Not a urologist, but we deal with similar issues in the bile duct. When it's a single stone, it is very easy to pop out because there's nothing else obstructing or limiting its dislodgement. However, when the bile duct is full of sludge and copious amounts of smaller stones, it's like trying to pull out a tube full of thick gravel or sand and extraction becomes a lot more tedious and prolonged. My guess is that it's just difficult for the gunk to move through your ureters because it's somewhat clogged up.
Why are small kidney stones worse than my larger one?Female, 38yrs old, bilateral nephrocalcinosis, no other health concerns and only medications are acute pain relief (30mg codeine & 500mg paracetamol combined tablets at 2 per dose, Tramadol 100mg, Diclofenac suppository 100mg, Buscopan 10mg). Currently in absolute agony.8 weeks ago I passed a 4mm stone that was exceptionally painful. Worse than my unmedicated child birth. That pain started around 7am but by 5pm I had passed the stone. It was horrific, more intense pain than I currently have but at least over in less than 12hrs.I had a CT scan and a follow up call from a urology nurse informed me I only had very small stones, described as like gravel left. No treatment or management plan - just a follow CT in a year.Which would be fine but for the past 2 days I have been in agony in my right kidney. Im on maximum doses of all my home pain relief and Im getting breakthrough pain every 2.5-3hrs.I would love to understand why this is more drawn out than my bigger stone? Im drinking large amounts of water to flush it/them out but Im not passing much urine at a time and theres a lot of blood in there too. I think I could cope better if I knew why this was taking longer or if I could work out just how long this was going to go on for. Urology nurse was very terse and basically just said Theyll pass without intervention. Just take your pain relief.Grateful for any insight/ideas x