Apologies, this is long. (No pun intended.)
So, a week ago - Monday morning, about 12:30AM - I was sitting at the computer, and I leaned forward, and noticed a peculiar sensation. Slightly painful. It felt like there was a tiny pineapple stuck in my urethra. Surprised, I immediately leaned back.
I am, however, a compulsive when it comes to investigating such things (it is very fortunate for me that ‘If you pick at it, it will never heal’ is not literally true) - so I leaned forward again, trying to find the angle, getting a feel for exactly what the sensation was, how intense the discomfort was. Shifted my seating angle, et cetera.
I concluded that there was something, likely a kidney stone, in my urethra. A quick trip to google suggested that stone passage is facilitated by water, so I had some water, and awaited the usual results. With the urine, came blood.
Now, I have some mild hypochondriac tendencies, so I knew I wouldn’t get a good night’s sleep until I had this run by a medical professional. So I drove myself to the ER. A good night’s sleep wasn’t in the cards, as it turned out - I didn’t get out of the ER until after 4AM, though they didn’t seem particularly busy…
They took my temperature, did urinalysis, and a CT scan. They said they was no sign of a UTI, nor signs of other stones in my kidneys or bladder, so whatever it was had passed. They said I should follow up with my doctor in a few days.
So over the course of last week, the blood (mostly clots, except for a tiny discharge after the morning pee) became less pronounced, and I last saw any sign of it Friday morning. Friday evening, I went to my general physician and had another urinalysis, and he went over the CT Scan results with me more specifically. There was no blood in my urine that they could detect, and he concurred with my thought - I had a stone, it passed, and it did some damage on the way out. (Probably because of my efforts in trying to figure out what the hell it was, no doubt.)
So. One week from the initial injury, one symptom remains. A burning sensation when I pee - sometimes. Actually, it almost exclusively happens with the first urination of the day. I understand that’s when the urine is most concentrated and acidic, so what I assume is happening is that the urine is irritating the freshly-healed inside of my urethra. What I’d like to know, from the fine medical minds of the SDMB, is how long I can expect that to continue, because that sucks.
I have considered the possibility that there’s a follow-on UTI, but no fever, no flank pain, no unusual smell, no discoloration in the urine - I am watchful for any of these symptoms and would certainly head back to the doctor for antibiotics if they cropped up. Plus the urinalysis was clean as of Friday.
So, how long till I can go back to peeing without wondering if its going to sting?
