Kidney stone pain can mimic other things
Stone Fighter #14E681May 13, 2026👁️ 639❤️ 151- Strategy
- Patient journey
My right kidney is a teeny stone maker, and the symptoms have always been the same: aching kidney and lower right abdomen, intermittent sharp pains, bloody urine, and urgency to urinate.
Two days ago, I had intense back pain, right hip pain, and diarrhea. Then yesterday, I had dull, deep pain in my lower right abdomen and a strong urge to poop for hours with no result. Then the pain began to build.
The pain was dull instead of sharp, diffuse across my entire right side, shooting down my right leg and upwards into my chest. I thought I had appendicitis or a bowel obstruction. \*A kidney stone never occurred to me until I realized I couldn’t pee.” After all, I knew what kidney stones felt like, and this wasn’t it!
This was a trip to the ER, and this is by far the most painful one I’ve had, shooting down into my lady business, and I could not sit, only pace. Toradol took it down to a six from an 8/9 and then morphine to a 3.
It’s only a 3mm, and it’s about halfway through its journey. It shifted so it’s no longer blocking, and I peed for hours. I have lots of drugs now for nausea, pain, and some flomax.
Did anyone else not recognize their symptoms at first or think it had to be something else like an injured back or appendicitis
Comments (2)
Stone Fighter #C514EEApr 23, 2026My first kidney stone took me to the ER thinking it was appendicitis. 9 years later I went to the ER with what I thought was a kidney stone, but was a ruptured ovarian cyst. Then 2 months later I went back to the ER with what I thought was another ruptured ovarian cyst (there was another one on the imaging so I assumed) but it was a kidney stone. My ovarian cyst pain diffused to the left side but was located on the right side. I never seem to know. Immense pain is immense pain.
Stone Fighter #857783Apr 23, 2026Your kidney can throw symptoms that look nothing like a textbook stone, especially if you're dealing with inflammation or the stone's position is different from your usual ones. The dull, diffuse pain across your whole side instead of sharp localized pain is actually pretty common when stones sit differently or when there's swelling involved. Get imaging to rule out other stuff (diverticulitis, appendicitis, bowel issues can mimic this), but yeah, your history makes it worth getting checked s...
Stone Fighter #9CC827Apr 23, 2026I had a ct scan, so I’m good except the kidney stone.
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