Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Support Group

hi Chewitt, pain on your lower left side could be diverticulosis, small pockets in the bowel wall that can get inflamed and cause pain.
if so, the best way to deal with it is to increase the fiber in your diet.
try to eat more whole grains, fresh fruits (apples,pears are great and in season), green leafy veggies, beans etc. as a regular part of your diet.
is this associated with PKD? not necessarily, more part of a not so great, fast food, low fiber diet.
the bad part is in kidney failure (which may not be where you are), lots of the foods that will help diverticulosis are high in potassium and phosphorous. a renal diet leaves much to be desired in staying healthy and its difficult to get enough fiber on a renal diet. apples are allowed tho so dig in.

I agree with Helen, this sounds like diverticuli. Drinking more fluids can help as well. And you may find that some Gas-X (simethicone products designed to help breakup large gas bubbles in your system) may help as well. Long before everything was all compressed inside me, I used to get severe pains in my lower left quadrant. About all that worked was warm fluids, Gas-X and about 30 minutes of laying down. I'm a wiggler by nature, so I tend to move all the time, even when sitting, and I fing that constantly wiggling and jiggling helps keep the pain at bay.

From a PKD perspective, at most it could be your left kidney pressing a bit on your colon, but I'm defintely leaning towards diverticuli. In either case, there's not much you can do but follow a good diet, high in fiber if you can (start slow and work up to 25-30 grams of fiber per day if your kidney function allows). And drink plenty of fluids (again, as your diet permits). The fluids really do make a difference.

IBS isn't a static syndrome; the symtoms can vary and the location of the pain and the type of irritation can change. Stress also plays a strong role; mine is infinitely worse when my stress levels are high and virtually goes away on those rare occasions my stress levels are low. Same with the diverticuli (which have only recently started to show up on scans; but the pain has been there for years and years).

I hope some of these suggestions help.
Ruth

Hi there, I too have constant pain on my lower left side. It was so severe at one point I had to go to hospital with it. I had two ct scans done, one with dye, one without.

They were looking for diverticulosis and did not find it. My doctor diagnosed me with IBD. The next time I went for ultrasound I discussed this with my tech and asked her what she was looking at as she went over painful areas.

My lower left pain causes me the same pain as does your. Walking, bending, sitting, standing. So as this tech is running the device over me it is easy for me to know my pain areas. Every spot she touched that hurt I asked her what was there. And every spot she touched was my kidney.

My kidney reaches down into my abdominal area and the lower lobe is close to my belly button. I was grateful to this tech for sharing information with me. It allowed me to discuss my pain issues more knowledgeably with my family doctor.

My family doctor had previously told me that there was no way I was feeling kidney pain in this area and that there was no way my kidneys would reach down below my rib cage. It was very validating for me to be able to finally state with confidence that yes my kidneys are in these areas. It was at this point I finally was able to get the pain medication I so badly needed.

Ironically my dr had told me that he was familiar with PKD and had a close friend who had it. He also had said he had done a stint with nephrology for five years at one time. You can imagine the self doubt I was experiencing as I told him but it really feels like kidney pain. He made no bones about telling me it could not be.

Once I spoke with the ultrasound tech I felt such relief and self validation. Maybe your doctor could send you for an ultrasound? And actually look at the results, which usually do not mention exactly where the kidney is sitting. I know my reports just give measurement and the size of the largest cysts. Good luck Kelley

Never ignore the pain as it could be something important like a bladder or kidney infection. Sometimes the pain will appear to go away but that is because infection is moving from bladder to kidneys. Hope you get things straightened out. Lin.

I asked the doctor whether the problem could be diverticulosis, but she dismissed the idea. She listed all the things it might be from - ovaries etc (which I already know), and a check for UTI was negative,so the blame goes to IBS. I eat a very high fiber diet, with loads of fresh fruit and veg, wholemeal bread, porridge, no sugary snacks, low fat, low salt etc, so it would be hard to modify in terms of improving bowel function. The idea that my kidneys could be that low down had crossed my mind, but I didn't know if that was likely. I suspect my original squashed organs theory is quite likely, perhaps along with IBS, but I just wanted to check. She won't agree to an ultrasound, not yet anyway (budgets to think of), so I'll see how it goes.

Thanks for all your comments.

I too try to have a high fiber diet, but diverticuli occurs with PKD whether we eat right or not. It's just cysts on your intestine, like everywhere else. I have never had any symptoms, but sure enough, when I had my colonoscopy done, there were diverticuli. Fortunately, I don't think I've ever had any pain from them. I don't know how old you are, but if you're over 50, you're due for a colonoscopy anyway, to screen for cancer. I also have pain in the area of the L kidney when I need to have a BM, I think that area of my body is getting very crowded :)

wish i had better news but.... i have had pain in my left side since the 70s, low and usually to the side or back. It moves around some but never when it is currently hurting, IE sometimes it hurts and then it won't for a while but when it starts hurting it is always in the same spot till it quits again.
If i am currently in a physically active mode (like my bike ridding now) the endorphins released by my brain usually make it manageable however i get a script of hydrocodone renewed once a year (30 pills this time cos i had some left over from the 40 it had been) for the times when i need a break from it. Doesn't really get rid of it but diminishes the pain enough to again make it manageable.
Learned a while ago that i might have the pain for the rest of my life and have been managing it since, don't know what i would do if i couldn't be active cos i don't like the pain pills.

i have had this before to and my doctor said that it should go away in four to eight days andit took 15 days