Patient journeyONGOING

First time dealing with this

Stone Fighter #9CC827Aug 15, 2026👁️ 2.2k❤️ 156

Strategy: Patient journey

40F here, went to the ER Monday morning with absolutely brutal pain. I’ve never had a kidney stone before, so I had zero clue what was going on. They ran a CT scan and found a 3mm one on my left side, “almost to my bladder” — you could see it had made it most of the way down the tube and was nearly there. Yesterday I felt totally fine for about 12 hours, then last night it hit me all over again. Is that normal? I’ve got prescriptions for ibuprofen, flomax, oxycodone, and anti-nausea meds. Every time the bad pain comes, I throw up — it’s miserable. Has anyone passed one of these, at least down to the bladder, within a day or two?

They also found a huge one on my right side that’s never going to pass on its own, so I need to follow up with urology, figure out a plan, and hopefully get some answers on why I’m making these in the first place! Sorry for the vent — I’m running on empty and this whole thing sucks.

Comments (5)

Stone Fighter #8B892CMay 7, 2026

3mm is pretty small — it should pass anywhere from a few days to a few weeks or even months. Drinking a ton of water helps.

Stone Fighter #FDE8C5May 7, 2026

Weeks to MONTHS, ahhhh! Pain like this the whole time?? This is insane.

Stone Fighter #05E835May 7, 2026

Hey, I totally get it — I had a 3mm stone back in December, and I’m passing another one right now. Take your meds. 3mm is small, so it should come out on its own. Sadly mine took 3 weeks to pass in December, but the pain was only really bad for the first week — after that it was annoying but manageable with the meds. Hang in there, and try to catch the stone with a strainer so they can analyze it.

Stone Fighter #B1DB2BMay 7, 2026

Yep, totally normal. Take the Flomax and CHUG water until that thing is out of you.

Stone Fighter #8B892CMay 7, 2026

I wouldn’t say it hurts the whole time. I just passed a 2mm stone and it took me a full month. Some people pass way bigger ones in a matter of days. It really comes down to a lot of different factors.

Stone Fighter #CF1570May 7, 2026

You’ve got two kidneys, and each one has its own tube called a ureter that drains into the one bladder. The ureters are pretty narrow, and that’s where a lot of stones get stuck and cause the pain. Once a stone makes it into the bladder, it floats around until it reaches the urethra. That’s the single tube running from the bladder to where you pee out (same idea for men and women). The urethra is usually wider and shorter than the ureters, so stones tend to slide through it way easier. My las...

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