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Hello all,
I'll give a little background.. lupus, crohn's & ankylosing spondylitis are all present in my family. I developed an allergy to life in general around March of last year - during a time of some of the highest stress I've ever been under. Had dermatographism, hives on the outside (and inside!) of my entire body, went into anaphylactic shock 3 times & had to have ER treatment. Eyes swelling shut, tongue itching constantly, was diagnosed with asthma (which I'd NEVER had) and after being tested for every common food in the American diet, I showed as allergic (3+) to every single one of them. The skin allergy test pretty much turned my back into one indistinguishable hive. The allergist was at a loss and I was pretty much told to subsist on rice & water (just about the only things I could eat!). Oh, and don't breathe bc I was highly allergic to every single tree & type of dust/mold that exists.
I went to a naturopath who suggested I go on a type of cleanse eating only kefir & berries for a while. It worked. She felt my gut was out of balance & it had microscopic tears, allowing my food to enter my blood stream which was of course causing my body to attack it. Within about two months, I was able to eat regular foods again, the "asthma" (my lungs were inflamed & filled w fluid from leaking mast cells) subsided, and I was pretty much back to normal. About two months later in August of last year, I developed a terrible kidney infection. The urine WBC count came back as TNTC (Too Numerous To Count) and I had terrible right-side flank pain. Kidney infection. A CT scan revealed a tiny 1mm stone, as well.
The kidney infection resolved with IV meds but the right-side pain did not. It has stayed with me ever since. There are times when it goes away for a half a day but it's present every day. I thought it was from the stone, and maybe my kidney would just be "angry" for the rest of my life from the infection. Last month, in late June, I thought I might be getting another UTI. I thought I'd let it go a few days and drink cranberry juice, as sometimes before my period I get really uncomfortable weird symptoms related to peeing and they always go away. Waiting didn't work, and about two days later I developed a fever and worsening pain. By the evening, the fever was so high I wasn't thinking straight, but the pain was so bad I couldn't move or be touched. It felt like labor. Not in the vaginal area, but my entire torso was contracting & spasming. It wasn't one-sided either, it was my entire back, stomach, from ribs to hips. I had to get up to pee a few times and while there was some blood in my urine, there was no more or different pain associating with peeing, than there was when I was just sitting there trying not to die. It was unbearable & my boyfriend tried to talk me to going to the ER but I was in too much pain to move. I remember thinking "if I wake up in the morning, I'll go to the ER then..." (I think the pain & fever had me a little delerious bc that is a STUPID thought!). When I finally fell asleep/passed out, I woke up the next morning and felt FINE. F.I.N.E. .. the usual kidney ache, a bit of blood in the urine, but fever was gone, and excruciating pain was gone. I thought I was in the twilight zone!
I went to Urgent Care that evening, because I was still feeling the "usual" UTI symptoms - urgency, uncomfortable, burning, etc. Plus, the whole episode was just so strange and I wanted to know what happened. Knowing I had a kidney stone, they thought I'd had a kidney stone attack. The pain I felt is called Renal Colic, and a dip test showed a UTI so they put me on antibiotics and had me follow up w a urologist.
That leads me to now.. a CT scan showed the kidney stone has grown to 3mm and hasn't moved AT ALL since last August. Plus it's so tiny, I would likely not have much pain at all when it passes anyway. With the other symptoms I've had for a year (right flank pain, I can't make it 2hrs without peeing, pain that is much worse if I have even 1 drink of alcohol or don't stay over-hydrated) he did the cystoscopy (OWWWW) and is nearly positive I have IC. I had strong bladder pain just from the procedure with the camera, and spasming pains for the rest of the day. I'm going in for the inflation procedure under anesthesia on 22 Aug, but I have all the symptoms.
My question now is, when you have IC can it cause an "attack" such as the symptoms I had last month? The only time I've felt pain like that was during natural childbirth, and it was every bit as bad, if not worse. I mean, how could I have had a kidney stone attack (which happens when one dislodges and either moves or gets passed) if the kidney stone hasn't budged?? Over the next week or so after that horrible attack, the burning, urgency, aching (esp in the morning, my kidneys ache the worst first thing in the mornings) subsided to their usual, more manageable levels.
Also, the opening on the r-side of my bladder leading to my kidney is more like a "long slit" than a "tiny hole" as the urologist put it. So, it's constantly backwashing into the R kidney, which is was created the stone. This is the side that always aches. Do you know if the r-sided aching (the left hurts sometimes too, but it's a different ache than the right) is related to IC or to the urine backwash thing? And, are kidney stones more common in IC? I'm only 29 -- pretty young to have a stone at all.
Thanks, and I guess I'll be around :-\
-Ivy
I'll give a little background.. lupus, crohn's & ankylosing spondylitis are all present in my family. I developed an allergy to life in general around March of last year - during a time of some of the highest stress I've ever been under. Had dermatographism, hives on the outside (and inside!) of my entire body, went into anaphylactic shock 3 times & had to have ER treatment. Eyes swelling shut, tongue itching constantly, was diagnosed with asthma (which I'd NEVER had) and after being tested for every common food in the American diet, I showed as allergic (3+) to every single one of them. The skin allergy test pretty much turned my back into one indistinguishable hive. The allergist was at a loss and I was pretty much told to subsist on rice & water (just about the only things I could eat!). Oh, and don't breathe bc I was highly allergic to every single tree & type of dust/mold that exists.
I went to a naturopath who suggested I go on a type of cleanse eating only kefir & berries for a while. It worked. She felt my gut was out of balance & it had microscopic tears, allowing my food to enter my blood stream which was of course causing my body to attack it. Within about two months, I was able to eat regular foods again, the "asthma" (my lungs were inflamed & filled w fluid from leaking mast cells) subsided, and I was pretty much back to normal. About two months later in August of last year, I developed a terrible kidney infection. The urine WBC count came back as TNTC (Too Numerous To Count) and I had terrible right-side flank pain. Kidney infection. A CT scan revealed a tiny 1mm stone, as well.
The kidney infection resolved with IV meds but the right-side pain did not. It has stayed with me ever since. There are times when it goes away for a half a day but it's present every day. I thought it was from the stone, and maybe my kidney would just be "angry" for the rest of my life from the infection. Last month, in late June, I thought I might be getting another UTI. I thought I'd let it go a few days and drink cranberry juice, as sometimes before my period I get really uncomfortable weird symptoms related to peeing and they always go away. Waiting didn't work, and about two days later I developed a fever and worsening pain. By the evening, the fever was so high I wasn't thinking straight, but the pain was so bad I couldn't move or be touched. It felt like labor. Not in the vaginal area, but my entire torso was contracting & spasming. It wasn't one-sided either, it was my entire back, stomach, from ribs to hips. I had to get up to pee a few times and while there was some blood in my urine, there was no more or different pain associating with peeing, than there was when I was just sitting there trying not to die. It was unbearable & my boyfriend tried to talk me to going to the ER but I was in too much pain to move. I remember thinking "if I wake up in the morning, I'll go to the ER then..." (I think the pain & fever had me a little delerious bc that is a STUPID thought!). When I finally fell asleep/passed out, I woke up the next morning and felt FINE. F.I.N.E. .. the usual kidney ache, a bit of blood in the urine, but fever was gone, and excruciating pain was gone. I thought I was in the twilight zone!
I went to Urgent Care that evening, because I was still feeling the "usual" UTI symptoms - urgency, uncomfortable, burning, etc. Plus, the whole episode was just so strange and I wanted to know what happened. Knowing I had a kidney stone, they thought I'd had a kidney stone attack. The pain I felt is called Renal Colic, and a dip test showed a UTI so they put me on antibiotics and had me follow up w a urologist.
That leads me to now.. a CT scan showed the kidney stone has grown to 3mm and hasn't moved AT ALL since last August. Plus it's so tiny, I would likely not have much pain at all when it passes anyway. With the other symptoms I've had for a year (right flank pain, I can't make it 2hrs without peeing, pain that is much worse if I have even 1 drink of alcohol or don't stay over-hydrated) he did the cystoscopy (OWWWW) and is nearly positive I have IC. I had strong bladder pain just from the procedure with the camera, and spasming pains for the rest of the day. I'm going in for the inflation procedure under anesthesia on 22 Aug, but I have all the symptoms.
My question now is, when you have IC can it cause an "attack" such as the symptoms I had last month? The only time I've felt pain like that was during natural childbirth, and it was every bit as bad, if not worse. I mean, how could I have had a kidney stone attack (which happens when one dislodges and either moves or gets passed) if the kidney stone hasn't budged?? Over the next week or so after that horrible attack, the burning, urgency, aching (esp in the morning, my kidneys ache the worst first thing in the mornings) subsided to their usual, more manageable levels.
Also, the opening on the r-side of my bladder leading to my kidney is more like a "long slit" than a "tiny hole" as the urologist put it. So, it's constantly backwashing into the R kidney, which is was created the stone. This is the side that always aches. Do you know if the r-sided aching (the left hurts sometimes too, but it's a different ache than the right) is related to IC or to the urine backwash thing? And, are kidney stones more common in IC? I'm only 29 -- pretty young to have a stone at all.
Thanks, and I guess I'll be around :-\
-Ivy
are with you all. May you all find a way to peace and joy in your lives.
NOT looking forward to another. Every time I get pain in my stomach I feel panic, wondering if it will be a stone. The the pain from those darn things can sneak up on you at the least expected times.
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