All about ureteral stents

Had my 6th kidney stone retraction yesterday. Last one (a month ago) they went for both kidneys (2 in the right, one in the left), but only got the one in the left kidney. They left stents in both ureters and yesterday (a month later) went back for the ones in the right kidney. The stents they left in me for a month made me pee every hour and each time was painful. After surgery yesterday I feel much better even though i still have one stent in my right ureter. Thankfully they gave me string so I can pull it out myself rather than going back in for another roto rooter experience. As I’m sure you all know, these things hurt like hell, but the pain passes and is soon forgotten. Not every person with an illness is so lucky. Until next time… enjoy life.

Had a 4cm (yes centimetres) stone removed a month ago by PCNL, followed by sepsis, eight days in hospital, then sent home with instructions to do nothing for 10 days. First couple of weeks we’re OK, just tired, trying to regain the 5-6kg I lost thanks to the infection. Have a stent in the left ureter. No problems at all for three weeks. Then, as I began to become more active, I began to suffer urgency,, burning on urination and strong urine. My GP prescribed a week of antibiotics for a suspected UTI, and symptoms improved but now have constant irritation in the bladder and it’s driving me India. Due to remove stent in 2 weeks. Can’t wait!

Ok. I normally never comment on anything. But this site really helped me.
I’ve had to go to hospital for three stones three dif times. This time they said you have toe big ones. Went to hospital and they blasted them and left stint. It’s. It so bad. The stone is more pain. Last night I had a shower. Took two pain killers. And tried to pull on string. I was freeked. Eventually I could not urinate and the pain got worse then pulling on the string. Just keep pulling and don’t look down. Once it was out I felt like a million bucks. Like pulling a bullet out of your chest. Trust me I’m a wimp and it was ok. Never even had a sting afterwords. But I will be changing diet. Good luck. Thank god for technology.

Had stent put in today. Self pull out. But only a few min ago the string was hanging down and I’m leaking non stop. Although my stones had passed already. Not sure what to do. Very uncomfortable grr.

I just had the procedure done today, May 19 after a week of agony. The good news is no more kidney pain from the blockage caused by a larger than usual stone. The bad news is I cannot leave the bathroom and urinating hurts more than the stones did, albeit a shorter period of time. It feels like someone put a razor in a fire then used it on me. Ten days of this? I can’t even begin to comprehend that.

Did anyone get pain after they took the stent out. I feel like the kideny stone and stent are still there the pain is on a level 10 the burning stopped after the removed it but my kideny feels like it’s in a vice still

Thank you to everyone who shared their experiences it really helped me to ask the right questions as my doctor first told me that the stent could cause some discomfort for a couple of days. It seemed like no big deal and I thought I would only need a couple of days off work but after reading I pushed the Urologist to tell me the full range of side effects and ask for a minimum of a week off work with the possibility of extension if the stent needed to be in more than a week I definitely needed that time and now I will share my unpleasant experience in hopes that it will help someone else. I had the ureteroscopy surgery on May 15 with stent placed. About 4 hours after surgery began feeling the intense pain while urinating and for a few minutes after, I had to start taking the Hydrocodone which I hoped not to take but the pain was unbearable stayed in the drug comma for two days and now on the third day going off the pain pills and hoping I can get by with just the Flomax and Tylenol, so far so good. Pain is still there just more tolerable and lying down is the only comfortable position, I have to take short steps when I walk, looking forward to getting rid of this torture device on Friday but now that I know removal is likely to very painful I will go back on the pain pills for that on Friday. Blood in urine, yes every time. I have to laugh when I remember the doctor saying I could go back to work in a couple days, there’s no way that could have happened. My advice is to get the time off for as long as you have the stent

This is my second stent in over the past several years of passing 30-40 stones because of a ‘too large to pass’ stone. I do tend to have a fairly high pain tolerance, but I find the stents only what I consider to be ‘irritating’ but not really painful. The constant trips (every hour 24/7) to the toilet are inconvenient for sure, and I have leakage still since the last stent was removed 2 1/2 years ago, which I hate. I did NOT find the removal it it bad at all. I hope so many of these remarks don’t scare people half to death, because I truly don’t believe it is nearly as bad as what I have read here. Buck up people!

I have had 4 kidney stone surgeries. I couldn’t count the stones. I passed 13 stones in a 72 hour period. I had a double j stent placed in my right ureter in 2009 and started passing stent material this year 2017. My medical records show it was left in me in APRIL 2009. My other records do not mention that it was ever taken out. i’m passing the small white fibers and my urologist & other urologist do not want to do a ct scan to find it.
If you think doctors don’t cover up for other doctors, You better think twice. I made an appointment with another urologist to get a ct scan and they said if I could be there at 8:00 AM they would do the scan. I arrived before they opened & they refused to do a scan and 1 nurse ( dressed in green surgery scrubs ) tried to keep 1 of my 3 sets of medical records. the 1 that had the stent being left in me. My present urologist said the small white fibers looked like kidney stone fragments. I have passed over passed over 100+ kidney stones & I have never seen them float. If anyone has experienced this situation, I would love to hear from you. STENT #00821925006409 Reference # 5616024 listed as a missing & uncounted DOUBLE PIGTAIL 6 x 24 cm STENT.
Thank You……………………ROY

I need to ‘re type my message due to predictive text.
Today i had a jj stent put in as i have an 18mm kidney stone stuck in my kidney. The op went well with no complications, however on waking up in recovery I asked to pass urine straight away consultant was happy and k passed enough urine to be able to come home, however when I was back on the ward I was urinating every 20 minutes and since coming home the same is this normal

Today k had a I’m aren’t put in as i have an 18mm kidney stone the operation went well but I’m urinating liemecery 2o minutes is this normal or will it settle down

My husband had seeing blood in the urine and pain in the bladder. So we decided to go for checkup and after checkup, we come to know that its a stone problem in the kidney. They used a plastic tube or may as u said stent in healing. Honey was in very much pain when they made stitches or used stent.

I’ve passed over 15 stones on my own and had litho 4 times. 3 shockwave, 1 laser. Last Month was laser, on a 10mm stone. No difference in the procedures really… You’re out so which ever.. But the first soundwave procedure I had no stent. No issues… All was great… The next 3 all had stents… And all 3 were absolutely horrible. Almost as bad as the stones themselves… Just different. For me Stone pain is immediate, constant and intense…. Stent pain is intense pain when you urinate (kidney) , then the rest of the time is a low pain but a constant irritation in the bladder… Everytime you move…. For 3 weeks! I had all but the last removed awake.. No freezing, no pain Meds, just lay back and grit your teeth. But last time I was scheduled to go under to remove… I didn’t request it only because I didn’t know that was an option. But for whatever reason it was scheduled that way and I thought.. Sure I’ll go out for that. And I’ll pick that way everytime now. The stent is a horrible experience for some and I can’t believe that it is even a thing in modern medicine also how it can really affect your life and all for a preventive devise. 3 weeks of hydromorphs to try to be able to function (work)? Like I have time to get hooked on pain meds. All stents should be collected, thrown into a big pile and burned. Not a fan.

Hello. I had my second cystoscopy with right ureteral stent placement in a 2 week span this morning. Since all the meds have warn off I’m having a lot of issues with what feels like urethra spasms and of course low pelvic and right flank pain, but my biggest concern is im having pretty intense bilateral leg pain. Has anyone else experienced this? This whole reason why this is my second one so soon is because I had the first stent placed due to not being able to pass a stone. My doctor at that time only placed stent and did not remove stone, 5 days later another urologist (after I had been admitted to hospital for pain management and infection) removed the stent and a large, pointy stone. Continued to have severe pain so my urologist insisted on a much smaller stent placed today. I do have a small stone embedded in my right kidney, but he did not feel comfortable trying to remove it. So after all that, my biggest question is, is this intense bilateral leg pain normal? I wanted to ask if anyone else has experienced it before I call my doctors office.
Any answers will be great! It’s been a rough 2 weeks with a stent placement, hospital admission, stent and stone removal and now another stent placement.

I just had a stent removed today after having it in place for a week as part of a surgery to remove a small cancer tumor that was growing very near my ureter. Wanted to report on my experience. When it was put in place I felt a discomfort on the side it was installed in but no sharp pain. More like a dull ache. When urinating it ached more but no sharp pain. After a week in place the ache became more noticeable, especially when I was sitting for long periods. The biggest discomfort was around urination. I often felt a strong urgent need to urinate and when I did there was often a burning sensation. There was also some minor bleeding. I thought I had a UTI as the head of my penis felt very sensitive and burned while urinating. I noticed that I had a very strong urge to go frequently when I was standing. If lying down or sitting the urge to go frequently abated, especially if I was on a painkiller which I took very infrequently besides Tylenol. Doc said the irritation and what felt like a possible UTI was actually sensitivity caused by the stent.

After having the stent removed, had some sharper pain and more bleeding while urinating and was quite uncomfortable for a few hours. Again, lying down helped a lot. Did notice that the urgency and sensitivity in the head of my penis decreased considerably.

Bottom line – having a stent put in by a capable surgeon does not mean you will be in agony. There will be discomfort, increased urgency etc. but it can be very manageable with a basic painkiller like Vicodin if needed. I did try to exercise one day while it was in (playing tennis) and it was uncomfortable and led afterwards to significant fatigue. Hope this helps.

I have an 8 mm stone inside kidney… they put a stent in while I was under at hospital, now two weeks later I have to go back under to blast the stone and they remove the pieces. I hope this stent will not be left in. Damn. It hurts so bad, have had kidney pain for 5 days when I pee, now day 12 feel better but stent uncomfortable and pinching. Stones are horrible experience. Lots of luck to everyone, I am not eating anything that contributes to making stones. I never want to go through this again.

I have a stone in my right upper utera. On consulting 2 Sr. Urologists, one responded of doing RIRS and the other senior urologist advised not to go for RIRS as it may have life threatening consequences, and advised to have stent placed first for 2 weeks and later remove the strent and stone together.

Now me not being from a medical line am lookong fo some help and guidance around the same.
symptoms:
frequent lower back and abdomen pain
continuous fever
very rare nausea
very mild irritation while urinating (no blood or any discomfirt)

Had Stent put in today, great relief!

After passing two stones in three years, I thought passing one broken up by a stone blaster would be no worse! Was I wrong. During my routine followup Dr advised I had passed a 5mm stone, but my left kidney had a 15 mm stone. We decided to magnetically blast it. The first night was ok, but the following three days of no sleep, unable to find a comfortable position…and even morphine was not making much difference. THAT’S when we decided to try the stent. The pain subsided! …and the issues with the stent can be disconcerting, but I would rather not need morphine!

Wow, my special needs brother had a stent inserted on April 14th, he has a nickel size kidney stone, hopefully they will blast that stone soon. He is unable
To express his pain level.

About 5 weeks ago I woke up with killer pain in my lower back as I also was 35 weeks pregnant with my 3rd child. I’ve had a kidney stone before but I wasn’t to sure if it was a stone or labour so I went to the hospital, turns out I passed three stones in one day, they kept me for 2 days. Then for about 5 days I was in and out of the hospital with more pains they didn’t see any stones in a ultrasound but kept giving me morphine for the pain. They sent me to a kidney specialist, he went up my uritra with a little camera and found a stone stuck in my kidney causing me all that pain. The doctor put a stent in me while 35 weeks pregnant. I felt everything the pain from the stones were so bad I couldn’t wait for the stent to help with the pain. Turns out the stent caused me more pain in so many different ways I couldn’t sleep I shouldn’t sit I couldn’t pee I couldn’t walk I couldn’t do anything. I ended up getting induced at 37.3 days pregnant. Ever since I gave birth I’ve felt amazing didn’t feel the stent I could sleep pee walk everything so I’m guessing the baby was just so much pressure and so forth. A week after I gave birth to my son they gave me a CT scan where they seen two stones. One 3mm and one 2mm and a few little pieces around it. A week after that, (today) I had my kidney stone surgery as they went to blast my stones. Turns out this last week I passed them both as I felt some pain witch I thought was weird since I’ve had the stent in I haven’t felt anything but I didn’t know if having he baby and everything going back into place for the stent shifted and that’s why I felt some pain. So while I was in surgery they didn’t notice any stones but took out my stent. It’s been a total of 5 weeks since I’ve passed my first 3 stones and dealing with pain the stent and now surgery. I am just glad it’s over and done with and I pray to GOD I never get another stone. I would rather give birth 500 times then pass another stone.
I hope this post maybe will help another pregnant mommy.

I’ve had three bouts with stones since about 1995. In 2004 and 2012, I had shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) which seemed to work fairly well. Stones have now returned yet again. Does anyone know if there is a limit to how many SWLs you can have? Has anyone had 3 or 4 or even more? Can SWL damage your kidneys if you get that treatment more than “X” times? My Dr. want to do a ureterscopic removal, but from what I’ve read on this site, these can lead to problems and pain, so I’d rather try another SWL. Thank you.

I rush to A&E on Tue 7h March with kidney stones, the stone got stuck between kidney and bladder causing a bad infection. The following day the doctors inserted a stent and gave ma antibiotics to cure the infection, after 8 weeks I have the appointment to remove stone and stent assuming the infection is gone. I was a vegetable for nearly 3 weeks, it was the most horrible time of my life. Now after 6 weeks and 4 cycles of antibiotics the infection is better but not gone and the only pain I have is in my clitoris, my GP thinks this could be due to the stent. I constantly pee and I’m always thirsty and swety overnight. I still cannot go out of my house, do any chores or go to the office. I really hope all will be gone after the operation. I know blood in the urine is normal, I had it too, and it helps to get reed of the infection, unless is really heavy in which case I suggest go back to the hospital. JARE, I really feel for you and I am terrifyed to the idea of going thru this again. There must be a better way to deal with this and to prevent it. I don’t wish it to anyone, it is a real torture. If anyone knows about pain in clitoris please let know, I’m really worried about it.

I’ve produced around 20 plus stones. Had one removed from my bladder that became embedded in the side of it. The need to pee was so overwhelming that I was on a schedule. Drugs provided very minimal to no relief. I have this old vibrating heating pad that provided a little relief. It was the only thing that kept me from just eating a bullet. The surgery went well and I was pain free right after the first time peeing. 5 years later I’ve had a stone suck at the top of my right uriter just below th e kidney. Doctors plan was to laser it, break it up and pull the pieces out. He poked thru the uriter and had to stop. He left me with a stent and a week to heal before going back in and trying again. 2nd surgery hours without a hitch. Broke up the stone got another stent placed sent home to recover. Going back in a week to get the stent removed. So out of 20 plus stones, 3 surgeries and 2 stents, i would rather pass every stone endure all 3 surgeries and sign up for the sledge hammer to the groin competition just to forgo the stent. It has brought me to a whole new level of pain discomfort and discust that wouldmakethe devil himself cringe. I haven’t been awake for a stent removal yet and i don’t think I have dred anything so bad in my life. I would like to say I’ll post the results in a week to let you know how it went but I probably won’t. I will want to put it passed me as fast as possible. Stents have no place in a body. Unless you want to hurt them beyond reason.

4 days post uteral stents. Peeing blood. But I noticed the more I drink the more it clears up. When I awake each morning, it is red again. When and why would it still bleed? Do I have to worry about red blood count? I have bilateral stents that extent exterior and are capped outside of my back.

Hi had an operation yesterday to remove a stone from my kidney and now have a stent on for he said 5 days. I have lost the power of control with my bladder, I have had to go and buy some heavy duty nighttime poise because I have no control , I have some pain and lots of blood in my urine , everywhere I look for answers on the stent there is never mention of this problem . I will call the urologist as soon as his office opens on Tuesday , i am worried because I was not informed of this problem