How long does it take for kidney stones to pass?

[Carp14]

Hello, i am a 20 year old student and recently found that i have two kidney stones. I believe they have both moved from my kidney to my bladder and was wondering how long it takes to pass them through my urine once they are already in my bladder. These stones are 1mm and 2mm and also i was wondering to what extent the pain is going to be when i pass them?

[cgray1112]

The pain of kidney stones are excruciating for some and others feel nothing, depending on the size of the stone. The pain comes from the stone moving down from the kidney to the bladder via the ureter. Once it is in the bladder, usually you shouldn't experience any pain . Drink lots of water!!! This is the only way to flush them out. You will never know if you have passed it out in your urine unless you strain it. If you suspect they have entered your bladder, you may have unknowingly passed them in your urine already.

[StoneBuilder]

I agree with you except about never knowing if you have passed them, I've had lots of stones, and with larger stones 3-5mm I can feel them pass though every time, I'm male by the way. With 1-2mm I couldn't feel them like you said strain the urine it's the only way of telling that something has passed. There is a condition in which stones can get stuck in the bladder and have a very hard time coming out, a good thing to do is get out of the bed and walk do some activity, gravity does help with the removal process.

[mystonebreaker]

How long it takes to pass a kidney stone depends on how much water you drink also...at the age of 60 I have learned when I feel pain the first thing I think of is to drink some Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with water as strong as my taste will allow and as much as my taste will allow...I believe the vinegar makes the stones brittle so they will break down easier...I believe it also removes the stickiness from them so again they break down and don't cluster together...  EXTREMELY Large amounts of water in a SHORT Period of time (about 1/2 GALLON in 30 minutes or so)  it EXPANDS All your urinary track to allow the particles of stones to flow freely... the urinary track is like a rubber band with a hole in the middle....if you try to push a sandspur or thorny sticker through a hole in the center of a rubber band it will be almost impossible or you will tear the rubber band correct?   Now if you fill that rubber band with water it will expand it so the sticker will move through it SO much easier....I also use a Large Heavy Duty Back Massager directly on the painful area.... sometime I'm using the Massager as I drink my Vinegar ...and then a large amount of water....If Pain Returns....GET BACK ON THE WATER and the massager! That's the only way to EXPAND THE URINARY TRACK...unless you want a stint in you....to me that was worse than the stone's....If the stones lodge in the bladder and start obstructing it ....you will know it!  Again....GET BACK ON THE WATER.....believe it or not...having sex at this point will help....lol....or the massager...but the water will flush it out...use a strainer to catch them for at least 2 days as you have broken the stones down to small fragments now....I've had them pass in clusters of 10 - 15 pieces at a time doing this method ... they were in size from sand on the beach to dust partials....I hope this method of mine helps you feel better...it always helps me...Keep in mind this is MY method....and it works for me....I hope it works for you....every body and every stone is different....

[MAGKPD]

I was told a month ago that the pain I was having wasfrom a 2mm kidney ston, that I never saw pass. A month later and in pain again I was told I have a 4mm stone in the same place as the one froma month ago.  Could it be the same ston and growing? Or a diff. Stone?

[chariberry]

dude it took my kidney stone almost a month to go from the bladder to the urethra and a weeke to get it out of my urethra i thought it felt like a bladder infection even got anti biotics but it never got better and started blocking my pee till poof i push it out in the bathtub it was bigger than i expected and pretty scary!

[deb145]

i just got through from taking two kinds of antibotic for urinery tract infection and i hurt in my  feels like i cant pee

[entermee]

ya it takes me about a mouth to pass a stone out of my bladder and it feel like a UTI the hole time -.-

[Imabigkidnow]

Your kidney stone may not pass if it is too big. My sister had to have lithotripsy at the age of 11 because her stone was stuck and had grown too large to pass through her system.

[Alilev]

I'm 20 yrs old and hav a kidney stone they told me nothing about it just that I hav one and I feel like hell I feel like I'm gona throw up and hav the sweats I don't know too much about this but I kno my white blood count is high and no one can giv me exact answers hopefully someone here can

[Hunters_Mommy2011]

You need to go to the doctor, they can give you something for the pain and the nausea. I went yesterday and they gave me like 4 different medications.

[bcore1984]

i woke up this morning with pain in my stomach and back. It wasnt as bad as ive read of others but it still hurt. it only lsted 15 to 30 minutes then it was gone. about 6 hours later i pissed out a stone. my question is was 15 to 30 minutes of pain the only thing i needed to worry about? or am i in for a painful suprise in the next few hour?

[jaimie60]

I had my first attack with a kidney stone. It came on suddenly and was so painful I thought I was going to die. Went to the hospital ER and was taken in immediately. I did not receive any pain medication until the blood tests were evaluated. The pain meds only took the edge off the pain but it was a welcomed relief. My pain was a 10+ and pain management brought it down to a 3 to 4 but what a relief it was. After approximately 3 hours in the ER the pain stopped. The blood test showed I had blood in my urine. The MRI showed it had moved on but I had swelling in the "tube" it travels in. Never do I want to go through this again. How long does it take for this "stone" to leave my system?

[Tomv22344]

How long did it take Jaime?  I had this happen to me the other night,  same thing er and everything,  my first one....I'm worried the intense pain from the uriter part will happen in the urethra part,   By the way if it does happen again I'm gonna try the water vinegar thing,  you sound like you've been around guy!   Thanks,  I feel a little better after reading from you guys!

[redwinggrandma]

Hi.. I had severe back pain on Christmas morning & ambulance was called but none available so a friend & her family put off their Christmas dinner to take me to the hospital. There, was discovered after a uring test that I had a 9mm stone that is in my bladder....now wouldnt I feel that pass thru me, because I sure havent yet.

[redwinggrandma]

Hi.. I had severe back pain on Christmas morning & ambulance was called but none available so a friend & her family put off their Christmas dinner to take me to the hospital. There, was discovered after a uring test that I had a 9mm stone that is in my bladder....now wouldnt I feel that pass thru me, because I sure havent yet.

[redwinggrandma]

sorry, I m new to all this here & didn't realize this was posted twice. I don't know how to remove this 2nd one I have on here.

[blue1993]

i was just diagnosed with a kidney stone this weekend at the age of 19 and i am female, i had a catscan done that is how they found it in the ER, i was vomitting to the point where when i started it was food later went to water and after that it was dry throw up and than it was the medications they gave me through the IV i practically threw up on the doc. so he never returned and i never found out anything else regarding the stone after 8 hours of the ER without the waiting room throwing up on numerous occasions going through repetitive hot flashes and chills, and nausea with lower back and abdominal pain shifting from one to the other on numerous occasions and two different IV's along with pain killers, so i literally didnt get much info. and after reading other comments it seems like for as much  excruciating pain i was in and am still taking nausea meds, and codein pain medications they should have let me have more info on the condition.

[sanapekar]

Last week I had excruciating back pain that reminded me a lot of back labour (I've given birth twice) but instead of contracting and letting go, it grabbed hold for a few hours and wouldn't let go. My stone is 2.5mm and it took 3 days to go from back pain only to back and lower belly pain to just belly pain. I guess at this point it has moved into my bladder. It's been 6 days and it hasn't left my body yet. For women, a stone that size, would you feel it coming out? How long should it take and at what point if it hasn't should I go back to the Drs?

[jemma116]

When my stones were moving, I experienced all the symptoms you describe.  Even green gunge in the wee, sometimes just blood, sometimes diarrhea with sever vomitting and a high fever.  At its worst and on pethedine for the pain (with no relief), the pain was so severe that I was forced into sitting position whilst lying ill in bed.

I got to find out in March that I had a stone and the remains of the stone were surgically removed in August (this was 20 years ago) because of the above symptoms.  Ultrasound confirmed that it was stuck in the ureter and had to be removed urgently.  Luckily I have not experienced such a severe kidney stone problem since that time (and never want to go through that ever again).  But occasionally I have found very fine sand in the urine when I have caught it in a container.  I do this to analyse my urine when I feel ill and when I experience twinges in my back where the kidneys are).

I also make an effort to drink more water.

It was found that my stone was calcium based and I was told to avoid all dairy products as well as some fruit and veg.

There are 4 different types of kidney stones.  Unfortunately, once you have had kidney stones the chances of getting another one are much higher.

All the best

[SevenThunders]

Avoid dairy?  Bad advice with regards to stones.  If you take oxalates you need some calcium to bind them in your gut and not your urinary tract.  Instead pound water with lemon juice,  take magnesium citrate and potassium citrate,  vitamin B6, and K2 and green tea makes the stones softer.

[jemma116]

Thanks for your input on the vitamins to soften stones.
I will jot that down so that I remember for the next time.

I do not have any stones at present.
My stone was surgically removed 20 years ago, the thinking has probably changed since then.  But at that time, when my stone was analysed I was told to avoid all dairy produce, beetroot and strawberries. and other foods.

They also told me that I had too much calcium in my body at the time.

I do eat some dairy, but I am not a lover of cheese and do have milk in my tea or coffee.

I have been drinking a lot of water with fresh lemon juice and green tea with honey (for my bad throat), was taking magnesium up until 2 weeks ago.  

I have not had a solid stone since the time I had mine surgically removed, but do get a lot of sediment in the urine and feel unwell with urinary infections from time to time.  At this moment in time I am OK, but do know I have a small cyst in the kidney.   It does hurt occasionally probably when I have an infection.

What is pound water?  Do you mean drink a lot?  (I do)

Thanks for the tips.

Best wishes.

[hotmomma8]

Wow ,  thanks so much for everyones information. I am a 44 yr. old female,   I was caught off guard yesterday while walking to work.  I was overcome with severe pain on one side of my back and stomach area. It was very hot here yet I would get chills and was feeling like I needed to vomit.  Some dizziness and hard to even speak. I have given birth 9 times and would much rather do it 100 times more then go thru this pain,  it is relentless !   A friend drove me to ER and urine was taken immediately.  There was blood in urine.  Pain came in waves.  Got to the point that it was much more intense after urination. Doc did xrays and said that all symptoms point to kidney stone/s (which I have had in past)Doc called me a "stone former";) He could not see them ,  but apparently there are many different kinds and not all show up .  Drinking lots of H2O and praying that it passes into my wee fish net soon. I did not feel it when my first stone passed and it seemed large to me .  It was comparable to the eraser on the end of a pencil.  Doc thought it was amazing.    Having it checked at the lab will allow me to make changes to my diet and hopefully avoid this again !

[HFAMom]

I had pain all of a sudden a week ago-- managed to get to the ER (didn't want my son to come home from school to find me passed out!) and had the same hot flashes and cold sweats... couldn't sit, hurt to stand, couldn't fill out the paperwork but did remember my SS# and they had that on file so they found me... here's the kicker-- the CT scan showed a small stone way at the top of my kidney but it shouldn't have caused that much pain so the ER doc figured that it didn't have enough calcium to show up on the scan. They sent me home with pain meds and anti-inflammatory, told me to drink lots of fluids and take it easy. I was miserable non-stop for about 36 hours and then it started to subside. Now, It's a week later and I'm still getting shooting pains in my abdomen on the same side that don't last long but take my breath away... my lower back (same side) has started to ache again and I don't know what's going on. Did I pass one out of my kidney and now I'm working on another or maybe the first one broke and I'm dealing with the second piece...? Any ideas?

[jemma116]

Sorry to hear you are going this "traumatic" experience.  
Yes, I agree, it is much worse than labour, and my labour was pains were bad.

There are 4 common type of kidney stones:

Calcium - too much calcium in the body
Struvite - caused by frequent urinary infections
Cystine - these are usually hereditary and very rare
Uric - too much uric acid in the body

So when you get your stone analysed and know which type it is, you will be able to in most cases avoid getting another one again.

Which ever stone you have, it is important to keep well hydrated.  Drinking 2-3 litres of water is normally recommend, but you may be advised by your doctor or urologist to drink more.  And more so if you sweat a lot or workout.

Keep an eye out on any infections so that you will be able to medical help and an antibiotic to treat the infection.

Depending on which stone you have, they do not all show up on normal xray or scans.  Very small stones, like a grain of sand, will also not show up, but can cause a lot of pain.  Be prepared with pain relief medication, for when you start to feel your next painful episode.

Best wishes.

[mtmama4]

Had my first kidney stone this weekend. Was relaxing on the couch one minute, felt a weird twinge in my stomach the next, and then whammo... in bed, sweating fericiously, and writhing in pain. Within 20 minutes, I was begging my husband to rush me to the emergency room.  Crazy strong pains in my right side directly under my rib cage that ran down into my hip.  Once at the ER I was quickly moved in but made to sit in a wheelchair. BEGGING them to let me lay down. I mean BEGGING.  Finally got a little relief with morphine after blood scans. I literally thought I might die from the pain. Dripping sweat from every pore, legs shaking, and nearly hyperventalating from the pain. Never experienced anything like that.  Childbirth was far far easier to handle than this.  Went in for a CT scan. The iodine they rush into you is super weird.  Was beyond happy to find out that I would not need surgery when they told me it was a Kidney stone.  Pain subsided later that day to a 3 from a 10+ earlier in the morning, and now, 3 days later, gallons of water, and still no stone. Hoping that it has either passed without me knowing (crazy as I have been straining everything) or more pain to come. Anyone know if the pain is worse from the kidney to the ureter, ureter to bladder, or bladder through urethra?  UGH. Never, ever want this to happen EVER again. So excruciating.