PKD is a wierd disease. before my transplant and bilateral nephrectomy I would get infections from time to time that would send me to the hospital with pain and high fevers. at one time an internist was examining me and asked what was wrong. I answered "alien baby" because what was bothering me was raised and seemed to move. I wasn't trying to be funny because I was so sick, but the look on the doctor's face was amazing.
this only happened when there was an infection tho. the buzzing is something new.
hope you get some good answers.

That's actually funny because I call my cysts my alien babies all the time!

haha

It's not painful so I s'pose I won't worry about it.

Just wondered if I was going nuts or not haha

Can't say I've had the same sensation, but I guess if you have a cyst next to a vein that's also touching a nerve, you might be referring the vibration from the blood flow to the nerve. That's my best guess.

That or maybe they're hatching...

haha

Thank you guys

Humor is my best medicine

Jenn,
Are you getting severe pain when the kidneys are "vibrating", more so that your usual pain (I know you have a lot of pain to begin with)? If so, what you're probably experiencing is renal colic and your kidneys are actually quivering or spasming. It's incredibly painful and has been likened to a combination of childbirth, gallbladder inflammation and passing a kidney stone all at once. I've only experienced it a couple of times, the most noteable was when I had lithotripsy to break up a large kidney stone sitting in the renal pelvis of my left kidney. 1.5 hours of soundwaves slamming against the kidney brought on a 24-hour bought of colic, thankfully treated with something via an IV PCA (patient controlled anesthesia) pump (all I remember from the recovery room to 24 hours after was telling the nurse that I hurt repeatedly and them giving me something to push as soon as it started to hurt).

It's not the cysts moving per se (although they're part of your kidney); renal colic can happen to anyone (my brother-in-law just experienced it following lithotripsy for a kidney stone). It usually occurs following some form of trauma, but in our case, our kidneys are already a bit traumatized with the cysts (some more than others) and sometimes the pain can beget pain.

There's not much you can do other than treat the symptoms, heat, fluids, rest and pain relievers as needed. If there's any good news, renal colic is not damaging your kidneys; it's just causing pain.

Best wishes,
Ruth

PS I've named my kidneys, left one is Fred and the right one is Ethel. My liver is Oscar, just like the grouch in the garbage can on Sesame Street (big and definitely grouchy!). Why not name them? One doctor already called likened going through one of my CTs quickly to a psychedelic trip through wonderland, things look so strange! Alas, I had already named the organs, so I wasn't going back to rename them after Alice in Wonderland, although it does seem appropriate....

Hey, a while ago I had this weird feeling in my flank area. I didn't really know how to describe it at the time, but vibrating or quivering pretty much hits it. Yeah, it was pretty painful. It only happened a few times. But it was shortly after I was diagnosed, and I had received a CT with contrast. So maybe it was because of that. I never talked to a doctor about it though because it stopped and I figured that since I had just had all those tests done something would come up if something was wrong.

Now that I think of it though, doctors miss a lot and don't know the answers to a lot of things. I suppose that's why they say they "practice" medicine...

Hope you feel better.

Hi, DJ!

You might consider talking to your neph and asking him/her about renal colic as Ruth (ihavepkd) described.

After all, we don't want your "alien babies" to give you any more pain than you already have! :-)

Hang in there, DJ!
And keep writing!

Peace and Blessings!
CoachRIchie

Interesting to read your post, Jenn, and to see the replies. I sometimes have a strange kind of jumping feeling in one or other of my kidneys, almost like a kind of palpitation. I've always just thought it's another of the idiosyncrasies of PKD, without knowing what it is exactly. It's not painful, just a bit uncomfortable. The theories suggested here are all possible explanations. Who knows which is right. I won't worry about it. I'm only really bothered about pain and increasing girth. I think there's an elephant in there!

Take care,

Chewitt