Like maybe if I was more attractive, he would want to have sex with me more often. Again, we’ve talked about this, and have been working on finding a compromise that works for us both.

He’s had a kidney stone once before, and they did surgery to break it up right away. Shortly after surgery, he was back to his normal self. A few months ago he went to the doctor suspecting he has another, and he does. He’s had an x-ray, seen a urologist, and has a CT scan scheduled for another month from now. One of the first things the doctor did was prescribe him Flomax. Neither of us had never heard of it before, but we both agreed it would be nice if he could pass the stones without surgery.

Since starting the Flomax, he says that he can hardly feel it when he ejaculates and that what he does feel, “feels weird”. Sometimes his penis hurts. His libido is nonexistent. In the past 3 months, we’ve had sex three times. After each of those times he goes on and on about how weird it felt. Which, I understand is true and not my fault, but still, it’s not exactly fun to hear how not awesome the sex was for several minutes after you just had it. One of those times was last night, and I almost cried. I’m not only frustrated, I also feel really guilty that I am frustrated. It’s just sex, and I shouldn’t be so horny that a few months of no sex makes me a lunatic, but here we are.

He knows I’m frustrated, and insists that he’s willing to “take one for the team” and have sex with me despite his discomfort. I want to have sex with him too, but not if it literally hurts him, and not even if he just doesn’t enjoy it. I obviously wasn’t thrilled to realize that this medication meant basically no sex, but understood that it was just temporary and figured it wouldn’t last long. Now, 3 months in, I was starting to realize this was going to take a lot longer than I thought. I started googling and searching on Reddit, and I found posts of people who have been on this medication for months, even years! Why is that? I assumed it was one of those “it either works or it doesn’t” kind of things, and then the medication is stopped. What makes someone have to stay on this medication for the long term? I am not ready to live in a sexless marriage, and I’m panicking a bit. I would never ask him to stop taking it for sexual reasons alone, but I am starting to hope that the doctor tells him to discontinue it soon. He hasn’t passed the stone and it seems like it’s doing nothing except ruining our sex life and making him pee a lot.

Long winded ranting aside, my questions are these:

How long should we expect him to be on this medication? Is there a chance he could be on it indefinitely?

If you’re a man who’s been prescribed this medication and dealt with these side effects, do they go away once you stop taking the medication? What can I do to make sure he’s okay and not having his own feelings of inadequacy about all of this? Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

while i was passing my kidney stone (8mm) whenever i went to the toilet it was like an out of body experience. i felt like a kid having a dream and accidentally wetting the bed, i was having to pinch myself to make sure i wasn’t!! it hasn’t happened since passing my stone, has anyone else experienced this or is it just me?? also sorry i feel like i explained that terribly

I wanted to get some opinions on this...

I was having severe pain in my left flank and lower-left abdomen. I had a CT scan done that showed a 24 mm stone in my left kidney. They did the first surgery a couple of weeks ago and couldn't get through the ureter so they put a stent in. A week later they did a second surgery and they said they got it all out. I now have a smaller stent in...Fast forward a week and I'm still feeling an aching in my left flank. I get an x-ray today and it says there is a 19 mm stone in my left kidney. Tomorrow I was scheduled to get the stent out. I am baffled at what is going on here and not excited about a third possible surgery in the next week.

49yo female. Normal weight, relatively healthy. I got an abdominal US today for right upper quadrant intermittent pain. I had a gb removal surgery last year). The US was unremarkable except for and Unexpectedly, the result showed “4mm non obstructing left mid renal calculus and 3mm left inferior pole renal calculus”. Kidneys appear normal in echo genecity and size without hydronephrosis”

What does this mean? I’ve never had any issues like this before on other tests.

Does this mean I have a kidney disease? Do i need to see a specialist? I’m waiting for my pc dr to review and reply to me.

The only lifestyle changes I’ve made in the past 2-3 months are an increase in protein - eating chicken or salmon daily and doubling my daily low fat cottage cheese and yogurt servings from 1/2 to 1 cup each . I went from Getting on average 80g of protein a day to 100g a day to build muscle. I eat 5 to 10 Servings of fruit and veg a day. I probably don’t drink enough water and I workout about 3x a week.

Any help is appreciated.

PSA: it's a suicidal rant, not just a rant

I was hospitalized with my second stone mid January and I remember passing out from the pain and then being really upset when the pain killers brought me back to my consciousness. I had my surgery by the end of February but up until then I suffered from blood poisoning, urinary tract infection, vaginal fungus and purulent rash around the eyes and mouth and the usual kidney stone pain every now and then. I lost 8kg and went from underweight to really underweight. 1 and a half month has passed and I still want to die even though it's all over now. Doctors couldn't tell me why I had my stone to begin with but I am 100% certain it has psychological reasons for me. I already dread the next time one of those fuckers can't leave my body on their own but I also hope it's big enough to just take me out

Looking for anyone who has had a similar experience.

Got diagnosed with mild to moderate Hydronephrosis via ultrasound. Did my CT abdomen/pelvis with and without contrast, which basically said the same thing. Finally, did a mag3 scan with lasix and no blockages or obstructions found. Basically, normal kidney function.

So no blockages, stones or obstructions and no further testing/action needed.

Is there anyone out there that are just living with Hydronephrosis?

My mother's (52 F) creatinine level has been increasing since 2021, and has recently reached 7.6 We are currently doing homeopathy treatment with main medication of Serum Anguillae 7X

Her creatnine has been increasing consistently.

We are scared to opt for dialysis, and are reluctant (but slowly getting onboarded) for transplant.

Can a kidney professional here suggest some alternatives for medications or suggestions how to go about transplant.

Her main issues are : small kidney size, high BP, creatnine, and weight loss.

I've found reading everyone's experiences here helped me in my time dealing with them so I thought I'd add to the stories here with my own.

The stone

It had started on a Friday night where I had some bad back pain. It felt like I pulled a muscle. Weirdly enough I also had this constipated feeling along with the pain. Like I really needed to take a shit bad while also feeling like someone was stabbing me in the back. The kidney pain sucked, but wasn't the worst pain I've personally felt (the pain after my tonsils were removed are on a completely different scale). I'd put the pain at maybe a 6-7/10. The pain went away after maybe 2 hours and while I was concerned, I thought I'd just wait and see before doing anything. The next evening it happened again (along with the constipated feeling) so I went to the hospital.

I had a 6.5mm kidney stone which I was told was borderline too big to pass, and the main reason I was given a stent was because I had an infection and my right kidney didn't look too great.

Initial operation

Everything went pretty smooth and whilst it stung a bit to urinate the first day, it wasn't anything terrible. Afterwards I noticed some pain in my kidney towards the end of relieving my bladder but that cleared up after a couple of days. The blood and pain all cleared up within that time and for a couple of weeks I felt normal.

Emergency visit

One morning though I woke up, didn't feel quite right and noticed I started pissing a lot of blood - basically like right after the surgery. No pain, but I felt off. After a couple of days of this I then started getting pain and went back to the hospital. Nothing wrong was found, but they said I could remove it early if I liked - considering I was only a few days out from my scheduled appointment, I chose to wait it out.

Passing the stone prior to operation

During this time I felt like I passed something when going to the toilet, but I was in a public restroom and wasn't going to go fishing around to find out. It later turned out I had passed the stone, so that's probably what happened here. It wasn't even painful, just "weird".

Stone removal and second stent

The second operation went much worse than the first to be honest. I was given a stent with a string (for removal a few days later) and told that I had already passed the stone. Going to the toilet was much more painful this time around and lasted for about a day and a half. The pain was easily 10x worse than the first time and I honestly had to psych myself up to go.

I was scared I was somehow going to pull the stent out myself by the string (the string out of you is rather long and they kinda just tape it to your groin) and given how raw everything felt it was a bit scary. Considering going into the operation I wasn't feeling well, I came out feeling even worse - much the opposite to my first operation. It took about 2 days till I started feeling normal-ish and going to the toilet was fine too.

Removal of the stent

I was scheduled to get it done in the office 4 days after the operation but the string was honestly bothering me constantly by being unintentionally pulled whenever I moved around and the discomfort was still there. Reading the stories here I figured it probably wouldn't be so bad to remove it myself, so I did it the night before my appointment during a shower.

You have two parts, the long string part, then the plastic stent part and for me the most uncomfortable part was getting the string out. Once I saw the plastic stent coming out there was a bit of blood but far less discomfort. I never really felt much in the way of actual pain, but that's not to say the feeling wasn't unpleasant. The main thing is just bracing for the fact that it's longer than you think. The string is as long as the stent and the stent itself is already like 20cm long? Something like that.

I felt instant relief, but about an hour later I started feeling the same kind of pain and discomfort I had when I first had my kidney stone. Thankfully for me it went away pretty quickly, about an hour or so. The pain wasn't as bad as the kidney stone, but it was close. Probably a 6/10. I took an oxycodone about an hour after the pain started, but within minutes the pain started going away so I suspect I wasted a tablet for nothing - oh well.

The urologist wasn't happy I pulled my stent out early, and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone as you should follow their advice but for me I honestly couldn't handle another night with it and was glad it was finally over.

Conclusion

My initial experience with the stent was uneventful, but after waking up that one day with lots of blood in my urine, and general feeling of unwell and the eventual pain the experience from then on until the second stent was removed was very unpleasant. Having to deal with that was worse than the stone in many ways due to how long it lasted. I couldn't sleep well and urinated often. I am told it's quite likely I have another stone (apparently 50% of people get them again within 5 years) but I'm going to drink lots of fluids and avoid soda because I don't want another stent, that's for damn sure.

In any case, hope sharing my experience helps others going through the same thing in the future.

I had an issue with a kidney stone two weeks ago. I've been getting terrible joint neuralgia and pain specifically in my hip ball joint. Is this related ?

I’ve never had a kidney stone but I’ve always been afraid of getting one because everyone always says they’re so painful and awful. Is it really that terrible in your guys’ experience and how can I absolutely minimize my chances of getting one?

I know this sounds silly and all but in early 2020 I passed my first stone, it led to Hydronephrosis and it was absolute hell having a stent for two weeks and then getting it removed finally. Thankfully stone came out while I was under getting the stent placed.

I have had kidney stones since 2014 or so by X rays and CT scans for other issues. I have visited tons of rollercoasters since then and never had an issue but I do think the stones have probably grown

I never did do my follow-up with the urologist to see how my stones were doing size wise. Maybe I should go and see them

Basically I’m spending like 6K on this vacation and I’m so worried it’ll be ruined. I ride everything multiple times I’m a coasterholic. It seems like it’s gonna come down to bad luck and low probability but I’m still nervous one will get jolted free

I had PCNL surgery on March 27th, and another on April 2nd. I had two neph tubes inserted on March 27th, and one removed on April 2nd. So now I just have one neph tube.

The tube is literally useless at this point- it’s clamped and not draining anything (it’s not attached to a bag anymore).

I wasn’t given any info on how to live with a tube- I don’t know how im supposed to shower as I see conflicting info online. I feel the site all the time; it’s painful most of the day, and it fluctuates from a 2-7 out of 10. I can’t lift anything more than 5 lbs or else I feel it throb heavily. I’m still walking insanely slow- like I just got out of surgery.

For the record, I was supposed to have the second tube removed as well, but my urologist went on vacation and his office won’t give me any info on when I will be getting it removed. Apparently I was referred off somewhere, but they can’t tell me where that is, or who is removing my tube. I’m kind of having a lot of anxiety because of this, since it’s been 2 weeks and I haven’t heard anything. When I called to ask questions it was a really defeating conversation because they basically said I’m SOL and they can’t help me since they don’t know anything.

Anyone who’s lived with a neph tube, what’s normal for pain and when did it get better? How long did you have yours for? I hear that you’re supposed to have them changed; how often should that happen (I worry since it’s been a month and my urologist is basically ghosting me). Any other info or advice is welcome

Kidney Stone

Hoping someone else might have had a similar experience that they can share, or some guidance.

I went to urgent care for flank pain last year, I think around July. I was ordered a CT scan and told I had a kidney stone. I wasn’t really given any other info, but I did have elevated protein and a bit of blood in urine (not visible).

I had flank pain again in two months and went back. I was told it was most likely another kidney stone and referred to a urologist. Again, elevated protein and blood, but not enough blood to be visible.

I went to the urologist, he looked at the scans, and he told me the pain I was experiencing wasn’t kidney stones. He said I did have a kidney stone sitting in my kidney, but it wasn’t moving, and it was unlikely that it would cause any pain. I asked what was up with the elevated protein and blood and he just said my urine test was normal this time. He said he didn’t know what was wrong and had no next steps for me.

It’s been nearly a year since this started and I keep having pain in the same spot. The first time it was uncomfortable; sporadic pain, a feeling of fullness and bloatedness, I couldn’t sleep on one side, contraction-like feelings, kind of a warm dull ache, tight. Today (and many other days) it feels like there’s a knot in that same spot, it’s tight, hot, it’s almost like there’s a ball there but I can’t feel a lump or anything, and I feel like someone would have seen that in the CT.

Has anyone else initially been diagnosed as kidney stones and had it turn out to be something else?

First timer here. Last Thursday, I noticed almost immediately throbbing pain in my lower right back, right stomach and right groin area.

Fought through the pain through the night then went to a 24-hour care facility (not ER) where they confirmed I didn't have UTI and that I likely had a kidney stone. They gave me a steroid shot which helped with the pain.

I started heavily drinking lemon water over the next day and started peeing out these black flakes, and eventually a blackish ball about 2mm.

All pain is now gone, but from what I've read, this process was supposed to take longer. Anyone else had this experience?

So, I first posted here about a year and a half ago. My left kidney was pretty much completely filled with a staghorn stone.

I got referred twice, so 3 different surgeons. Just got home the other day from my last pcnl 3 hours away. But they finally got most of it. Doctor was determined, it took 8 hours and 5 holes in my back. But I only have a little bit left in the bottom Canal.

They said they got 95% of what was in there, which was about 46% of the original stone. There is a possibility that I may not need to do a pcnl to clear it.

I am focusing on this as I wait for the muscle spasms in my back to stop while being very grateful for heating pads.

Has anybody else had like pressure feeling in the penis? I just urinated and 2 worm like blood clots came out and now I’m freaking out. What does this mean?

I went to ER 4 weeks ago for 4mm stone blocking the junction where ureter meets bladder. Stayed 2 nights for fluid and pain meds. Urologist said nothing else to do since it wasn’t fully blocking and sent me home with flomax and antibiotics “just in case it turns to infection”. I’ve now seen the NP 2x and both times she has said since it is still stuck and I’m in pain they can do surgery (litho) if I “want to” because it doesn’t seem to be moving. She gave me the weekend for one last try of passing it. She is concerned that it will just grow stuck where it is. Instead of moving this weekend it has just caused even greater pain. Maybe I’m just reading into her words because does anyone really “want to” have surgery. Should I keep trying or just let them laser me?

I am a regular user of Kidney COP. Since using it seems to help a bit. Walmart sells a new brand called Pslalae Kidney COP. The one I usually buy is Calcium Oxalate Labs Kidney COP. The new brand comes from china and is less than half the price. Does anyone know if this is just as good? My concern is the possibility the active ingredients, although listed exactly the same, are not as good or different. Any help would be appreciated.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pslalae-Kidney-COP-Calcium-Oxalate-Protector-Kidney-Health-Urinary-Tract-Support-60pcs-1-3-5Pack/5549063384?from=/search

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Kidney-COP-Patented-Supplement-for-Calcium-Oxalate/309856909?from=/search

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3 stones in each kidney

Three of which are 3 mm , and three that are 4 mm

I have a fu with a urologist on Tuesday I’m a stone grower , calcium . I’ve had 4 stone surgeries

I take alfuozlin ,potassium citrate etc Drink water, avoid oxolate .

Not sure what else I can do

I am just disgusted , since i just had a 5 mm removed last month , no stent

Isn’t it reported that ultrasounds can over estimate the size ? I’ve read a study that says that Stones are non obstructing, not painful right now . I have hydrocodone 10/325 for pain for other issues.

My only theory is that I take lasix for cardiac issues , Which can cause stones . I am switching to hydrochlorothiazide,which helps prevents stones .

But of course that’s not a great solution .

Thoughts on what urologist is going to suggest? I know 4 mm stones pass generally

Thanks for reading

Not dealing with the anxiety so well. Can someone tell me as a male what I can expect once this thing goes from bladder to uthretha? Concerned of it getting stuck it's my worst nightmare and ripping it apart inside. 40 y/O male.

I had ESWL with a stent 72 hours ago. I’m filtering my urine and have gotten virtually no debris at all. Is this common? Why can I do beyond water to start the clean out process? And where the hell is all the debris sitting?

I posted yesterday about a 5 x 11 mm kidney stone that I had passed. In the 24 hours since, I’ve passed four more stones, none as big but one was a 5mm diameter round boy. Has anyone else ever experienced passing a big one and then having a River of smaller ones afterwards? The smaller ones aren’t nearly as painful, but it’s still sucks.

I am a 21 y/o male, not sure if this is relevant but I am very active, in the gym 5-6 times a week weightlifting. Thursday night I had what felt like gas pains, started off not so bad but after about 2 hours the pain had radiated to my left lower back and was excruciating painful, I threw up twice and was freaking out at this point, Luckily we had some torodol and I took one and the pain disappeared for around 4 hours , the pain hit again while trying to sleep and I took another torodol and was able to finally sleep. Next day I went the whole day without pain and just chalked it up as maybe I had a small one and passed it without knowing, Now all of a sudden I feel like a dull ache/pain in my penis, it comes and goes every couple minutes, I’m still peeing fine , no discoloration, no burning. Do I have a stone trapped or what’s going on? I have severe health anxiety and this is not helping. I’ve also never had kidney stones before and it’s freaking me out at this point . I have no more pain except for the discomfort described in my penis.

I’ve had a 4mm kidney stone and this is my second ever kidney stone. I was going to need a cystoscopy Tuesday and a stent if I was unable to pass by then. I want confirmation if this is it??? I felt pressure then sudden release and was going to flush the toilet but saw this bad boy sitting in it. Is this my kidney stone??? I’m just concerned and conflicted because my first ever one was tan. This one’s dark brown, almost like it’s stained with blood?? Can someone help pls. So I know to cancel the cysto surgery?? Ty!!!

Does anyone else feel kidney stone pain triggered by stress? Ever since I started getting stones, I noticed that anytime I get stressed, my lower back and entire middle start hurting like I'm having a stone flare up.

Is this common or should it be cause for concern?