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Had ESWL this morning. Now I know what Robb Stark felt before he died.

Stone Fighter #97CA31Stone Fighter #97CA31Aug 21, 2026👁️ 2.1k❤️ 140
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The title pretty much says it all. I woke up from my ESWL about... 4 hours ago now. They were breaking up the 14x10mm monster in my right kidney that I've named Rocky. I felt fine when I woke up, but about an hour later on the drive home—the pain hit. It was so intense I actually vageled (blood pressure drop from pain) on the way home. I've passed my first two granules and the blood is almost gone, but holy hell, this pain is worse than anything I felt when Rocky was still in one piece. And it's not the "I can feel pieces working their way through my urinary tract" kind of pain. It's the "every twenty seconds feels like I've been shot and the pain shoots from my right flank all the way to my left hand" kind of pain. Has anyone else hurt this much after ESWL? They told me it'd feel like getting punched, so when they said they weren't sending me home with painkillers, I didn't care. I'm now 6 Aleve deep and they might as well be tic tacs. This is unbearable.

Rocky really said "The Lannisters send their regards."

Edit: finally got some answers. Turns out the hydrocodone prescription they wrote me two weeks ago at my appointment WASN'T for the 9/10 pain I was having. Apparently that was supposed to be my post-op medication—even though they specifically told me at that pre-op appointment that I'd probably get antibiotics and pain meds, so my ride would need to take me to the pharmacy after the procedure. If I'd known that, I wouldn't have touched them. But I'm a mail carrier with 200+ Amazon packages a day, and after dealing with a death rock for FOUR MONTHS, I assumed they were actually trying to give me SOME relief before the procedure, so I took all but half of one (it was a 12 count, 2 weeks ago). So naturally I got treated like an addict. They finally called in a Toradol prescription after about 4 hours. I can't remember if I've ever taken it before, but hopefully it brings some relief. I'm desperate at this point and want to avoid the ER at all costs (they tried to tack on an extra $600 to my bill—not to mention this stone was visible on the CT I had a year ago when it was only 8mm, and they sent me home with a kidney infection diagnosis instead).

Comments (4)

Stone Fighter #D338D6Stone Fighter #D338D6May 9, 2026

No painkillers?! No thank you! Did they give you tamsulosin? Is this your first stone? Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

Stone Fighter #5FDF1CStone Fighter #5FDF1CMay 9, 2026

No, I've had a ton of them, but this is my first ESWL. I was supposed to have one back in 2016 for a big stone, but I ended up passing a few 7mm ones the night before. I've taken Flomax before with no problems, but this time it's making my legs feel weird—not numb exactly, but heavy. So basically I'm trying to tough this out with OTC stuff and it is not friggin working. I called the urologist and the receptionist said she'd send my surgeon a message about a pain script. Still haven't heard b...

Stone Fighter #0430C8Stone Fighter #0430C8May 9, 2026

Keep calling them. They have to have somebody on call for emergencies, and pain like this IS an emergency. Worst case scenario, head to the ER.

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