Anyone ever had kidney stones? Or other kidney issues?
I have had back flank pain almost constantly for about 8 months. It gets way worse but never goes away. Last weekend it got really bad and I spent a lot of time in bed using a heating pad in attempt to ease it (sometimes it seems to help?) I knew eventually I would end up at the dr for it, but I hate the dr. Plus my regular dr recently left the practice and she was great. Ugh.
Well I went in and the dr said we start by treating me for a kidney infection. They did initial blood and urine testing that showed indication of an infection. Then likely a scan of some sort as she feels sure I will still have the pain as do I. The medicine is making me barfy (dr office said it might and I should be resting...ugh..I need to be working!) now I have pain in the sort of bladder area. Ouchy bad pain and I gotta pee non stop and that hurts a bit. I did not have these last symptoms yesterday!
If it were a kidney stone going on now wouldn't this be excruciating? I am not there, but it gets a tich worse as the day goes on. Could it be something starting moving around in there? If it were a stone how long does it take? I already can't seem to work..can't stand upright and the antibiotics are making me barf and I am exhausted! I am an awful patient!
Any experience or words of advice? Thanks Mamas!
ETA...my teenage daughter ended up in the ER twice over Easter weekend for a kidney infection, but she had severe belly pain, high fever, etc. totally different than my persistent flank pain for so long, etc. think I am gonna close my daycare again tomorrow, and call the doc in the morning. I did get a prescription of Vicodin when I got the antibiotic, but I hate taking any of that and certainly can't take it when I work with children. Guess I will tonight and see how it goes. I had being the patient. Getting older stinks! Don't do it!
Did you have an ultrasound? They can see kidney stones in the kidney with an ultrasound.
I'm so sorry - this sounds awful. Please ask for more tests - you gotta find out what this is!
Dawn
I have had a kidney stone and the pain is excruciating. I had lower flank pain and the pain was so bad that I could barely function. I had a CAT scan and they found a small stone. I was on heavy duty pain killers and finally passed it after a few weeks. The stone was not large enough to break up with sound waves. I did vomit when I first started having the pain because it was so intense.
The nurse at the hospital told me that the pain is just like having an 8 pound baby. I disagree, it is worse than having a baby pain. The pain I felt while having my daughter was mild compared to kidney stone pain.
First, I am so sorry you are going through this, whatever it is, bladder infection or kidney infection/stones.
I have had both kidney stones and bladder infections. Both of which have made me cry. Kidney stones started out as back pain, and then grew to a horrible pain which felt like it was in my side. What was strange about this pain was that it would come and go--- ramp up and get really bad for ten minutes or so, and then be fine for a while, then come on strong again.
Feeling barfy might be the meds, and it might be the kidneys. Some family members have thrown up because of kidney stone pain. Ask your doc if there's some anti-nausea drug you can take, because they are out there.
I know you need to be working, but do what they say and rest. Otherwise, it's likely that you will be on bedrest in the hospital. This has happened to more than one person I have known. Trust me, resting at home in bed costs a lot less money!
Lastly, do not take AZO or any other OTC pain relief until you've given them another urine sample. (Actually, call your doc tomorrow on this one, they may already have what they need from you.) So very, very sorry you are going through this.
If you had a kidney infection, you would be extremely ill. High fever, chills,
etc. Where is your pain. Kidney stone pain can come and go so that is a
possibility. Possible bladder infection showing its ugly head today whereas
yesterday when you saw doc it was just beginning. Go back to doc if not
better.
If you're not taking the antibiotic with food try doing that.
I have had flank pain for 18 years. After the first five years, I was finally diagnosed with polycystic kidney disease and told that there was nothing that could be done for me. Just this past November, it got so bad that every movement was close to agonizing... but then again, the pain had never gone away, so I soldiered on. My mother-in-law found a website for those with kidney issues, and it talked about a rather specific diet that could help.
I tried, willing to do anything to make the pain subside. Now, for the first time in 18 years, I don't think about my kidneys.
Of course I can't remember the name of the website, and the printed sheets are in my kitchen, but the biggest things I cut out were gluten and dairy. I have never had any reactions to them, but taking them out of my diet has worked wonders.
When my husband was going through his kidney stone issues, he was given a prescription for an anti-nausea. It really helped. He was able to work, but only by sheer will. If you can rest completely for a few days, that would be best.
Wow! 8 months is a long time to be in pain.
I think I would have gone in after 2 weeks.
I hope waiting so long did not allow more damage to develop.
The thing about kidney stones is, once you start making them, you tend to keep making them unless you stick with what ever you have to do to keep flair ups to a minimum.
Work closely with your doctor to get through this.
And then keep monitoring the situation so at the first sign of a problem you can head off the worst of it happening again.
I've had several kidney stones. The flank pain is caused by the stone moving through the ureter down to the bladder. It can last for some time depending on how large the stone is and how quickly its moving. If you're having pain in the bladder area, I suspect the stone has made it down the ureter and is now in your bladder preparing to come out. That's a different kind of pain . . .and for me, less intense than the flank pain. I usually experience sharp bursts of pain in my crotch area when the stone gets ready to pass out of my bladder. Usually, once the sharp pains in the bladder area start, the stone passes within a day or so . . at least that's how mine have behaved.
Drink as much water as you can. The more fluid you get moving through there, the quicker it will go. And as silly as this sounds, I had more relief from a few Excedrin than I ever did with the narcotic pain killers.
Hang in there . . stones suck but it does sound like you may be passing yours soon. Did your doctor give you a strainer to use when you go to the bathroom? When I first started passing stones, I had to collect them in the strainer so they could be tested to determine what type of stones I had.
