We previously went over how to place a ureteral stent. In today’s post, we go over the steps of removing a stent. Ureteral stents are removed using two basic methods:
1) By pulling on a stent string, if the string was left in place.
2) Placing a camera into the bladder (cystoscopy) to directly see and grab the stent with a small grasping device.
Removing a stent with a string left in place:
In some cases, your urologist will leave a string attached to one end of a ureteral stent. The stent string is a long piece of thread that will start from the stent and drape out the urethra, where it is visible at the urethral meatus (where urine comes out). A diagram and photos of a stent with a string attached are shown below.
To remove the stent, the visible string is firmly held and steady continuous pulling is applied until the entire stent comes out. The curls at the end of ureteral stent are flexible, so the stent should uncurl and come out easily.
What’s the advantage of leaving a string?
- The stent can be removed without performing cystoscopy.
- Patients can remove their own stent without waiting for an appointment or having to come to the office.
- Stents can’t be “forgotten” when a string is attached. When no string is left attached, a patient may forget or not realize that a stent was left in place. Over time, these forgotten stents can form large stones on them, making removal very difficult.
What’s the disadvantage of a string?
- The string can get snagged on clothing or be pulled on accidentally, resulting in a ureteral stent being removed earlier than it was supposed to. This seems to more commonly occur with female patients.
- The string can be a minor annoyance.
- Some patients prefer not to have to remove their stents themselves at home using the string. They however can usually come to the office where the staff can perform this for them.
Removing a stent by performing cystoscopy (with video below):
When no string or only a portion of the string is left attached, your urologist will need to use a camera to enter your bladder through your urethra. He or she can then see the stent and use an instrument to securely grasp it and remove it. The process is usually quick and occurs in the clinic. It takes only a minute or so in most cases.
Steps in removing a ureteral stent with cystoscopy
- Use a cystoscope to enter the bladder. (A cystoscope is a camera that can be placed into the bladder).
- Identify the stent.
- Use a grasper to securely grab the stent.
- Remove the cystoscope, grasper, and the secured stent as one unit.
The video at the bottom of the page demonstrates all these steps.
How uncomfortable is stent removal using a cystoscope?
For the majority of patients, stent removal is not as uncomfortable as they expected. We often have patients react in surprise when they learn that the stent has been already been removed and the procedure is done.
Unfortunately, some patients do experience discomfort with stent removal, more commonly in men because of their longer urethra. This can be due to discomfort from the cystoscope itself or from the sensation of the stent being removed. While most patients do not feel the stent actually sliding when removed from the kidney, some do experience an uncomfortable sensation with this.
Is there anything that can be done to make it more comfortable?
- Lidocaine jelly placed into the urethra at the beginning of the procedure will help to numb the area but will not completely take away sensation.
- In men, and also occasionally in women, increased discomfort is related to tightening of the urethral sphincter as the scope is passed into the bladder. Trying to relax, take a deep breath, and not “clench” down during the cystoscopy process can sometimes make the process less uncomfortable.
- Anticipation and perception also seem to play a role: Researchers have found that patients who watch their own cystoscopy procedure on a video screen experienced less discomfort than those that did not.
Video of ureteral stent removal in a male patient.
Pain after stent removal:
In most patients, stent removal is a relief as their stent discomfort goes away. However, in some patients, severe pain may occur for several hours. This is thought to be due to spasms of the ureter or swelling and temporary blockage developing after the stent comes out.
Not enough is known about this phenomenon but one recent study suggests it may occur in as many as half of patients. In the study, patients given a single dose of rofecoxib did not experience this pain while those given placebo developed it in 55% of cases. Rofecoxib went by the brand name Vioxx and is no longer available in the U.S. as it was withdrawn by the manufacturer. The authors of the study report they now use naproxen as an alternative. You can read more about the study in our post “Severe pain after stent removal: How often does it occur and can anything prevent it?”
If you are thinking about trying naproxen, be sure to read the manufacturer’s warnings as some patients should not take the medication and check with your doctor first to make sure it’s okay in your situation.
My self-removal was surprisingly easy. I took two oxycodones, two ibuprophen, ran a hot bath about an hour later, eased into the tub, started slowly pulling on the string. Nothing hurt. I felt a little pressure, but zero on the pain scale. When the curly cue at the end came through the chute, I felt a little a little discomfort, but I wouldn’t call it pain. It took me about four minutes from start to finish. The worst part is the apprehension prior to removal.
my stent was also removed last week..it was without string…..let me tell u one thing guys..it hurts like hell..my legs were tied ..I screamed as cud…it took ten minutes to complete the procedure…I cud never forget these painful ten minutes through the whole of my life…
Ok I never post on these but this website was SO MUCH help I feel like I needed too. Jun 27th sat morn I woke up in severe stomach and left kidney pain. Worst pain ever. 3 hrs later im in ER. Shortly after Im admitted and on IV pain killers thank god. Sun morn 28th im in surgery. 930 am Im out and a 6mm stone was removed and stent placed with string. HORRIBLE time peeing after wards blood/pain of course. Im home by 2pm that day. Peeing sux…..pain every time but shortly subsides afterwards. Peeing every 20 mins while stent it in. Back to work tues weds thurs….suppose to go to doc Fri morn to remove stent. Right now is Thurs july 2 night. Decided a few hours ago (after 4.5 days) to take out stent myself to skip the doctor tomorrow. This is really why Im posting. 7pm tonight I take my last hydrocodone. 8pm I jump in shower. 815 ITS TIME TO GET THIS THING OUT!!!! 816 its done!!!! ZERO pain. Buuuuutttt OMG like 845 here comes severe pain in kidney 8 outta 10 pain…..penis doesnt feel too great either…burning…..so I start reading more and everyone saying make sure you take a NSAID before removal. How did I miss that? How is the hydrocodone not doin shit? So quickly I pop 2 Advil I had at house. One hour later…AHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Now its 10:30 and I feel great…peeing tiny bit of blood/clots. If pain comes back I will be reaching for the Advil. Moral of my story…the removal is NOTHING dont be nervous took me 15 secs. Just make sure you take a NSAID!!!! Well hope to never go through this again as I will be chugging alot more water in the future whenever I can. Good luck to all!!!
Thank you for sharing your experience.i am gonna remove it tmrw and a bit nervous. relieved by your comment .
Update. 48 hrs of pretty much hell peeing out blood clots. About 30 of them. Alleve and heating pad got me through it now I hope all is good.
I had surgery last Monday and a stent placed.Today the stent was out at the doctor office,I was OK but when I return to home the pain started and I had to took some pain medicine.Anyone have any idea how long this pain will stay?
I just had a 4mm stone removed until that was in the right distal ureter, blocking my bladder. The doctor put a stent in that I am supposed to remove myself on July 2nd. The kicker is that I am leaving on a trip to Spain with my son and his Spanish class on June 30th. So I have to yank that thing out in a foreign country and I’m scared. My discharge instructions say that after stent removal, I could have large amounts of blood and severe kidney pain. Have those of you that removed your own stents experienced this?
I wont go into my story because it is no different than many others. I will try and give encouragement to those who (like me) are looking to remove a stent with a string and are scared. I read many stories and was horrified at what I read, and I was terrified when it was finally my time. I took a pain pill an hour before along with two Uristat UTI pain relief tablets. After that hour I ran a hot shower and stepped in so I would be relaxed. I took a deep breath and just pulled…it was a piece of cake. I felt a little pressure and that was it. I hope your experience is just like mine, and I have eased some of the anxiety you are feeling.
This website has been a welcome companion while enduring my first kidney stone, both the practical medical info and helpful personal journeys. Like some others I didn’t know what this was until the pain rose to an unbearable level. A trip to the emergency room and many pain meds later I had to eventually undergo surgery (twice) with stents, peeing ‘razor blades’ and all the other goodies. All that is left is pulling that string tomorrow and lol I’m surprised how panicky I am about it! Lucky for me there is some great advice from you folks to pull me through.. crossing my fingers 😉
follow-up.. I took Cipro 2 hours before and a Percocet about an hour before. Once I got dazed enough I started slowly pulling the string.. it was really weird and slightly painful at first but then a steady effort revealed the stent, and then it was just a matter of seeing it through. Not bad, probably about a 2/10 as far as pain. I do have soreness in the kidney as it seems to be swelling a bit but this is supposed to pass in a few hours. This feels like success!
When I pulled my own ureteral stent out earlier this year …. it was awful, but it only lasted a few seconds. In fact, it was out even quicker than I thought it would be. I felt nothing in my kidney or ureter when I pulled it out, but I yelled due to the discomfort in my bladder and especially my urethra/penis. It felt like an intense orgasm, but of an intense awful and horrible feeling (not really “pain” per say) rather than pleasure. However, after it was out, I was relieved. BUT…. 2 hours after I removed it, I had a 4 hour episode of “post-stent removal pain” in the ureter. This was even worse than having a kidney stone move through the ureter. Later that evening, I had about a half hour of the same. After that, no more pain (other than mile soreness and recovery time of about a week or two).
I recently had my stent removed by Cystoscopy, and I have to admit, I was extremely nervous due to the fact that I had a Cystoscopy a month prior to the stent removal. I took a Loritab about an hour prior to my appt. My blood pressure was pretty high, due to my nervousness, but I was ready to get the stent out, and nothing was going to stop me, lol. I don’t know if it was the difference in staff, or what, but everything, including the initial application of the lidocaine, was so much easier than the cystoscopy I had done originally. I actually watched on the screen (something I said I wouldn’t do), as the scope went and retrieved the stent. I felt some pressure during the procedure, but nothing compared to what I was expecting. I was again worried knowing I had to go to the men’s room because I remembered the pain I experienced when I went after the original procedure, but much to my surprise, even that didn’t hurt. I did have a few spasms occasionally, but I also felt immediate relief that the stent was out, and I felt like I was able to walk normal again. Sleeping at night again is so much nicer now. My pain level for the removal was probably a 2 out of 10. Good luck to everybody, and I hope your stent removal goes as smoothly as mine did…and I had mine done at the Buffalo VA Hospital. 🙂
Thrilled to report that my (female) cysto-stent removal today was no worse than a Pap smear. I would have preferred that they not do it in the surgi-center O.R. (b/c I had to do the whole dehumanizing hat and paper gown thing, couldn’t bring my hubby, etc.) but I guess that’s where their cystoscope is. I took a percocet, advil and uribel an hour beforehand but it wasn’t necessary. Hang in there, everyone!
I too had the cystoscopy for stent removal in my Urologist’s office a year ago. The anxiety and fear was probably the worst part. Don’t get me wrong, it did hurt getting that scope and grabber device into position but once he hooked it he counted to 3 and it was out. I would say 3.5 out of 10. The best part was no more bladder spasms when peeing, no burning at all and urine was back to being bright yellow an hour or so after stent removal.
It is very Painful.
My stone was removed surgically on April 27th. The stent was implanted during surgery with instructions to leave it inside for 3 days and then remove it myself at home similarly as I would do when removing a tam pox…sounded straight forward and easy right? Well no. The very next day after showering, the very thin strings attached to the stent got tangled with the towel and the stent was pulled out (a little). I immediately begun to notice a lot of liquid coming out of me, kind’a pinkish color. I phoned my doctor and he told me that since it was probably pulled out of place already that I should continue to remove it and get it out myself…..I gave it a big breath and went through the process of pulling this thing out of me. Dear lord….it was horrible, completely painful with every single micro inch that I tried to pull. I thought all the pain would go away after it came out (similarly to when you give birth and all the pain goes away after the baby comes out). Nope. Instead I begun to have terrible spasms, worse than when I had the stone in. That was followed with vomiting, fever, blood clots and finally inability to pee anymore….back to the ER for another 3 days of IVs, antibiotics, pain killers and catheters. I was sent home on the 4th day after the pain was controlled and I was able to pee again. No stent and no catheter, finally happy…except that it’s going to be a month now and I still have pain on one side of my urethra, as if I had an open wound. My pain medicines help me a LOT but if I don’t take them I can feel the pain. I think that removing the stent might have damaged the lining of my urethra. I’m going to see my doctor in a couple of days however, I would advise anyone out there – DO NOT remove the stent yourself, you are better of going to the hospital and demanding a doctor to remove it for you. Don’t put yourself at risk like I did for not knowing better…
Well, I had the experience of stint removals. At first your nervous, take a deep breath, then the nurse just had me stand up, then pulled it out in a quick moment .Pain scale from 1-10 was about a 3 to 4. Not too bad. Went really fast 5 seconds. Also, another experience of stint removal, I pulled string by accident and large amount of water flushed out. After that stopped I went to see doctor in the ER.I Took a deep breath and Nurse then removed rest of the stint. Went rather quick and then it was over 10 seconds or less. It was scary at first but, all went well. Just felt nervous and in the end not too bad. Take some Ibuprofin this helps you to rest and have hardly any pain after. Best wishes to you all.
Tommow, Tuesday the 12th of May will be my 4th week with the stents. I don’t have a life anymore since 13 March after having 2 stones in each kidney at only 3mm in size and no water or beer or treatment could remove them. the 1st 3 weeks after the stents was the worst torture of pain i’ve ever went through but the pain is tolarable now but i am so limited. If i move alot i pain alot and i also find that with the pain my urine is bloody too. I am also very swollen in my face and stomach. Is this normal. i still have 4 weeks to keep them in, will it ever get better. My family has to plan all their activities around my physical ability. cant walk for too long, cant drive my car. It all causes a pain effect that makes me feel like going in labour everytime.
Juliet, I am not a “medical person” per say… BUT I do have what’s called “medical intuitiveness”… so with that said, from what you have written, I feel you are having bad allergic reaction to the stents… I truly hope that by now you have gotten the stents removed and you are feeling better…
Had stent placed 24th March 2015. Just passed blood again today is there anything to worry about thank you
I have had two kidney stone surgeries since December. I recently had a CT Scan and it shows that they left a surgical clip in my right kidney. Does anyone know if this is common?
I just pulled my stent out couple of hrs ago. Took two 325/7.5 Hydrocodone tablets and one Motrin 800, two hrs before pulling it out. It was still painful but not as bad as I thought it would be. Having the courage to start pulling it was the worst part of it. Once you start pulling on it and it starts to come out, you’re good to go, just keep pulling. 1/10 on pain scale, I’ll give it a 5. I’ve had way worst pain than this. Did the pain meds help? I don’t know, rather use them than not and find out.
I had a 7mm stone broken up last June while pregnant, had the stent for a month, and it crusted. When I had it removed it was terrifying. Nothing was numb at all. I just had two 9mm and 8mm stones broken up yesterday so I have two stents because I had a stone in each ureter. I’m dreading going to the dr to have them removed.
i’m a 60 year old amputee white man i surgery for a KIDNEY STONE in my tub the doctor put a stent in penis it doesn’t feel very good i having to go to the bathroom to pee my Bladder feels full tight & cramping i go this morning 9:30 a.m. east coast time to have it removed better try to get to a little more sleep
I had lithrotripsy 3 weeks ago, worst experience ever! Ended up with huge kidney hematoma causing me to go to ER via ambulance several hours after procedure. I was dreading the stent removal today but it was done before I even knew the Dr. had started.
I have got a stent which was put in in November I was told that it would be removed just after Xmas, we are now in march and I’m still waiting in lots of pain which I’ve had since the day it was put in at York hospital, was supposed to have it and my 2mm stone taken out last Wednesday but there is no bed for me at the moment! I am getting very stressed with all this pain & burning, do not ever want another stent fitted ever !!! +
I myself had a stent put in today, this is second one for me….the first one was placed in 2011. I simply pulled it out myself & plan on doing the same with this one. So my suggestion to you is go sit on the potty NOW grab the string and get instant relief. Good luck!
I have a stent and have considered pulling it out myself. I’ve read where several people have done it themselves. But wasn’t sure if maybe there are different types of stents or all the same? This is the first time I’ve had one and don’t know much about it. I don’t want to do it at then end up hurting myself. Any info on pulling it out would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
How long did you wait before pulling the stent out? My stent is very uncomfortable.
York hospital in PA? If so they are the worst there. I have a stent that was put in at woman’s and babies hospital in Lancaster pa and it’s been so helpful in how bad my pain was. Mine is not from a stone though. I’m 31 weeks pregnant and my uterus was pinching my ureter and causing my kidney to swell. I’m not suppose to have it out until after I deliver.
My daughter is experiencing the similar situation ans they have placed a stent to aid with the blockage and swollen kidney… however she is now in hospital after the stent moved out of place… she is in severe pain and nausea…
Thanks for the info on stent removal. I had Ureteroscopy surgery yesterday. They used a laser to break up an remove the stone. I have been through the “peeing razor blades” ordeal, but on day two, things are improving. Looking forward to having the stent removed. I am going into my urologist’s office at the end of the week and he will pull it out. It’s good to know what to expect.
I just had one removed today. Contrary to this bogus article, it took 4-5 minutes. The pain as he was going through my prostate to get to the bladder was terrifying. Good luck!
i had my dj stent for almost 9 month. my question is what is the out come of having dj stent for so long time
I had a stone diagnosed in July of 2014 after seeing blood in my urine. They did a CT scan in the ER and saw the 6mm stone in my kidney. Later I went to the Urologist and he said I could just leave it since it wasn’t causing any pain, or they could surgically remove it with a scope and tiny laser. Since another condition that results in blood in the urine is bladder cancer, the doc suggested they do a cystoscopy and scope my bladder to make sure I was clear. After months of sleepless nights worrying about 1) when the stone would come and I would experience the horrible pain, and 2) if I had bladder cancer; I finally scheduled the stone removal and scope. The doc gave me a clonazapam (aka Klonopin) for anxiety to take before the procedure which was wonderful for reducing my anxiety. The surgery went well, I was put under general anesthesia so I didn’t feel any pain at all. He informed me immediately after the procedure that I don’t have bladder cancer (amen). Then he left a stent in for two weeks.
Having the stent in was not too bad, I just felt like I had to pee all the time, and took flowmax which did make me pee all the time. It hurt when I pee for the first few days, but that got considerably better over time. I tried to exercise on a treadmill but that was a bad idea, the more movement the more the stent irritated my bladder and increased the feeling of having to pee. Best to keep movement to a minimum with a stent in.
Again I was stressed about the removal of the stent, which was to be done via cystoscopy in the doctors office, while I was awake. Again the doc gave me Klonopin to take before the procedure. They put the anesthetic gel into my penis, which I was worried was going to feel like a shot, but actually didn’t hurt at all. It just felt a little funny, but zero pain. They let that work for about 10 minutes, and then they went in with the scope to remove the stent. It was mildly uncomfortable, but maybe only a 2 or 3 on the 1-10 pain scale, and it took no more than a minute for the doc to grasp the stent and pull everything out. Again, it was not very painful at all, just a weird feeling like pulling a piece of spaghetti through your nose when you were a kid. It hurt when I peed again for the rest of the day, but in the morning nothing at all. Today is that morning and I feel great. I just wanted to share my story because I was worried sick about the whole thing for months, but the reality of it was that it was no big deal. This is a routine procedure for a qualified urologist, and it was no worse than getting a filling at the dentist. Good luck to everyone. My doctor was Roger Sur at UCSD in San Diego, I would recommend him if your doctor isn’t working for you. Good bye and God Bless. I hope I never need to come to this site again 🙂
Jerry,
I am going in tomorrow for the stent removal proceedure and have been feeling anxious about it for days. Thanks for the info. I feel much better about it already. But if you are wrong about the pain I will hunt you down–lol–just kidding. Thanks again for sharing. I had a failed kidney stone removal on Dec 8 but they did manage to get a stent in to drain the kidney. But they wanted it to heal up so they left the stent in for three weeks until the next surgery to remove the stone. That surgery was successful but they wanted to leave the stent in three more weeks which due to scheduling turned into four weeks. So I have had this blasted stent in for almost two months. Sooooooooo looking forward to getting it out tomorrow. THANKS AGAIN for the info.
Why did they want to leave the stent in??? did they say?? I don’t like the 3 weeks I’ve had my stent in & I have stone surgery this week! I want this stent out then- possibly they said they might leave it in
Jerry thank you for the words of encouragement I too have been worried sick about getting my stent removed in two weeks. It’s very uncomfortable to pee with it in. I went to my urologist and they found two kidney stones and wanted to take them out , but found out I had a blockage into my kidney and ended up having sepsis. So now I have a stint in my kidney for two weeks and I feel like I have to pee all the time . They want me to drink nothing but water to cleanse my kidney before they remove my stones. I’m just going to be glad when all this is over . I feel like I will never drink anything but water for the rest of my life , no soda and the thing is I found out tea one of my favorite drinks is a big culprit to stones.
I’ve had four stones since September 2007. I’ve passed the first three. However, the fourth one, which was 4 mm, I couldn’t pass since finding out around last Veteran’s Day. January 13, 2015 was my surgery where I was left with a stent with the string attached. Today, six days later, I removed the stent myself roughly an hour ago. Now I’m not the one to leave any replies or comments but after reading several posts I’ve felt the need to reply. So many people, including myself, are scared about removing the stent themselves. This site, and comments from people like you, gave me the courage to self-remove. I was told to take an antibiotic pill, Ciprofloxacin, an hour prior to removal then when it’s time to stand in the shower and pull. After it’s removed I can take an anti-inflammatory (Ibuprofen) to help with any swelling within the ureter. Standing in the shower I wanted to pass out from being so darn nervous. Eventually, after like what seemed like eternity, I wrapped the string around my fingers and started to pull. I did notice a lot of urine slowly coming out. As I pulled I saw the string getting longer and longer. I kept pulling slowly and then noticed what looked like white tubing coming out. At this time I just pulled a little faster and before I knew it the whole stent was out and in my hand. After all of this, I think it only took me about 30 seconds to remove it after I started pulling. For pain, I would rate it as a level 1 or possibly 0 since there was no pain whatsoever. Just a tingling sensation as the white tubing started to exit. As I write this the only thing I feel is the feeling to urinate. Possibly from drinking 500mL (16.9 oz.) of water to take the pill. As stated, I felt the need to pass on my experience of self-removal to help others with any anxiety get through this process.
I am a 25 year old female , I was born with one kinder and started developing kidney stones 3 years ago. Well a month ago I started having all the typical symptoms of a kidney stone so I went to the DR who sent me for blood test, ct, sono ect… to discover a 8mm stone in my ureter tube. they blasted that one plus all the little ones and now I have the string and I WAS terrified about removing it my self until I read your post. Thank you very much for the confidence I now have to do it myself and the sleep I will now be getting tonight with a eased mind. Tomorrow morning the Stent will be removed. Wish me luck and thank you so much for sharing your experience.
Thanks Man. Im pulling mine out fri after 1 week.
Thanks for the sharing. I’m pulling mines out Sunday 3/22, that’s all I been thinking about since I got the laser lithotripsy done 2 days ago. From reading all comments, I think some people are more pain tolerant than others. So you get different. Experiences from different people, I hope I’m one of those that are able to tolerate the pain.
Couldn’t wait until Sunday, lol. I just pulled my stent out couple of hrs ago. Took two 325/7.5 Hydrocodone tablets and one Motrin 800, two hrs before pulling it out. It was still painful but not as bad as I thought it would be. Having the courage to start pulling it was the worst part of it. Once you start pulling on it and it starts to come out, you’re good to go, just keep pulling. 1/10 on pain scale, I’ll give it a 5. I’ve had way worst pain than this. Did the pain meds help? I don’t know, rather use them than not and find out.
I HAD A STONE THAT WAS TO LARGE TO REMOVE SO THEY PUT A STINT IN AT THE LOCAL VA IN AUGUSTA GA. THE STONE WAS DISSOLVED BY DRINKING A SYRUP MIXED WITH WATER. I WENT BACK FOR THE STINT REMOVAL IN JUNE OF 2014 AND THE DOCTOR SAID HE WAS GOING TO REMOVE IT WITHOUT PUTTING ME TO SLEEP? I ASKED HIM WHY? WHEN I WAS PUT TO SLEEP WHEN THEY PUT IT IN, AND DID THE SCOPE AT THE SAME TIME?? HE SAID AT MY AGE OF 69 THEY DID NOT LIKE TO PUT US TO SLEEP FOR FEAR WE MIGHT NOT WAKE UP!!! I WATCHED HIM REMOVE IT ON A TV SCREEN BESIDE ME USING A CREAM INSERTED INSIDE MY PENIS. HE JERKED IT OUT VERY FAST AND SWUNG IT OVER HIS HEAD. THIS ACTUALLY DID NOT HURT BUT NOW AFTER TWO WEEKS I HAVE STARTED BURNING WHEN I PEE. I WENT IN TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM AND GAVE THEM A URINE SAMPLE AND THEY SAID I HAD (NO INFECTION) I LATER WENT BACK AFTER NOT BEING ABLE TO STAND THE BURNING ANY LONGER AND GAVE ANOTHER URINE SAMPLE AND NOW I HAVE A UTI THEY SAY, A URINE CULTURE WAS ORDERED BUT NEVER DONE?? I THEN WENT BACK AND WAS GIVEN SULFUR DRUGS WHICH I FINISHED BUT AM STILL BURNING WHEN I PEE. MY PRIMARY CARE DOCTOR HAS NOW PUT ME ON AN ANTIBIOTIC CALLED LEVOFLOXACIN 250 MG TAB ONE A DAY FOR 10 DAYS. I HAVE TAKEN ALMOST ALL OF THIS BUT I AM STILL BURNING WHEN I PEE. HE ORDERED A CULTURE OF MY URINE TO BE DONE AND WILL CALL ME WITH THE RESULTS THIS WEEK. TODAY IS 1/18/2015….I GREW UP IN A MEDICAL FAMILY AS MY FATHER WAS A INTERNAL MEDICINE DOCTOR AND LATER WENT INTO PATHOLOGY. I WANT TO KNOW WHY I AM STILL BURNING AFTER ALL THIS TIME???? I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO HAVE SEX WITH MY WIFE NOW FOR ALMOST A YEAR!!!