Hi all,

Has anyone ever had a kidney stone? I've always heard they were extremely painful. Is there such a thing as a mild kidney stone? I have extreme pain on my left side kidney area. It seems to be radiating from there around to the front. It's painful, but not what I've heard as a true kidney stone. It's very painful, it's severe burning radiating pain. Anyone have any ideas?

I would go to the doctor, but, the last time I went, man...I'm still paying for the lab results that I was charged. I really can't afford to go right now. I'm drinking water now, and have to go and get some cranberry juice. I'm just curious if anyone else has ever experienced this.

a ;) :eek:

Yes, I've had the experience.

There are several chemicals that I watch out for, the most caustic is artificial sweetener! And if I consume them I have tremendous kidney and sometimes (depending on the chemical) liver pain. My pain doc is fond of telling me that kidneys and livers don't 'hurt' when they are having problems functioning, but from my point of view HE'S WRONG. And my GP takes a different stand. She checks my liver function about every other month because of the pain meds and other meds I'm on. So far I've managed to stay within acceptable ranges, but I'm out there near the limits. I've found that with all the meds that I take, my kidney and liver are very irritable and can be flared up with very little consumption of foods or chemicals that are a problem. For example, if I have a single swallow of a diet soda, I will be bent over in pain that shoots straight through my left side within 10 minutes!!!

So if you honestly can't get in to see your doc, I might recommend calling him or her and explaining the cost issue and asking their opinion. Maybe they'll give you the liver and kidney tests without charging you for an office visit which would help some. But in the mean time, take a look at your diet and try to figure out what you are consuming that might be hard on your kidneys, and try eliminating that from your diet for awhile and see what happens.

Hope this helps,
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Domnakita