Pain in the kidney-region.

[kristina]

Since my first kidney failure in 1971 I have been plagued
by bouts of pain and a feeling of coldness in the kidney region.
These episodes have sometimes continued for quite a considerable time.

I have never found an explanation,
and in the past no doctor has ever told me the cause for this pain,
in fact, I have been told that it is impossible to have kidney-pain,
and if there is pain in this region
it “must” come from somewhere else and not the kidneys.

The intensity of the pain varies, and the heavier the pain,
the more often I have to visit the bathroom,
because my kidneys seem to be working much harder at that particular time.
 
I also feel more hungry as my body feels it is working harder.

I have to rest a lot and I feel I have to keep the kidney-region warm.
(Hot water-bottles help, but I am not sure if it is good
to make that region so warm with hot water-bottles,
just as helpful is it to take a hot bath).

It is always most painful and discomforting in the morning after I wake up
and through the morning, after which the discomfort seems to get better slightly.

For example, yesterday and this morning I could hardly get up because of the pain.

This is a condition I have been experiencing on and off for the past 40 years. 
Of course, I have the other conditions of Lupus and MCTD,
that is apart from the chronic proliferative glomerulonephritis.

Has anyone any similar experience,
or has anyone any idea of what this might be?

Thanks from Kristina.

[jbeany]

Oh, I got the same line of BS when I was first diagnosed.  "Failing kidneys don't hurt."  Isn't that lovely - but mine do!  It felt like a knife being jabbed into me, or just hours of a burning sensation.  When I asked for help, they assumed I was drug seeking.  The doc finally gave me pain killers after figuring out I really was in pain.  To prove it, he walked to the cupboard behind me while I was sitting on the examining table, and when I wasn't looking at him, jabbed me in the kidney.  I damn near passed out from the pain.  (#$%@#$ doctor!)  I got pain meds finally after that.

Mine was connected to my hemoglobin levels.  The lower they were, the worse the pain was.  When they put me on epo and my hemoglobin got back up over 10, I rarely had symptoms unless I was overtired from a physically active day.

[*kana*]

Have they ever checked you for kidney stones?  Thats BS that you can't have kidney pain.  I had PKD kidneys and they would give me lots of pain. 

[kristina]

Thanks very much jbeany, for the information. 
I am very sorry that you were treated like that by the doctor,
it was quite unnecessary and sounds very, very brutal.

I am almost sure it is not the haemoglobin levels with me,
it might be something else.

Thank you very much for telling me about your kidney-pain,  jbeany and *kana*
it shows that there really can exist pain directly where the kidneys are.
Thanks again from Kristina.

Thanks *kana* for the information.
To my knowledge I have never had a doctor checking me for kidney-stones,
and they never mentioned kidney-stones at all.
More often than not they suggested another kidney-biopsy
which in my case is out of the question
because there were so many troubles with my first kidney-biopsy in 1972,
and I was warned against having another kidney-biopsy.

After my refusal to have another kidney-biopsy taken,
the nephrologists interest usually cooled significantly
and they did not investigate anything further.

Thanks again for your answers, Kristina.

[talker]

Well now, did a search using various terms and came up empty nada zero.
Manually found this old thread.
So, even if that Pink warning sign flashed up.................

Recall reading either here or another site, that feeling pain in the kidney area, indicates some still alive kidneys.

Not a severe hurt, only a mild awareness hurt.
Never experienced any hurt in that area previously.

So where it all winds up is will one day be my eye opener.

Like a long ago program, a Major Bowes (spelling ?) stated :
"Round and round she goes and where she stops, no one knows."

talker

[jeannea]

I'm not sure that pain in the kidney area means it is working. I often get pain where they took out my kidney, even 16 years later.

[talker]

I'm not sure that pain in the kidney area means it is working. I often get pain where they took out my kidney, even 16 years later.

Hello jeannea,
Believe it is called 'phantom pain', when experienced as you describe.
Wonder how prevalent pain of this sort is !
Thank you for the sharing.

talker

[kristina]

Hello again,

as it turned out, the pain in my kidney region was indeed a very painful kidney stone which finally "found its very painful way out" in the beginning of 2014.

Unfortunately, this kidney stone had caused lots of damage to my "two little fighters" and they became badly damaged and their function became "clogged-up" ...

It was very bad luck for me that the pain in my kidney region caused by this kidney stone was never taken seriously by medics

and not diagnosed and I had to endure all that terrible pain...

Kristina.

P.S. talker, I like your painting very much. Are you a painter by profession ?

[talker]

Hello again,

as it turned out, the pain in my kidney region was indeed a very painful kidney stone which finally "found its very painful way out" in the beginning of 2014.

Unfortunately, this kidney stone had caused lots of damage to my "two little fighters" and they became badly damaged and their function became "clogged-up" ...

It was very bad luck for me that the pain in my kidney region caused by this kidney stone was never taken seriously by medics

and not diagnosed and I had to endure all that terrible pain...

Kristina.

  P.S. talker, I like your painting very much. Are you a painter by profession ? 

Why thank you for even noticing.
No, not a oil painter pro at all.
Had watched aTV show years back, showing how it could be done by most anyone.
So I looked around the room and said ' sheesh, I'm anyone, and gave it a try'.
Roses were difficult. Many times I wiped the canvas board clean and restarted.
Take a look at my last Roses effort.

http://www.thetalker.org/archives/250/3-me-do-oils/

My kids went nuts over my oil paintings years later when they finally became aware of them.
Ah, that's another talker tale waiting for further expression.
talker

[kristina]

Thanks for sharing your painting of the roses,
they are very beautiful and I like them very much.
I agree with Mr. Alexander that roses are very difficult to paint
and often end up looking like "chocolate-boxes".
What I like about your roses is that they are "alive" and real
and I love their colour combination and how you have place them.
Thanks again from Kristina.

[talker]

Thanks for sharing your painting of the roses,
they are very beautiful and I like them very much.
I agree with Mr. Alexander that roses are very difficult to paint
and often end up looking like "chocolate-boxes".
What I like about your roses is that they are "alive" and real
and I love their colour combination and how you have place them.
Thanks again from Kristina.

Ah no, thank you.
Roses to me reflect the beauty in our lives, along with the thorns, that are the rough spots, teaching one to be careful on how handled.
I often use the Candle flame to reach what I call a 'quiet' spot in my mind when needed.
If you 'click' on a picture (on my blog) it will show a larger view of the painting.

talker

http://www.thetalker.org/archives/354/unfinished-art-stories/

http://www.thetalker.org/archives/305/11-woods-and-lake-by-talker/

http://www.thetalker.org/archives/84/4-the-talker/

[kristina]

Thank you for sharing more paintings with us.
The colours in the "Woods and Lake" are very calming.
Best wishes from Kristina.