Does anyone ever experienced a very intense pain in the kidney area after taking azathioprine ?

[Achilleas]

[Thaddeus]

I wouldnt like to second guess your doctor, but for my money i would come off it immediately and seek medical advice.

Kidneys are not actually pain sensitive, and usually cause a back ache. Pain around that area, could be a number of things, but severe pain after taking your meds cannnot be a good sign.

[Achilleas]

i went last night to the A&E all my tests were ok - blood/urine/xrays but the area still fills sore. with painkillers is a lot better.

the thing is that the pain started thursday night - friday night a very intense 10-15 minutes of pain -felt like stabbing. i went to the A&E everything were ok but still today feels like something is wrong

[Hidden]

Hello I would stop taking the drug, give your Rheumatology nurse a ring as soon as possible, ask for advice. Hope you get some sensible advice.

[vonnyrad]

It is possible to feel pain in the kidneys, due to infection or stones, it can be a very severe pain(renal colic) and can come and go.I have had brief episodes of pain for no apparent reason, although I never really had pain while I was in renal failure, which might seem strange. As far as I am aware, Aza is metabolised in the liver, and you might perhaps expect symptoms related to the liver if anywhere, I don't think it's wise to suddenly stop your drugs ( except for a severe anaphylactic type reaction) without informing your doctor, in case of a relapse.If all your kidney tests are ok it might just be 'one of those things' and may never recur, but if it does you should seek further investigations.Worth mentioning to your consultant at the very least.

[Thaddeus in reply to vonnyrad]

Hello vonnyrad. Was you kidney failure lupus related? If you don mind me asking.

[vonnyrad in reply to Thaddeus]

Sorry for the delay in replying, not been so good, yes, my first awareness of having lupus was by being diagnosed with glomeruli nephritis , after a few years of back and forth to the doctor's with headaches, fatigue etc and being told it was 'stress'. When I was eventually tested for renal problems I had about 30% function left, my renal consultant would not commit himself then to any definite diagnosis as to the cause of the nephritis, but shortly after this I had a major flare involving my heart, lungs, joints etc and also haemolytic anaemia, so it was accepted that I definitely had lupus or something closely related.

I began treatment with high dose steroids and Aza but about 4 years later I had to start dialysis.I was extremely fortunate to go on to have a transplant and two healthy babies in two years, but a major flare after my second baby affected me really badly and I've struggled ever since, as much from the drugs as the disease.Fortunately, my transplant has never been affected by the lupus itself, but it is in decline now due to the immuno-suppressants affecting it- ironic, eh?

Hope that answers your question!

[Thaddeus in reply to vonnyrad]

A very thorough answer. Glad to hear that you got a transplant and that it is hold up despite you meds.

Transplantation is a subject dear to me, as I was donor to my ( now ex ) wife 10 years ago.

Be well.

[overnighthearingloss]

I previously suffered a scleroderma renal crisis without kidney pain. I used to get a sensation of something feeling a bit restricted but no pain. I still get the restrictiveness feeling but its just a sort of awareness, no pain.

[overnighthearingloss]

I am not on azathioprine these days, but was prior to the crisis. I dont think it was the best drug for me.

[Achilleas]

Thanks everyone for the replies. The pain i was feeling went all away on Sunday. As i mentioned i did blood/urine tests and xrays. Everything was ok. I will see my consultant this week and i will talk to him about this incident. I am still taking azathioprine so i dont know if it was actually the drug or not that caused the pain.

I will keep you all informed.

Thanks again

[Achilleas]

Just an update after seeing my consultant, i had again all the tests and showed nothing. He told me most likely this pain was kidney stone and if its shown up again I will need to have some tests related to that.