Hi all.
Been woken tonight by a massive pain in the left kidney area followed by a racing heart.
It's been paining on and off during the day for some time now and correlates with how I've been feeling. Something is not right here.
Does anybody know of the best place to organise an ultrasound privately please? I don't know if my GP would organise and dread to think how long it would be.
Many thanks for any assistance.
Ask your GP for the 2 week fast track because you could have kidney stones. I had them 20 years ago it took me 3 days to pass them the pain was worse than childbirth Or it could be the Adrenal gland that sit on top of your kidney. That could explain your raised heart rate
That level of pain should get prompt action from your GP. Push to see a GP ASAP. Surely no need for a private ultrasound.
Thanks both - will keep you posted 🙏
Took a trip to A&E in the end. After some blood tests they sent me home with painkillers as apparently all is well.
In their defense, I'm still alive 🤣, and it's eased back to 'normal'.
I'll try the GP today and ask for a scan if I can get in. I'm also going for medicheck thyroid blood work this morning too so maybe that will offer some clues/insight when the results come back. (Also waiting on some adrenal blood work results, but this is estimated for 2nd Feb)
I am pleased you are still alive and kicking!
Same old story everything is normal. I had a thyroid storm and collapsed and my blood result was a normal TSH 0.58! So why did I collapse with a high heart rate, blood pressure was through the roof and I was sweating and shaking. A frightening experience but Doctors said no further investigations. So here I am 5 years later hoping it doesn’t happen again.
Ah thanks Lora7again!
Oh wow that experience sounds terrible 😱 - can I ask how you know it was a thyroid storm? I've not heard of that before, but I have had an episode like you describe a year or two ago (again... All 'normal').
I googled the symptoms
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyro...
That is terrifying reading 😱
I know it was terrifying. I told them I thought I was dying they had to hold me down to insert a drip and heart monitor pads
😥 I really hope that doesn't happen to you again!
Woke up at 3:06am today (so better than the previous two nights). The back pain replaced with random stabbing abdominal pains today, just to mix things up a bit I assume 🤣
Could really do with a full night's sleep... Any tips anyone bar the usual obvious sleep hygiene? I've tried a lot, not convinced I can outwit the cortisol rhythm if that is what's my problem.
I think you need a kidney scan just in case there are some stones in there. If the stones get stuck it will be a medical emergency. The pain will be indescribable as well
could you contact your local private clinic about a kidney scan? I have used The spires healthcare in the past
Yeah I've made a couple of enquiries while waiting... A Spire hospital got back with a 'guide' price starting at £375... Too costly for me at the moment despite the necessity.
There's one called 'Fairfield' which seems more reasonable, but they're not as quick responding so still waiting on that one.
Would need a referral letter from GP either way, or pay an additional £120 to see one of their GPs to get that first.
Like others i'm sure, i'm weighing up everything and trying to prioritise the little money I have available to get the testing most likely to give clues on ways forward. It's an expensive game 💸
So no scan/ultrasound done in A&E? From what we see on TV and news, A&E is overwhelmed as never before. Keep your wits about you. Sure, it could be muscular (I have had some crackers of pain due to that) but maybe it’s not!
As tests go, ultrasound is cheap, non invasive etc. Kidney stone pain can come and go. Small can be passed without any sense of it happening. Bigger with pain and suddenly you feel ok because you have passed it successfully etc etc. Others not so much. Drink plenty of water to help pass small stones - just in case this is the problem. Often there is a mix of stone sizes.
If it’s muscular, ice packs alternating with hot water bottles can be very effective.
And of course there could be other reasons for what’s going on.
Good luck but keep complaining if necessary.
Solid advice there, really appreciate it. I was in a&E with a similar problem a month ago, had blood in the urine so they CTd me. '7mm focal mass, probable granuloma' was on the report. Nobody is overly worried about it Inc a&E docs and GP.
Biggest clue I've got is a low cortisol number, high ferretin, otherwise a whole mass of tests within range pretty much. Top suspects in my eyes; adrenal problem, hemochromatosis causing issues unexpectedly or heart failure. I don't quite fit the symptom / sign profile for either to be fair though, so it's still a puzzle.
Have you had a kidney function blood test panel? Urine analysis test? I had right flank pain in area of kidney. A slightly high albumin level was found in the urine and the glomerular filtration rate was on the low side (blood test). I was sent for a kidney ultrasound by GP and that happened within two weeks. That was July time last year.
The ultrasound came back totally normal and I asked the radiologist if that meant all was well. He said, not necessarily. Gross anatomical features look fine but the ultrasound doesn't show finer details or functioning of the kidney. Basically, it rules out obvious structural issues, eg stones.
Since being on Levothyroxine the instances of right flank ache/pain have diminished and I haven't had any for a while now. Fingers crossed. Hope any of that story helps!
Ah it really does, thank you. To be honest, just interacting on here with like minded, caring people helps a lot because I don't want to worry my wife or kids too much so I try to keep a lid on it.
Your story is useful because yes my albumin is up there (48... top of range is 50) but the gFr is good by the looks of things (>90). I've never even had thyroid on the radar until stumbling upon this useful forum, and I'm actually sitting at the clinic now waiting for my appt to get my blood taken for a medichecks thyroid panel. Some nasty abdominal pains while I wait too. I'm bored of it all at this point, so frustrating.
However, I will find the answer 💪
Good luck 🤞 There's a lot about my search for what was wrong with me (undiagnosed thyroid issues) in my biog on here. It might help.
Ah thanks Agitator23... I read through your story. I'm so glad that you managed to get a diagnosis after such a long time. I'm assuming it's really improved your quality of life?
Game changer. Nearly every symptom has resolved or got better. Even the symptoms doctors said were not due to thyroid...
Thyroid ultrasound scan 
Ultrasound 
Obtaining NDT privately?
