Even though different people respond to stents in different ways, I suspect anyone who’s ever lived with a ureteral stent remembers the experience. I have had two, and both were, indeed, memorable.
Prior to undergoing a pyeloplasty, (a surgical procedure to correct a urinary tract obstruction) I was informed that a stent would be in place for about seven weeks. I also recall being told, or perhaps reading, that such stents cause “discomfort” in some patients. In my mind the term “discomfort” equates to nothing more than an annoyance or a nuisance, so going into the surgery I was not overly concerned. For the first couple of days following surgery, perhaps because of post-surgical pain killers, it seemed the stent would be absolutely no problem. I could hardly feel it. “This will be a piece of cake,” I thought.
Then, shortly after going home, I became increasingly aware that some apparently sharp object was attempting to drill a hole through the wall of my bladder. In fact, the image of a shish-kabob skewer came to mind. At the same time, there was the sensation that something was tugging on my right kidney, trying to pull it down from its usual location. It was difficult to find comfortable positions…and it felt as though gravity was becoming my worst enemy. Urination was frequent and painful, and my urine continued to be bloody for the entire seven weeks. Involuntary tears came to my eyes and waves of nausea were common. Finally, I discovered that sitting in a recliner and tipping it back approximately half way seemed to relieve the worst of the pain, and that allowed me to get a little sleep at night.
After seven long weeks, I welcomed the removal of that first stent. A generous application of lidocaine made the procedure entirely tolerable, and I watched on the monitor as the stent was grabbed and the upper curly-cue began its descent down through the ureter. Once I was free of the stent, the relief I felt far surpassed the minor discomfort associated with its removal.
About a month later, I accepted a second stent with guarded optimism. This one was placed following lithotripsy for a 1+ cm stone in my left kidney. It seemed logical to me, since this ureter was not compromised or swollen, that this stent should not hurt nearly as much as the first. Unfortunately, I was wrong about that. Once again, the same familiar painful and distressing physical sensations returned. And once again I sought relief in the recliner. The stent allowed stone fragments to pass, but I was elated to be rid of it after only three weeks.
The second stent experience left me with a new determination to do everything I could to prevent future stone formation. If making a few adjustments, such as drinking much more water each day, can prevent new stones and another stent placement sometime down the road, then I was ready to change old habits. Accepting the inevitability of new stones, then treating them as they become problematic, is no longer acceptable. My new plan is to be well-informed and pro-active and do all I can to discourage new stone formation. In fact, it’s the vivid memory of previous painful stents that continues to be the most powerful motivator. In a way, then, those stents are still serving a most valuable purpose, and I should remain grateful for them.
Editors note: Bonnie writes about her experiences as a stone patient in her posts. If you have experiences as a patient you would like to share, feel free to add a comment or send her an email at: ask@kidneystoners.org
I’m SO glad I found this site! 1. I’ve had stones for years & had 3 really horrific ones. In March I had litho on my right kidney and my Urologist got two large stones. I was not required to have a stent. I have well over 20 in each kidney, but they only started causing trouble last year.
But 10 days ago I ended up in ER with the worst one yet. The CT scan showed a 7.5mm stone and I was told by 2 docs that I can’t pass it. My urologist shocked me by saying I had to wait over a month to get lithotripsy b/c the hospital only gets the machine every week for a day, and the schedule was all booked up. She said I’d get used to the pain after the 1st few days and if it got worse she would put I stent in. Now, my Dad has stones and he always said the stent was worse than the stone.
I’ve done my best to get by the past 10 days, and yes, the pain is less. I don’t feel great, but I’m not writhing in pain on the floor like day 1. Yesterday they called to say they’d got me in for January 15th. I have to get by till then without the stent. I refuse to get one put in. As far as I’m concerned, if they have to remove a kidney, they’re taking out a damaged organ. At 45 years old I was told I had more kidney stones than my urologist had ever seen in a woman my age.
I’m having some problems with lower back pain and I feel exactly where that stone is. they say it’s way too high up to get it in another surgery. It’s 7.5mm and triangular shaped, which tore up my ureter pretty good. But it HAS settled to a manageable pain. Now if I can just get to the 15th without a stent I’ll be thrilled! I have a 5 year old son who is out of school and I can’t handle severe pain and take care of him. We live nowhere near our family and know very few people.
This stone already ruined my Christmas, and this ridiculous wait on lithotripsy has me shocked. How can they NOT consider a large stone blocking the ureter an emergency situation?
It’s been a long 10 days without a stent but I know I’m better off. I have yet to meet someone who says the stent was a good idea. I know several who say they would’ve rather passed the stone or fragments of stone without the stent. I’m praying that I can hang on. So far I am able to urinate okay, and the pain has calmed.
The other worry I have is the use of Torradol. It’s a strong anti-inflammatory that is the ONLY medication that works for my stones. But you can’t take it longer than 5 days b/c it can damage your kidneys! Morphine and Dilaudid don’t do a thing for me, but Torradol does. I’m tempted to take one but I’m scared that I won’t have enough for after the surgery.
Who knew that such a tiny thing as a kidney stone could cause so many problems!
Wanted to start off by saying thanks for writing this article, it saved me an ER visit.
My readers digest story: I was abruptly woken up at 2 AM with severe pain in the right lower abdomen radiating down to the groin along with vomiting twice. The wife took me to the ER where I was lying on the waiting room floor for 30 minutes crying like a baby before they got me into a bed. The DR immediately said I probably had a kidney stone and had a CT scan done. They found a 10.5 by 12.5 mm stone on the right side, drugged me up and sent me out the door with a Urology referral. Went to the Urologist, he said I needed it to be removed by laser and possibly shock wave to remove it properly, sent me home with more pain meds and scheduled an appointment for removal. Day of surgery, they went in (these are the DR’s words) used the laser to break it up, too much bleeding to see anymore so used the ultrasonic to turn the rest into dust, installed the stent, called it a success and woke me up. I woke up, not feeling much of anything except a bit of pressure on the right side. I was thinking much better, feeling good. That was until they made me urinate through the strainer in the bathroom before I could go. Holy cow, thank goodness there was a metal bar in there to hang onto. I thought I was going to rip it off the wall. Passed a blood clot and some sand. Told the nurse, they drugged me up some more then sent me home saying it was “normal”. Day 1 post op, took the Vicoden, dilaudid, pee pill, and Zofran as prescribed and had to urinate every 30 minutes, again the pain was hovering around 5 to 7 every time during and a couple minutes after the bathroom visit. Day 2 same med schedule, this time it was every hour, same pain scale, now my bladder is leaking in-between visits. Day 3 same med schedule, now every two hours (at least that is better) still leaking between visits. Day 4 I said enough of the pain meds because it backed my other system up, took down some magnesium sulfate, pain jumped up to a 9 during/after urination and lasted a lot longer (up to 10 minutes afterward). Still leaking urine, wife got me some special underwear on day 2 for this. At this point is when I was ready to throw in the towel and go into the ER thinking something was seriously wrong. Then I found this website. Thank you, I’m not the only one feeling this “discomfort” they initially poorly describe. Finally had a successful BM (after 4 days), took some Vicoden and the pain finally went back down to the 5-7 range. Guess I’m not ready for no pain meds, and I’m the guy that will only take pills when I’m on deaths doorstep. Day 5 still have 9 more days until the stent is removed, only taking 1 Vicoden every 6 hours just to keep the pain at bay, leaking has almost stopped today. So things are finally starting to look up. Still drinking plenty of water, because I really do not want to ever go through this EVER again. All I’ve collected in my strainer is sand/gravel stuff, a few little blood clots, nothing worth keeping not even in my “special underwear” as the wife like to call them.
So if you find yourself with a stent, I highly recommend you read this. Now I’m no Doctor so if you feel that you need to see the Doc then go, do not let this stop you. All I can say is what they tell you is discomfort is far from the truth. I had no elevated temperature so that is the only thing that kept me from going in. Good luck, after my stent removal I’ll try to remember to write a follow-up.
I just had surgery on 1/14/15. I’ve always had problems with stones since I was 24, I’m now 32. They put in a stent and what should have been same day surgery turned out to be a over night hospital stay. They pain I had immediately following the surgery came only when I had to urinate. That was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life with the pain reaching a 10 followed with extreme nausea and heat flashes to the point where I thought I was gonna pass out from the pain. The day I was discharged my doctor finally ordered that I go home with a catheter for two weeks. Which I am grateful for. Two day before the procedure my primary doctor prescribed me hydrocodone for the pain I was feeling from my kidney stones so when I actually had the surgery my surgeon only prescribed me Tramodol for the pain. I’ve since ran out of my pain meds and are only taking the Tramodol but it isn’t working. Is it normal to feel this much pain? Did you have to get a refill for your pain meds?
I am glad to know that I am not the only one out there who has had problems with stent placement. This is my 2nd time having a stent put in I have a blockage by my utuer I have a fibroid tumor that is causing problems so I was suppose to go in for major surgery to have it removed but at the last minute they changed there mind and decided to put a stent in instead they thought the stent would do the trick and I would be fixed but what they were forgetting is that I still have a fiborid there. they pretty much forced me to have it put in they used the scare tacket if we go in there we could hit an atery and you could die or we could give you blood clots and in the end we might have to take you kidney so this is your best option. I never wanted this stent put in but when you have the doctors forcing you to do it what do you do. he told me that he would put a peds one in so I shouldn’t have any problems how can he say that is this damn thing going in his body no. so on Nov 19th I got the stent put in at first things were ok I chalk it up to all the pain meds but once I get home and I start to try and live my life and stay active like they tell me to do then things go from bad to worse. I have more pain now then before I went into the doctor. I feel like my life is passing me by and I am just watching it and it makes me sad and angry because nobody is listing to me every time I call my doctor he either says it can’t be the stent go see your primary doctor I am sorry but this is not a primary doctor issure I have a stent in my body and I am in pain almost every day of my life. I go home from work in tears every night and have to take a pain pill so I can sleep. I have done everything that they have told me to do and nothing is working and he will not take it out early he said if i do then we risk the chances of your uter closing up so I am forsed to keep it in. The light at the end of the tunnel if there is one. I get it taken out December 30th bad thing is i have deal with this over the holidays. I hope I am able to eat the good food doubtfull. in the end I will have to go for surgery anyway they just put it off a little longer. I am so upset and drained from all of this. I just hope my nightmare ends soon. good luck to all of you and thanks so much for shring your stories. it really helps to knwo that there are others out there going through the same thing and I am not alone or crazy.
Yesterday I had my 3rd stent placed in the last 6 months due to kidney stones. The first 2 I had were very painful. I couldn’t drive eat or sleep for a whole month. I was however able to get some relief with pain killers. This one that I just got is SO PAINFUL and different feeling from my first 2. I’m not sure what to do as the pain killers won’t even touch the amount of pain I’m in. Hopefully I can get it taken out soon
I have the same experiences. I have had the stent few times and the longest period was about 4 months.
Some times the irritation has been minor but right now I have a huge pain, constantly. I can sleep okay with medication taken before I go to bed. But the days are hard. I can´t walk well, just few meters at home, sitting is difficult and I always have to find the right position.
I feel the pain in my kidney, like someone is pulling it and I feel huge pain in my bladder like drilling the hole to it. Just last night I had a check up because the pain was different than ever and I was thinking the stent has removed from where it should be. But everything was okay and I just have to get used to it. But I will never do 🙁
Reading this has made me feel I am not the only one.
I am being treated for TCC and I had a stent fitted 3 years ago and went through 3 weeks of hell. I couldn’t walk far, move or drive. The slightest movement was agonising and I bled the whole time. What relief when it was removed.
Imagine my dismay when I went for surgery this week only to wake up with yet another stent fitted for another 3 weeks.
Again I have been in bed for 3 days with 2 heat pads as this is the only thing that gives relief. The tablets are not touching the pain and I am signed off work for the duration that the events are in.
Nice to know that there are others that are affected like this. Only another 2 1/2 weeks to go.
Just took my own stent out 4 days post op. Took pain meds about 40 minutes before, ran a hot bath, gathered every bit of courage the meds could give me and gently pulled it out. 15 seconds later I was stent free and feeling great. The FEAR of taking it out was way worse than the act (LOL though I am sure the pain meds helped).
I’ve had kidney stone surgery for a stone as big as a small peach, had nephrostomy tube for a week (veeeery painfull) had 2 stents for 3 weeks. The stents were a little uncomfortable it felt like I had to pee all the time other than that I didn’t have to take anything (meds) for it ,I guess I was lucky.
This website helped me through my first stone so I think I need to share my experience.
I at the beginning had blood in my urine with no pain. Went to the doctors the following day. He performed a blood test, urinalysis but didn’t do an X-ray or CT Scan. He said I would receive a call to schedule that within a week. Exactly 3 days later I woke at 2AM with the worst pain in my life. I couldn’t get comfortable, I was either too hot or too cold. I began throwing up due to the pain finally around 4AM I broke down and had my fiance take me to the ER. They gave me pain meds, did a CT scan and let me know that my stone was around 6mm. Luckily I got in to see a urologist that day for a stent placement and lithotripsy. The urologist did his own X-ray and said the stone was actually 6x8mm and would not have passed. Under anesthesia they performed the surgery and I woke up with minimal pain. The worst part was the burning and blood while urinating afterwards. This went away within a day or two. Day 2 and 3 I started drinking a TON of water. I was able to capture fragments of the stone in the strainer for testing. The stent wasn’t that bad for me — just made me go frequently and I felt some pressure when urinating. I had the stent for 12 days (long enough) and just had it removed today. They did an X-ray and said that stone had passed and got the all-go for removal. The removal wasn’t that bad, very quick procedure and just minor pinch/stinging. I haven’t had any pain or blood in my urine. Just a minor burn when urinating, but not horrible. The journey for now is over.
I hope this helps if anyone else has to go through this!
25 years after having my first kidney stone I,m now having treatment again for a 14mm stone left side and a 10mm right ureter. i,ve 2 stents put in place whilst waiting for stone removal.
to say they drive you mad is a understatement however I,ve found that when passing urine if you pant fast there is no pain, you might get a few funny looks if using a public toilet but it does work. women have used this in childbirth for years so why not men!
Hey just a tip! I have a strange kidney with two tubes coming out instead of one, so I had to get two stents instead of one for a 6mm stone…
I have found, besides the bladder spasm pills, that the greatest relief is carrying a bottle of cold ice water to the bathroom with me. I sprinkle some cool water on the tissue paper and press that against my urethra area as I pee; this GREATLY relieves the spasming/tense feelings that follow peeing. Try it!
Here was my journey (scroll down for my concrete three lessons learned if you want to cut to the chase)
Day 1 (surgery day, Friday 10/3)-Laser used to zap 2 8mm stones in my left kidney. Took hydrocodone and the dye pills as recommended. Pain when urinating (PWU) was a 5 out of 10, with 10 being lying on the floor praying for death (as happened when I first had a stone attack and didn’t know what was going on). Lots of blood in urine, as far as I could tell with the dye stuff. Little to no discomfort except while/after urinating.
Day 2-Drug regimen as usual. Incredible pain while starting to urinate, as if my kidney was being gripped in a glass-crusted vice and squeezed. Pain would build and then recede. PWU 7 out of 10 pain in the morning, moving to “almost 9” over the course of the day-a tiny bit more and I would have been vomiting. That night, I wake up in the middle of the night to pee and pain levels had retreated to 6. Used deep breathing techniques to mitigate the pain. I discover that I can manage the onset of the pain a little by controlling how fast I let my bladder empty each time I’m in the bathroom, essentially replacing a massive wave of pain with several smaller waves as I start and stop the flow. Heating pad seems to help (I use this every day during recover) Can’t poop, take stool softener.
Day 3-Drug Regimen as usual. PWU down to 5. Still no fun at all, but more manageable. Start to notice some general discomfort at times other than urinating, but it’s genuinely just discomfort, not acute pain by a cute name. Waves of pain seem to last a little longer, but since they are less acute it feels better. Take stool softener again, keep fingers crossed. Later that night, stool softener kicks in, much to my relief.
Day 4-Back at work. Dropped the hydrocodone for over-the-counter ibuprofen, max dose regularly. Dye pill stuff as usual. Pain is manageable and I keep to a very regular bathroom schedule, having found that when I pee with a full bladder, it doesn’t hurt as much. Also, chamomile tea seems to make it a little better-could just be the heat or could be something about the herb. Pain levels vary between 4 and 6, but I’m able to work at my desk 6 hours or so. No longer need stool softener, all systems are “go”. Take a hydrocodone before bed to ensure that I sleep.
Day 5-PWU has dropped to a 4, more like a really strong pinch deep inside than the ground-glass feeling. Still seeing lots of blood, and feeling the need to urinate more often, but controlling it by sticking to the schedule. Over the counter ibuprofen and other meds as usual.
Days 6-11- Pain stays at around a 4, but I gradually reduce the over-the-counter ibuprofen so my guess is that the pain was actually less but I was masking it less as well. The waves of pain seem slightly shorter as well. I really don’t like the idea of too many pain killers, but I take a full OTC dose before bed so I can be sure to sleep. Working most of the work day, and keeping to a bathroom schedule becoming less important. Less blood in urine, and I move to 1/2 dose of the dye gradually. Actually had 3 days of no OTC Ibuprofen except at night to make sure I could sleep.
Day 12&13-Stent must have moved, PWU moves back to a 6 and the waves last longer again. Nowhere near Days 1 & 2, but noticeable more painful than it had been for several days. I go back to max dose of OTC Ibuprofen and dye, and notice much more blood again. Fades back down by bedtime on day 13. Seeing larger drops of blood in the toilet, almost like clots.
Day 14-Can now go to the bathroom whenever and up my water intake since I don’t need to be on a schedule. Take a full dose of OTC Ibuprofen as I had a very busy day planned at the office, including several public presentations so needed to be as close to 100% as possible. PWU levels back down to 3, with very short duration.
Day 15 (Friday 10/17 two weeks after laser zap)-pain levels down to 1, no meds. Stent comes out via cystoscopy at dr office. Started off uncomfortable, got very painful for about 2 seconds then just uncomfortable again, and some of the weirdest sensations I’ve ever had. Needed to pee right after, and keep feeling that way for several hours. Drank lots of water to keep things going the right direction. Fresh blood in urine, but only a little stinging and that’s been fading.
Happy it’s over!
Lesson 1: It’s really painful for a few days. It does get better, but if I ever do it again I’ll take at least 4 FULL days off work if possible.
Lesson 2: It’s awful at times…but I knew why and had some control, so I’ll still happily take the last two weeks over actually trying to pass two big stones-which could attack at any time. (first attack attack ever was 2am…Christmas morning…in a hotel…in Paris)
Lesson 3: Follow the doctor’s orders. I stayed within the parameters he set for reducing medication/switching to OTC so I had comfort that I could go back up whenever I needed to.
Bonus lesson: I’m thankful that I live in a time when all these treatments exist, even if far from perfect.
A ton of thanks go out to my team in the urology dept. at my hospital. You all rock! Great communication, followup, and rapid response time to queries.
Good luck, fellow stonethrowers! Stay strong!!
-JRR
Okay, so here’s my journey….not pretty…
Sept. 17th first surgery to clear right kidney blockage (no stones…still no idea what caused the blockage??). Due to the extent of blockage and angle of my kidney, urologist could not safely get to the blockage. Instead, he Inserted a balloon intended to stretch the area around. He also placed a stent. Three weeks later went back into surgery to attack the blockage once again. This time worked (new stent, of course) and home I went. That evening I was back in the ER via ambulance with excruciating pain. No, that’s not accurate….the pain was so intense I literally just wanted to die! Morphine+diluadin all night and released the following day.
I now sit with the God awful side effects of this stent. To say this isn’t torture isn’t even accurate! The meds to numb (Pyridium) and the meds to control spasms (Ditopan XL) don’t touch the pain….No, thats not accurate either…taking those are like taking nothing! I have another three weeks to go before the stent comes out. My doctor acts incredulous that I am this miserable…REALLY????? And also seems very unconcerned that my kidney is not producing any normal volume of urine. I’ve been on medical leave from work since the first surgery and rather soon I fear my employer is going to stop being so patient with this extended absence. But going to work like this is not an option either. The weakness, the dizziness and just my overall inability to concentrate on anything but this TERRIBLE pain just won’t be accepted at my job…
Thoughts? Suggestions? Sympathies? I would rather stick hot needles in my eyes than go through this much longer! In a conversation two days ago with my doctor, he suggested we put a catheter in my back directly into the kidney to by-pass my obviously irritated bladder. He won’t budge on early stent removal saying nothing has healed sufficiently enough yet. Then came the fear tactic: “If I take the stent out before you are healed, in six months I will be removing your kidney”. Okay, that got my attention but come on! This borders on barbaric and I can’t believe there aren’t meds out there that address this pain and discomfort!
I decided to keep score on the number of trips into the bathroom to pee today…So far, at 4:30pm, I’m up to 39…all just dribbles….For all that pain, wouldn’t you say there should be something to show for it??
Frustrated, pissed (no pun intended) and thoroughly exhausted!
I understand your pain. I had a stent put in on November 19th for a blockage I have had the worse pain ever sense. I have called my doctor over and over about this but all he says is it can’t be the stent go see your primary doctor this is not a primary doctor issue and then they tell me to deal with it because they can’t take it out early it needs to do what it was put in there to do. I also didn’t have a choice they pretty much said this is what we are going to do I had a stent in before and i hated every minute of it and called them every day because of all the pain it caused me. and when they decided to put one in again I just about flipped out but my doctor informed me that they would put in a peds one so i shouldn’t have any issues with it. well he was dead wrong I have had just as many problems with this one as I did with the regular one. but he will not do anything about it. I have gone to a differnt doctor and he is actually doing something about it.
Oh, and don’t even get me started on the bladder spasms or the incredible pressure when I pee! Feels like I’m involuntarily trying to push out another child! Anyone who has the spasms, the only thing I can say is keep on your meds! I’ve been given pyridum (sp?) and it works wonders as long as I don’t miss a dose. I call it my OPP…orange pee pill lol
I have had bilateral stents in since Sept. 11th. Nothing to do with stones, I had a surgical procedure that caused damage to my bladder. I also had a cath for 3 weeks. I thought ALL of my discomfort and pain came from the cath and couldn’t wait to have it removed. Once it was I realized that all the ‘sharp poking’ pains were coming from the stents, not the cath. The urgency to pee is horrible, the stents are always feeling like they’re moving or poking me. They come out next week and I CAN’T WAIT!
my mom had stents placed in both her kidneys 2 weeks ago and had 2 kidney stones removed from the left kidney ( I don’t remember the exact size) Of course she is having lots of pain as suspected but she is also having lots of bleeding and blood clots come out. Does anyone experience this problem or know if the bleeding is normal after stent placement.
yes that is normal after having a stent in place they told me that I would have bleeding and cloting for the first week after having it put in they said to drinks lots of water to flush out your system. I have had mine in sense Nov 19th and Have had issues ever sense. make sure to stay on top of you meds if you don’t you will be sorry. good luck and hang in there
Lynn, you must be spying on me because I couldn’t have described it better! I, too, thought the pain and discomfort was from the God awful catheter (which I not so fondly referred to as my man penis)…Nope! Definitely the stent! Please please please tell me everything went back to normal once your stent came out. My doctor just called and agreed to take my stent out early…I am living for that day!
Anyone out there ever had bilateral stents? Am going in for PCNL on right kidney with bilateral stents placed. They will be taking out the left kidney stones 4 days later via the ureter. Am hoping they will remove right stent at the second operation. If not, I anticipate some real discomfort from what I have read. Urologist assures me that the tube in right kidney will be what really bothers me (not the stents)- it comes out after 1-2 days.
Earlier this week I had a 6mm stone fragmented by laser. A stent (with an extraction string) was placed during the procedure. Two days later the stent was removed. I was very uptight about how painful the removal would be but it was removed in about two seconds without a lot of discomfort.
I don’t have kidney stones but have narrowing of the urine tract, where I’ve recently had a stent placed also some of it removed (two weeks ago yesterday), I’ve been having a lot of pain and a constant tugging feeling from my bladder due to the stent, like the whole gravity sensation and after reading these comments I feel like its going to be ok and I am normal!
So thank you all!
Can’t wait to have this removed next month it can’t be as bad as the pain I’ve had and at least it can hopefully save my kidney
I had a stent placed on 03 Aug due to a 14.6mm stone obstructing my right kidney. Creatine level was high and my GFR was 28. I’m very thankful that the stent relieved the blockage and my lab results have returned to normal. I have since had unsuccessfully lithotripsy and awaiting approval for laser treatment. The pain I have experienced from the stent varies from just a dull irritation to excruciating pain where I have been afraid to urinate. I am also experiencing incontinence on a daily basis. My doctor does not like to prescribe narcotic pain meds and I have went to the emergency room twice due to extreme pain and infection. I want the stent removed
but I know the stone will just obstruct the ureter again.
I have had a stent in almost continually since October of 2013 due to stricture in left ureter.
Now following bouts of sepsis, 13 emergency admissions, 6 ops I am due to have a pyeloplasty in a month or so time.
This latest stent has been in for about 8 weeks and is now causing lots and lots of pain.
I am currently taking paracetomol 1gm 4 times a day and up to 60mg codeine 3/4 times a day.
I am now at my wits end (so is my wife I feel) and cannot relate the feeling as being “discomfort” any longer. It is now pain on level 8 out of 10. Pain is in several areas. bladder, ureter (midway point, I think), perimium and kidney front and back. Opps, nearly forgot… left testicle as well.
On the good side… Have only had one stent removed under a local (Lignocaine) and felt nothing. Over and done with in less than a minute.
I have suffered from kidney stones for about 5 years, off and on. Most recently, my last one, prompted my doctor to have me more thoroughly checked out after I had experiencing severe bloating. After a panel of blood tests, they revealed that my GFR (Glomerular Filtration Rate), which measures how effective one’s kidneys are functioning, was hovering around 30, only a few points away from renal failure.This alarmed my doctor and set forth a series of x-rays and ultrasound that revealed that both of my ureters were dilated indicating I was experiencing an obstruction of some kind. A stone was also discovered and had passed over several days, but remaining concerned about the dilation, my doctor sent me to a urologist who ordered a CT scan immediately followed by stent placement in both ureters suspecting that I may possibly have lymphoma. I have since had a full body CT/PET scan, both of which revealed that the cluster of lymph nodes in the area of the ureters were enlarged along with one other location under one of my armpits. A series of blood tests drawn over a greater period of time also indicated that my lymphocyte count dramatically dropped from 28 to 13. I’m now awaiting a biopsy to confirm what’s going on.Although I believe the stones were medically induced by having taken Triamterene for six years, in my case, I view the last stone as a “lucky stone” as without it, this new discovery would probably never had been made.I will submit that the stents are completely aggravating leaving to feel most of the time that I have to pee real badly (I equate this to Chinese water torture…no pun intended), I am able to find similar relief from both sitting and when I’m horizontal. Blood almost always accompanies urination, often times quite bad, and terminating a stream of urine often sends a jolt of pain through me that literally makes me shiver. It is dreadful. My urologist tells me that, depending on my success with a potential regimen of chemotherapy and/or whatever else they may deem best for me, while the stents are meant to be temporary, I may have them for up to six months or longer. I dread this possibility along with a firm cancer diagnosis, still forthcoming, which conveys to me that I probably have a very long and challenging journey ahead. In light of all of this, I still view that little stone as one of the greatest blessings of my life for setting in motion an early detection of something far more serious.I would like to note in closing that Triamterene has a known history for causing kidney stones as well as raising glucose levels. If you are taking this medication and have either (or both) of these two known side effects, consult with your doctor.
I have had a stent placed in my right ureter 4 days ago while I wait for to have a 7mm stone to be destroyed by laser. This is my second stone in 3 years and I am very eager to adopt habits that will discourage any more. This is the first time I have had a stent and from some of the stories I have read I feel I have been quite lucky. I have had very little back or groin pain and I am controlling it with ibuprofen. However the constant feeling that I need need to use the toilet is driving me crazy. It happens when I am standing or lying down and I have had to start sleeping in an armchair wih my feet on a footstool. I am desperate for the surgery so I can get back to normal.
Just had a second stent put in Aug. 25/14. My problem is bladder tumors and my first stent was unbearable and had to be removed in a week. This one is not as painful but I can feel it in my left lower back. Removal date in 10 days. With my first stent child bearing was easier and I went thru that with no meds. Lol. Good luck to u out there. There is an end in site. Must get back to my heating pad.
Just had a second stent put in Aug. 25/14. My problem is bladder tumors and my first stent was unbearable and had to be removed in a week. This one is not as painful but I can feel it in my left lower back. Removal date in 10 days. With my first stent child bearing was easier and I went thru that with any meds. Lol. Good luck to u out there. There is an end in site. Must get back to my heating pad.
I’ve had stents for 4 years due to blockage from infection and have to say the pain is awful and makes you feel down. I ended up on large doses of opiates and antidepressants… Stent removal is a piece of cake and takes seconds so no worries there, I’ve opted for nephrostomy this time as cannot bare the pain of the stent.
Those of u waiting to have this done, I agree having read all the comments
I wouldn’t of gone for 6 stone removal and a tenting
In my right kidney, to return in 6 weeks for the last
Large one , but I’m glad I have, I agree that if u
Can lie tilted back and take regular pain relief it is bareble , I find
When I need the loo it ats the end when I feel
Very sore for seconds, incontience pads are a must
It upset me at first but I’m alive and greatful .
My greatest fear is doctors being tight with meds
But it’s ok if u have enough . If u are in to much
Discomfort u can always have the stent removed, I’m a wimp
And I’ve done 5 days have 5 weeks left will let
U know if I keep it in.
I never realised stones varied mine are tough
Typical , so from now on I’m going to be good
Luck everyone x