How To Sleep With A Kidney Stent: Tips And Tricks - Healthline

Maybe your like

HealthlineSubscribe

Weight Management

How to Sleep With a Kidney Stent

Medically reviewed by Joseph Brito III, MD — Written by Rachel Nall, MSN, CRNA on January 8, 2021

Tips for sleeping
Best sleeping position
Restrictions
Symptoms
When to see a doctor
Takeaway

A doctor places a kidney stent, also called a ureteral stent, to keep urine flowing from the kidney to the bladder, usually after you have a kidney stone or some other obstruction.

While your doctor ideally places a kidney stent to help you feel better, an estimated 80 percent of people report stents are uncomfortable. This may be especially true when trying to sleep.

Fortunately, there are a lot of ways both you and your doctor can work to relieve stent-related discomfort. Keep reading to find out.

Tips for sleeping

Sleep is really important when you’re recovering from a ureteral stent placement. Your body needs time to heal and regain energy, so feeling comfortable for sleep is important.

Here are some methods you can use to improve your sleep with a stent.

Ask your doctor about alpha-blockers

Alpha-blockers are medications that help reduce ureteral stent pain. Examples of these medications include tamsulosin and alfuzosin.

These medications help reduce spasms in the ureters, which can cause cramping, and help keep the ureter open.

If you find you have cramping and discomfort related to your stent, ask your doctor about this medication option.

Common side effects of alpha-blockers include:

dizziness when standing up
stuffy nose
retrograde ejaculation (in males)

Also ask about anticholinergic medications

Anticholinergic medications are another alternative to alpha-blockers. These medications help reduce some post-stent placement symptoms, such as urinary frequency or urgency.

If these symptoms are keeping you up at night, talk with your doctor about these medication options. An example is solifenacin.

Anticholinergics are commonly used for other conditions like overactive bladder. Side effects may include dry mouth and constipation.

Emerging data raises concerns about anticholinergics and dementia risk, especially in people over 65. Talk with your doctor with the pros and cons for your specific case.

Take an over-the-counter pain reliever

Taking an over-the-counter pain reliever, such as ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) or acetaminophen (Tylenol), before going to bed may help reduce stent-related discomfort while you sleep.

Ibuprofen may be more effective for stent-related pain due to its combined pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory effects.

Ask your doctor before taking aspirin, however. It’s a natural blood thinner and could potentially increase your bleeding risks after stent placement.

Time your fluid intake

You’ll want to drink plenty of water after you have a stent placed. This will help you flush blood and urine through your kidneys.

However, drinking too much water close to bedtime can cause you to make several additional trips to the bathroom at night.

To address this concern, try to drink plenty of water during the day and start to taper off your intake after dinner. This can help reduce the urinary frequency and urgency you may experience at night.

Your goal will be to keep your urine pale yellow whenever possible. This color indicates that you’re hydrated.

Avoid exercise in the hours before bed

Physical activity and exercise can increase discomfort. Avoiding these activities before bed can help reduce discomfort.

This doesn’t mean you have to avoid physical activity altogether — just that you may wish to avoid physical activity in the hours before you go to bed.

What is the best sleeping position?

While doctors haven’t established a single best position for reducing stent-related discomfort when sleeping, there are some reports that people feel better sleeping on the opposite side where their stent is placed.

However, this isn’t backed up by research. You may have to try different sleeping positions to determine how you can get more comfortable.

Are there any restrictions?

Your doctor will let you know if you have any restrictions following urinary stent placement.

Typically, you can perform most activities, work, and even sexual activity with a stent in place, providing it doesn’t cause you great discomfort to do so.

There is one exception: when you have a stent with an extraction string. This is a special stent designed so you can remove the stent yourself after it’s been in place for a certain amount of time.

Stents with strings have a slightly higher rate of dislodgment. Avoid sexual activity while you have one in place to prevent dislodging the stent.

According to a 2015 study, people with stent strings also reported a bit more sleep disturbances than people who had stents without strings.

When you sleep, make sure the string is in a place where you can locate it easily. Sometimes, your doctor will tape the strings down to your leg or groin until you remove it.

What you might notice

Stent-related irritation can cause a lot of different symptoms including discomfort. Examples include:

visible blood in urine
flank or pelvic pain
incontinence, or loss of control over urine
pain when urinating
urinary frequency
urinary urgency

Ideally, these symptoms will subside within a few days after the stent placement when you’re more used to the stent’s presence.

If you have severe pain
While stents can cause discomfort, they shouldn’t result in severe pain. If over-the-counter or prescribed pain medications aren’t managing the pain well, call your doctor. Uncontrolled pain could indicate the stent isn’t in the correct place. Some people even report seeing the stent coming out when they have uncontrolled pain.

When to see a doctor

A urinary stent’s presence can increase the risks of a urinary tract infection (UTI). Call your doctor if you experience some of the following symptoms, as they can indicate you may have an infection:

large amounts of blood or blood clots in urine
burning sensation when urinating
temperature greater than 101.5°F (38.6°C)
malaise, or an overall sense of being unwell
pain that’s getting worse in your flank or pelvis
problems feeling like you can’t completely empty your bladder

Call the doctor that placed the stent if you’re having infection symptoms or are worried the stent has gone out of place.

The bottom line

Kidney stents can be an uncomfortable yet necessary intervention to help keep your kidneys working at their best. If you experience discomfort, over-the-counter or prescription medications may help address this.

Also, working to find the right sleeping position may lessen your discomfort as well.

If the pain starts to worsen instead of improving, notify your doctor. The stent may be in the wrong place.

Anticholinergic drug exposure and the risk of dementia: A nested case-control study

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Althaus A, et al. (2015). Rate of dislodgment of ureteral stents when using an extraction string after endoscopic urological surgery.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022534714051416
Coupland CAC, et al. (2019). Anticholinergic drug exposure and the risk of dementia: A nested case-control study.https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2736353
Fischer KM, et al. (2018). Ureteral stent discomfort and its management.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11934-018-0818-8
He F, et al. (2016). Efficacy of α-blocker in improving ureteral stent-related symptoms: A meta-analysis of both direct and indirect comparison.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4887076/
Lee FC, et al. (2017). Preoperative belladonna and opium suppository for ureteral stent pain: A randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study.https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0090429516304915?casa_token=OKrHKgRIax0AAAAA:0e2j4rj1njRwvcR6fSl_pVvH7beECiJlR5xRDNnyPUSdL9JVm9aIfOp2W4dGiUg9ZlMFbCDRTQ
Living with a ureteric stent. (2017).https://www.baus.org.uk/_userfiles/pages/files/Patients/Leaflets/Stent%20advice.pdf
Yavuz A, et al. (2020). Does tamsulosin or mirabegron improve ureteral stent‐related symptoms? A prospective placebo‐controlled study.https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/luts.12320

Share this article

Medically reviewed by Joseph Brito III, MD — Written by Rachel Nall, MSN, CRNA on January 8, 2021

Health Conditions

Condition Spotlight

Wellness Topics

Product Reviews

Featured Programs

Featured

Lessons

Newsletters

Lifestyle Quizzes

Health News

This Just In

Top Reads

Video Series

Find Your Bezzy Community

Follow us on social media