I’ve passed another monster stone followed by 5 smaller ones. It measures about 11mm x 7mm at its widest points. And boy does my urethra burn!

So when I was pregnant and nearing my 3rd trimester I passed 4 kidney stones, had a raging uti with blood in my urine, and was extremely dehydrated. Fast forward after my c section, while still in the hospital I noticed my bladder hurt every time I had to pee. Pee looked fine, smelled fine, didn't burn. They told me to follow up with my GYN after I was discharged (no idea why I couldn't be treated in the hospital). The GYN called me in antibiotics about a week after I got home since the symptoms persisted, but never took a culture. I finished the antibiotics but the bladder pain didn't go away. Urologist sent me for a CT which showed no kidney stones remaining and took a sample of my urine. No UTI but blood in my urine??? The bladder pain ended up going away. Now I have to do a cystoscopy to check for tumors next week. Anyone deal with anything similar as in no stones, no uti, but persistent blood in their urine?

My husband is having his first bout with a 6mm kidney stone and has been in pain for the last 4 days. The ER doctor told us he would pass it with the help of a dilator in a couple days. I’m reading on this subreddit that it may take much much longer. Our local hospital offers Lithotripsy. Should we be pushing for more intervention or wait to see a urologist on Monday. Currently the only thing working is 3200mg of ibuprofen daily. Should he try Azo?

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/2090598X.2020.1762280#abstract

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6365118/

http://www.urotoday.com/volume-2-2009/vol-2-issue-5/31777-is-ureteral-stenting-necessary-after-uncomplicated-ureteroscopy-lithotripsy-for-small-middle-and-distal-ureteral-stones-2224693.html

I think everyone should ask their doctors about this, no more stent pain!

Hi everyone I’ve never had a stone before but I have been experiencing some symptoms and am wondering if this sounds like a stone. On Friday I woke up to a burning/dull ache in my side/back and cloudy urine. It went away later in the day but came back more painful on Saturday. The pain then moved to my pelvic/bladder leading me to believe I have a UTI. I drank lots of water on Saturday in an attempt to flush whatever infection it was. Today it is a little bit better but still painful. Overall the pain was maybe a 5 and I have not had a fever. I’m not sure if I should go get it checked out at an urgent care or wait and maybe let the symptoms pass.

Stone newbie here, just turned 11 weeks pregnant. Looking for some hope, as I'm feeling very down and regretting this pregnancy. This is very long, TIA for anyone who reads my experience.

TL/DR: need positive experiences with stents, and reassurance that I'll eventually be able to work for the rest of my pregnancy (7 months).

Went to urgent care 11/20 with severe right abdominal pain. Everyone thought it was appendicitis, but surprise! Ultrasound found a 7mm and 16mm stone in my right kidney. Pain was gone about an hour later, so they discharged me with a urology referral.

11/25, have virtual urology consultation, during which the doc expressed his discomfort with treating pregnant patients, stating there's nothing they can do during the first tri, and that he thinks a third stone was blocking my ureter. Gave me advice to hydrate and lie on my right side if I get similar pain again, to try to dislodge the stone. That advice felt wrong and unsustainable, but I went with it. Doc also mentions he's retiring at the end of November, so I'll have to meet with someone else if pain returns.

11/25 pm, felt the pain coming on, laid on my right side, and like magic, it worked!

11/28, at Thanksgiving dinner, felt the pain come on, laid on my right side, and no relief. Of course we're out of town, so have to call my insurance to sort out where to go, end up at a great teaching hospital (UVA for those in Central VA). ER takes me super seriously, I get a full workup right away, new US, and has urology down to consult within 2 hours. (Seriously, this place was fast with their care. Can't recommend their ER enough.) They say they can do an MRI if needed, but feel comfortable going based on the US they did, which confirmed the same size stones as last week. They said stone removal is not on the table at this point, as it's not safe during pregnancy. There is one method that they could do later on in pregnancy if needed, but they don't recommend it until late 2nd or 3rd tri, due to length of time it'll take. They said my stone load is already high based on what they can see, so they first recommended a nephrostomy bag to drain the kidney until I deliver. Then they said imaging showed my liver was in the way, so that's no longer on the table, and will likely eliminate the only possible removal surgery as well. So, they recommended a stent, said it would keep the ureter clear, but I'll have to get it replaced every 4-6 weeks with a general anesthesia so a stone doesn't form on the stent itself. Stent felt better with my very active lifestyle, whereas an ostomy bag felt like a big problem for 7 months. So stent seemed like a better option anyway, despite the need for replacement procedures.

11/30, get stent placed, after getting bumped from the OR schedule on 11/29. Refused to be NPO for more than 12 hours while pregnant, which really annoyed the surgeon. He "threatened" to keep me in hospital another night, which was hilarious, because with a 2 year old at home, being in the hospital is just a very boring vacation. He admitted I made the right call though, said I wouldn't have been called back until 11pm that day, so I'd have been without food or water for a full day, all while pregnant. Hah, no.

Anyway, stent placement went smoothly, the entire team was really great. As long as I stay on top of my Tylenol, there's no major pain, just some discomfort that's I can totally manage.

BUT OH MY GOD, the frequency and urgency to pee! I'm doing really well keeping hydrated, drinking 100 mLs every time I pee, and tracking ins and outs (at least the frequency of outs) on my baby tracker app! Who knew I'd find another use for that thing! I'm now peeing every 20 mins, and I can go 45 mins if I nap. I'm having to wear diapers all the time, and there was a VERY rough moment overnight when the 2yo woke up at 4am, at the exact time I managed to clog the only easily accessible toilet at our vacation home, and hubs was just spent. I'm basically living in the bathroom, either on the toilet or in the bathtub.

I'm a HS teacher, and while I can take lots of time off, anything I take now will cut short my maternity leave. But I can't exactly teach this way. I can get coverage to have extra bathroom breaks, but I just don't see how I can teach while constantly thinking I have to go.

Thankfully the OB team assures me the stent won't affect my delivery plans (VBAC for those familiar), but I'm still very nervous. To the point I'm regretting even getting pregnant, because if I wasn't, I could have already had the stones removed and be well on my way to recovery. Instead it's 7 months of this, with a procedure under a general every 4-6 weeks.

Please tell me this gets better. I have to go back to work at some point, I have to be a functional human being and parent to my kiddo. Please tell me I'll be back to something approaching normal in the next few days, I could even do a week or two of this. But if it's going to be like this for 7 months, I just don't know if I can do it. I need your positive stories!

Edited for typos

I’m 6 weeks pregnant. They can’t do a CT. I had a CT done in July with my last stone which showed 5 in the right kidney and one in the left. Ultrasound and MRI are only seeing the one in my left kidney. Any chance they’re missing one that’s passing??? Pain is on my left side, coming and going, and feels identical to my previous stones. Otherwise they think it is OB- related. Has this happened to anyone else??

Hello, 35-year-old male here. About 10 years ago, I was diagnosed with an inborn kidney condition described as usually harmless (dont remember how docs called it). I’ve had several ultrasounds since, none showing cysts or an enlarged kidney. However, this week, an ultrasound revealed my left kidney is enlarged, with a 10mm cortical cyst and an "incomplete bridge" (likely that inborn defect, though I’m not sure).

From what I’ve read, a cyst alone (even so a cortical one) is usually harmless. Does this hold true also with these additional findings (enlarged kidney, incomplete bridge) and this developing rather suddenly (not seen on the previous sono 1-1.5 years ago)?

I also suffer from LPR (severe acid reflux) and chronic gastritis, for which I’ve been on PPIs, H2 blockers, and various antacids. I haven’t looked into kidney-related side effects yet but plan to do so.

Thank you.

Hey people. 2 days ago I woke up in intense pain like I've never felt before. My lower left back was literally in agony. It was relentless and I ended up puking multiple times from the pain.

I went to urgent care and they couldn't do any scans to confirm stones or not, so they prescribed me some things for pain and gave me a Toradol shot. The pain before the shot was so bad that I begged to go to the ER (my mom was there) and she took me. Thankfully, the shot was enough to numb the pain until I could be seen at the ER.

Long story short, I got a scan and they said I have a 4mm kidney stone right at the end of my ureter. They sent me home with pain meds and when I woke up, the intense pain was back and the meds didn't even touch the pain.

Went back to the hospital, they helped the pain, i stayed the night and then today i went under to get the stone blasted since it was super stubborn.

The experience was really horrifying to say the least. I'm happy the kidney pain is over but I'm not in the clear yet because I have a stent and the stent is low key freaking me out. It's string attached and will be removed literally the morning fter tomorrow but the idea of a tube in my ureter is scary.

I'm scared that the pain meds won't work just like they didn't work the first time they sent me home. And I'm scared about how taking the stent out will feel. Am I going to be okay? This was all so fucking scary and I never want it to happen again.

I am currently dealing with a stuck stone, but am surprised how hard it was to get it diagnosed. I have plenty of experience so I know the symptoms so presented myself to A&E in extreme discomfort, told them my history, how everything was pointing to a kidney stone. Urine test showed blood in the urine.

Diagnosis - cystitis and sent away with painkillers and antibiotics.

Ended up back at A&E the next day because of the pain, they sent me for CT scans which confirmed a stuck stone, treatment is now as you would expect.

But if I had not persevered I would be sat at home for a few weeks dealing with 'cyctistis' with no end in sight - I wonder how many other people end up like this. I have read so many posts here where peoples concerns are not taken seriously and the problem is misdiagnosed as something else, even constipation! I would have thought there would be so much experience concerning kidney stones that it would be a simple diagnosis but in my case it seemed like on that first attendance that it didn't matter what other symptoms I had, because I didn't have any tenderness in my side then it couldn't be a kidney stone.

So I have had a lot of kidney stones over the years, and I usually just pass them at home. But on November 15th…It was bad so I went into the ER. Long story short, I had developed a kidney infection, they gave me an Iv with pain meds and by the time they did the CT, the doctor said my stone had passed into my bladder. So they sent me home with antibiotics. I have finished the antibiotics and feel fine now, no pain at all, but I still have not passed the stone. Normally I guess I don’t know exactly when it is in my bladder, so maybe its always taken this long… but Im starting to be concerned. Does anyone know how long it takes to pass, after the stone is already in the bladder? Do I need to worry, or is it ok that it is taking its good ole time?

I saw my nephrologist recently to go over a 24 hour urine test and I told her I have a renal CT scan that my urologist had ordered and she refused to look at it because it had nothing to do with her treatment. I also told her I was concerned that my egfr has always been in the 120s but has steadily been dropping more and more every month and is now at 82. She refused to look at my blood work and said it was fine, that I was probably just dehydrated one day. It’s been steadily dropping every month for six months so I guess she thinks that I’m just less and less hydrated every month I take a blood test? I was really frustrated that she wouldn’t look at anything except the urine test results. Is this normal? Should I look for another nephrologist?

Can I have a kidney stone and not be detected?When a stone comes out, can it come out together with clots?

I am 26 years old and have never suffered from kidney stones or UTI until now that I am pregnant. Since the first time I started having problems the first thing they keep asking me was if I had stones.

I am currently 33 weeks and at 21 weeks for the first time in my life I had a UTI that caused me to have a kidney infection (the only symptom was kidney pain and hematuria) and I had gross hematuria to the point that I couldn't urinate anymore. The urologist did a procedure to clean me and see if I had stones but although they did x-rays and sonograms nothing came out and could not explain why I had blood like that, he could only say that it was because of the infection.

At 24 weeks I had blood in urine again but the cultive was negative and it passed in 2 or 3 days. After that I went to a urologist and they didn't explain it either, they told me that maybe a blood vessel was injured and that was the cause but since I didn't have anything they told me to be calm and if it happened again to wait after the pregnancy for them to check me.

This week (Monday to be exact) I had blood again but this time I started having pain in my lower back that gradually moved to the front. The ER again told me it was an infection and sent me home with antibiotics. As soon as I got home I felt like using the bathroom and urinated a big clot and immediately the pain went away. After that it started to hurt where the kidney is and after a few hours I went back to use the bathroom and another clot came out and once again the pain went away and I have not had pain again but 5 days later I still have blood. I wonder if it could be a stone because unlike the first time I had kidney pain and even though I also had clots, I never had pain in my lower back and front when the clots were passing until this time.

I've had a few stones over the past 5 years that caused excruciating pain which needed IV opiates to manage. I've read a lot on here about people using leftover prescription pain killers or heat pads and hot baths to manage the pain. My question is- if I feel the pain coming on, how do I know if it will be relieved by a pill or with a shower and just an hours time, or it's a bigger stone that will need a lot more?

I'm new to this and a little confused. Now that I'm thinking about it, why do I leave the ER after being on an IV for an hour and then never feel pain again once I leave if they didn't do anything to the stone? Is it because it only caused pain at a certain point in my ureter and it happened to move along as I sat there? How do they know it won't hurt right away when they discharge me?

Sorry for the long questions, I'm new to this and quite confused. Thanks for taking the time to read!

I've been struggling with abdomen and back pain for like a week now. Started with an incident of severe pain that sent me to the hospital, and ended with them sending me home with no pain meds and a CT that didn't see any stones. They told me I was probably constipated. Couple days go by with me still in pain, even through Thanksgiving. A second CT on black Friday results again in them saying I'm probably constipated. Both times, I feel kind of suspicious because I know what constipation pain feels like and this wasn't it.

I thought I saw a fragment earlier in my urine, but couldn't tell because it dropped on the (dirty) floor. This time I caught this in a strainer. Super tiny piece of gravel, probably barely or less than 1mm, but at least I'm not crazy. Now I have some confirmation that I may have small stones in there.

I’ll be as descriptive as possible through the length of the experience, and hopefully y’all can have some ideas. 10/10 pain for me is inability to walk and crying.

Day 1 started as having gas pains that were accompanied by lower back aches. Nothing new, my dad had some too so we thought bad food the night before. Pain slowly rose from 2-8 throughout the whole day until I went to the hospital.

Here it hit 10/10 and continued to get worse, beating out for my worst pain in the last 10 years. Pain meds hit, three up a lot and then choked down contrast and got a scan.

Result was a 4-5mm stone already outside the kidney and in the ureter. Got sent home with the dilators, nausea, and pain meds.

Fast forward exactly one week to now, and I’ve still got a rather constant lower back, left flank pain that sits anywhere from 1-6. The painkillers keep it mostly in check but if I’m trying to do any labor it gets pretty damn bad.

Thought it was a pulled muscle from throwing up contrast but I think that would’ve subsided by now. Local pain relief ointments help as well, and while massaging the area feels good, it also seems to irritate the pain level.

I never passed the stone as far as I could tell. I know it’s possible it broke up and passed unnoticed (which I still don’t fully believe). As for location, it’s exactly below where the kidney is, like 3-4in lower. Also feels like 3-5in deep into my flank, not near the skin surface.

My theory is that the stone escaped the kidney while I was throwing up, but then had just simply not moved an inch. But I would love to be wrong and to have a better solution. Ideas?

Hi guys, I’m not sure if anyone can help as of course you’re not medical doctors or able to scan me however….. I’m living in France with very little money and insurance and can’t really afford to see a real doctor yet.

I’ve suffered with UTI’s my whole life but around march time I got the most intense ‘UTI’ I’ve ever had, it felt like a glass tube was being shoved inside of me over and over. It went away but the pain never really did. Fast forward to June and I have another extreme ‘UTI’ I have a bit of blood and go in an ambulance cus the pain is severe, it leaves but something feels like a sharp tube being moved in my urethra every time I pee or after a bowel movement.

And that brings us to now, this all got a bit severe in October and I was getting random 6 hour attacks of insanely intense pain in my urethra, but not at the opening more kind of my bladder. The pain makes me so dizzy and breathless I’ve never known anything like it. Pee just falls out of me despite having a hypertonic pelvic floor, and then it just stops randomly whenever it wants.

These ‘attacks’ have the last 2 weeks and it’s now less painful sporadically but painful constantly- just less intensely. I can’t hold my pee in the night and my stomach just feels weird.

Although I don’t have a lot of the symptoms you guys seem to have, my mother has kidney stones her symptoms were different but I can’t see what else this would be. I’m 21 though so maybe it’s a bit young :/

Sorry if this is long winded and a pointless post but I’m at my wits end! Any help would be extremely appreciated

Hello all,

I am a 21 y/o male who has been suffering from kidney stones since the age of 16. I have probably passed over a dozen since my first one. In the summer of 2023, I had a CT scan that showed 6 stones, and even after passing 8 stones in the last year, a scan from last week showed there are still 5 hanging out and around my kidneys. I am writing this to ask for any advice. I drink a ton of water, maybe 5 liters a day on average, if not more. I am also very large, 6'5 and 270 pounds. So reflecting on why I produce so many stones, one thought I had is there is a period of 6-10 hours where I am not drinking any fluids, ie. when I am sleeping. I wanted to ask if anyone has tried drinking water during the night to prevent their urine from getting too concentrated and if so, have they found it to be helpful in mediating stone formation? I am also on Chlorthalidone.

Thanks!

Hey there - asking for advice (ultimately if I’m truly concerned I’ll visit a doctor. But for the sake of curiosity) I had laser lithotripsy Nov 18th. Sent self removal three days later on Thursday morning. Have been feeling pretty great. Some tenderness a couple days. Passed stone fragments the day I pulled my stent. Today I’m experiencing some new pinching in my kidney. I wouldn’t say pain, but a little achy and some pinching. I also feel pressure in my urethra, but not urgency more pressure. No pain when I pee though at all. So for now I’m wondering if I should just chalk it up to all my inside parts healing? My urine is clear. I’m drinking water like crazy. No fever. F/45.

November 2023 stone 5,6 mm on right kidney. Passed naturally with tons of water and walking all day in a week. November 2024 stone 6,8 mm down pole left kidney. I am really sad now. Dont want this stress again. I thought i was done with stones. Can i pass it naturally again? Whats wrong with my kidneys?

Long time stone maker here. I've passed many stones from 2mm to 8mm. The last couple of weeks I've had on and off urinary pain, bladder spasms, and urgency. I'm also diagnosed with CPPS/PS so I thought it was that.

Went to see my urologist and he said it's likely a stone. Well the pain started peaking the last couple of days so I went in today for a CT at the urgent care since I couldn't wait 10 days for the urologists machine to free up.

6mm at left uvj with mild hydrophrenosis and hydroureter. Not a full obstruction according to the attending physician otherwise he would have had me stented and scheduled.

It's been a long time since I passed anything bigger than a 4mm. I'm flowing okay, drinking a ton of water and lemon juice/drink. I'm about to double my flowmax to 0.8mg (0.4mg 2x/day) and see how it goes.

I contacted my urologist to get advice on what's next even if that means going for a procedure which I've never had one but I know I may have to if it comes to it.

Besides moving around, drinking, and taking my medication if anyone has a voodoo spell to help shoot this rock out, let me know.

Seriously, this sucks. I'm not in a ton of pain except when urinating which is more of a spasm and felt exactly like the last one I had (4.5mm at the right uvj a couple years back).

I'm not sure ESWL is an option or advised, but either way if I have to go for a scope does anyone have any advice on what to expect?

Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone,

For the past almost two weeks I've had flank pain on my right side that feels like cramping/stitch in my side so naturally I think "kidney stones" . I first went to urgent care, urine test was negative for blood or white blood cells showing up. They gave me muscle relaxer. Days later, I went to ER and they also did a urine test (negative again) and an x-ray. They said they didn't feel it was worth doing a blood test or ultrasound and just said keep using the muscle relaxer and motron.

I should probably go to another ER right? I just can't see what else this is. I've been drinking tons of water to be safe. The pain and cramping comes and goes throughout the day. Do kidney stones sometimes show no traces of blood? Thanks!

I am desperate and no one has been able to help me. I have tried to contact so many people about my health and no one knows or cares.

I had a blockage from a kidney stone in May of 2023. I had Lithotripsy. 10 days later I started to have hand and leg tremors. Those were followed by leg exhaustion. Like when someone has a bad heart. (My heart is fine) I can't walk down our hallway without sitting on the carpet halfway and hoping that the pain would go away. My eyesight sometimes scrolls like movie credits but in reverse. My menstrual cycle stopped. (Note: I am around the age, 45, that pre-menopause or menopause may start, but I had heavy cycles until May of 2023.) My ankles and feet swell. I weigh 86 lbs. A healthy weight for me would be somewhere around 100-110. And lastly, I am so tired my narcolepsy medication doesn’t work. I don’t have narcolepsy. I have extreme daytime drowsiness. The fatigue started before the surgery, but now I can’t keep my eyes open a lot of the day. Also, my WBC count has tanked. Before surgery, it was at 10.8. 10 days after it was in the 5 range. It is now 2.7. My symptoms are not consistent. I will have symptoms for a week or two and then nothing. Some of the times I have symptoms are worse than others.

I have seen a neurologist, been scanned for blood clots, and I am currently seeing a blood oncologist. None of these doctors, including my primary physician is listening to me about the connection to the surgery and my symptoms. I am so desperate to try and figure this out. Have you heard of this? Or know anyone I can talk to who might be able to give me some guidance? I would be so appreciative of any information or help you can provide me.

Back in late August 2024, I had the first stage of the Shockwave lithotripsy for a 24mm x 14mm stone in my left kidney. The stone was fragmented in pieces and I woke up with a stent inside me to prevent ureter blockage because of these fragments.

In the next months, I passed a lot of fragments of varying sizes under 5mm. After the collection was complete, I was sure that the worst is over and majority of the stone load was gone. But, boy was I wrong.

I went in for an XRay in early October and it showed that considerable stones still remain and I was told to get another shockwave lithotripsy and possibly laser lithotripsy as well for stones which are in the ureter and easily accessible in the kidney.

The stent lived on in the meantime.

I was scheduled for a surgery in late October, but it got cancelled because of the US nationwide IV shortage.

The stent life continued.

Finally I was able to get the surgery appointment for Nov end (yesterday). The shockwaves broke up a smaller fragment very nicely and my urologist was able to laser out the bigger 7mm fragment in the ureter.

Nearly three months of living with stents had dilated my ureter enough that the procedure completed without any damage to it. My urologist was able to remove the previous stent and decided that I do not need another one!!

The stent is finally gone!

And hopefully the stones too. I will know the final state when I go in for an XRay in six months.

I just wanted to share my experience and thank the wonderful community for advice on what to expect and how to minimize discomfort.

And a word of encouragement. The stent sucked for sure. It felt very weird the whole time, but it did not cause major pains for me. I was able to drive to work, drop off kids to school, play with them while having the stent inside. It sucks but it’s not the end of the world. I was even able to travel to New York to attend a concert and fly to Vegas for a family vacation, with the stent inside me.

Hang in there. It does get better.

After over a year of on and off excruciating pain and a final 18+ hour emergency room visit (and with the help of morphine), I was able to push this 17mm kidney stone out of my male part.

Doctors and nurses were passing it around and all taking turns to look at it, because they couldn't believe it.

This was pushed out as they were prepping to perform emergency lithotripsy surgery. My bladder was extremely distended because I couldn't pee, and after asking to try and pee one final time, it came out!

The relief I have is on another level.

17mm Kidney Stone

I’ve been dealing with burning pee and the tip of my penis has been sensitive for about a week. Yesterday I found this floating in my pee after going to the bathroom.

It’s hard but doesn’t look like other pictures of stones. I’ve never had one before so don’t really know what it could be.

6mm stone stuck very low down in left ureter, had lithotripsy 48 hours ago.

Thought the actual procedure was ok - due to the position of the stone I couldn't lay on my back as the pelvis was obscuring it so had to lie on my stomach. I was warned beforehand that it may be extremely painful in my genitals as it was so close. They started on 45% and it wasn't too bad but afterwards they said they had gone up to 100% after the first 1000 pulses but to be honest, although I could feel the difference there wasn't a massive amount of pain, just a feeling like someone hit my genitals and rectum with a pin every second, certainly not unbearable. The actual pulse felt like someone hitting me hard in the same spot over and over with a hammer - again, not unbearable, although to someone who has never had the pain of a stone it would probably be classed as agonising but I think we often have a better idea of the severity of real pain... (when I was sat on A&E a few days previously I was near where people were being triaged and pretty much everyone said their pain was '10', including one guy who I overheard say that once he had finished in the hospital he was going out for a meal...)

Anyway, once over, passed clear red urine for a couple of hours, a couple of black blood-clots, and that is it, no after-pain in the region. They said on the image the stone had changed shape but weren't sure if it had broken a bit or just shifted.

2 days later, the pain of the stone and urge to urinate has decreased to the point I can pretty much carry on my day to day stuff, aside from the fact I am drinking so much I need to urinate every ten minutes.

All I have passed so far are two absolutely tiny bits of grit unfortunately, but there have been some sharp pains in the right place which may indicate something is trying to move again.

Have to go back to hospital in 48 hours for an x-ray to see if it is still sitting there and if so to decide on further treatment.

TLDR: I have had one lithotripsy which has worked a little bit but the stone is still there. How many goes would you give it, or is there a limit anyway, or having had one would you go for laser removal next? I had the option to laser it initially but didn't like the idea of the after-care, such as the stent as I read so many bad things about peoples experiences of that, although you have to take into account few people put a post up unless they had problems. Cost or time-off work isn't an issue. I would be happy to have the external litho again but just want this damn thing out as quickly as possible!

28F. A few days ago I woke up and my urine was extremely dark and I had intense pain at the end of the stream. The rest of the day I felt the need to pee constantly and went about every 20 to 30 minutes. Had a tiny bit of blood halfway through the day. I got in touch with my doctor and was given antibiotics for a possible UTI, which I originally thought it was. Later in the evening, I had the worst pain at the end of my urine stream and had a decent amount of blood. The next time I had to urinate, it didn't hurt as much and no more blood. I've been taking my antibiotics and am almost 100% back to normal except for the color of my urine, which the antibiotic label said that it would cause that. I am now thinking that maybe I passed a little stone and didn't realize it since I almost immediately felt better after that really painful and bloody urination. The day before there were no issues at all. It was extremely sudden. Opinions??