I have a perplexing dull ache in my back around the kidney area. It somes and goes. I'm on Celebrex for an unrelated problem. Heres the perplexing part:

Bloodwork is normal.
Urine is normal, no blood detected by tests.
KUB Xray is normal, no stones or abnormalities.
Ultrasound is normal, no stones or abnormalities.

Any suggestions? The pain is frustrating!

Trent

Hey Trent I have the exact same thing with my lower left back. I have done all those tests also and have found nothing wrong. I have a script for zoloft now but I am afraid to take it due to pain and other side effects of it. Do you know anything about zoloft? The doctors can't explain the pain I am having but I think I have stressed myself out because of it. Let me know how you are doing and if anything has helped you at all? Thanks for your help if you have the time to reply! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Hi,
Zoloft is an anti-depressant, it will not help with pain. Here is a page with info. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/sertralinesystemic202651.html

Thanks for the information about zoloft. I do have high stress and anxiety so it may help for that but I am still skeptical about it. I appreciate the help and I have still not decided to take it quite yet. I am looking into herbal remedies also. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Hi Trent,
I had pain for 10yrs off & on, doctors did blood, urine tests etc & found nothing. They put the pain I had in my left side down to exercising.
The pain was not from the exercises but the amount of water I consumed when exercising.
I was having an ultrasound done incase I had a cyst on my uterus. I was in pain, that day & the nurse asked, “had I ever had my kidneys checked”.
She immediately found, what the doctors hadn’t in 10 yrs. My right kidney was fine but my left kidney was blocked. As the urine was not flowing properly from the kidney, this was causing the pain. I was advised it was a PUJ obstruction, probably inherited from birth, (my siblings & offspring now need to be checked). I have 30% function of the left kidney & am soon going into hospital to have keyhole surgery & a stent to hopefully unblock the obstruction.
If this has not been found I was advised that I could get septicemia &/or eventually the kidney would die. If it was found 10yrs ago when I originally confronted the doctors with my pain, I might have a greater than 30% left kidney function.
Keep pestering your doctor, I suggest asking for an ultrasound, Zoloft might help kill the pain but in could be doing more damage than good.
Regards
Kathy

just a suggestion since it appears that your kidney work all came up negative for any real issues.if I were you I would request that your doc refer you for an MRI on the thorasic thru the lumbar area to see if there isn't some sort of a soft tissue problem going on inside the column or the cord itself.since you stated that you actually had an x ray of that particular area and no actual problems showed up from the outside look of your spinal column,its time to check inside.you could have something like a compressed nerve or stenosis or an actual cord issue.any of these issues,in the "right' area could be causing the type of pain you described.it all depends on what the possible problem is and how extensive it is.its worth a shot anyway if nothing else,it would rule this area out or in as the culprit thats causing your pain.

trust me when I say that you just never have a clue whats going on inside the spinal column till you actually take a good look inside of it.i had/have a cavernoma inside of my cord that I didn't know was there til I had to have an MRI done to try and determine which one of my discs was herniated.while they found the c 6-7 disc to be the one,right underneath it at the c 8 nerve level,was this little highlighted glob.

these are basically little globs of blood vessels that can form just about anywhere inside the body,but most of them are found inside of the brain,the brain stem and the spinal cord.there is also another more common vascular malformation called an AVM(arteriovenous malformation).these are,in most cases,congenital(meaning its been there since the day you were born)and for no real reason,just happen to form there.most people who have them dont even have a clue(like me) til they either bleed and start causing some sort of neuro symptoms or they just happen to have an MRI where they just see one there somewhere.this was my case.

don't want to freak you out here or anything,just giving you one very remote but highly possible,source of a spinal issue that could be going on.there are any number of possible things a person can have going on within the the spinal column that could cause pain.since nothing showed on your kidney tests,well it just makes sense to at least take a look inside there for any possible issues.an MRI would most likely show the source if this is where your pain is actually coming from.hopefully the source of your pain is not a real major issue and can be found and treated.but at any rate,don't let the docs start to just brush you off only because they cannot find your pain trigger.sometimes(unfortunetly) when a doc cannot actually find a source for something,they tend to try and make it all from something 'all in your head'.keep pushing it til you can get some answers.I do wish you luck and hope they can find out just what is causeing your pain really soon and then treat it so you can get on with your life.please keep me posted,Marcia

Kathy,

Did you actually have an u/s of your kidney, or did the doctor find that during the u/s of your uterus? I've been having lower back pain and left flank pain for quite some time now with no answer. I've had the MRI's of my spine and that's fine. I also had a cat scan of my abdomen and pelvis, and that was fine. Thanks for any help you can give.

schao