May have kidney disease and feeling terrified

[Lexi1008]

I recently went to the doctor because of feeling constantly dizzy with some nausea and some shakiness. My blood test were fine but my urine show a high amount of white blood cells. He said i needed a urine culture and seemed concerned when I told him I had no other symptoms of an UTI. Also I told him that over a year ago when I was pregnant they routinely found white blood cells in my urine with no bacteria but never did anything about it. I have also had chronic flank pain on my right side on and off for over two year. I have frequent urination at night and feel like I can't completely empty my bladder. The doctor said I have to do a urine culture and see my GYN to rule out any infection before he'll send me to a urologist. Although he did not bring up kidney disease I believe that is what he was thinking and I am terrirfied. I'm 32 years old with an 8 year old and an almost 1 year old daughters. The thought of leaving them or being to sick to take care of them is so frightening that I can't even function right now. I know I should try to stay optomistic but I can't help it and I'm really angry because I had been to the er and to see another doctor about the flank pain and they never checked my kidneys. My uncle is awaiting a transplant but I think his kidney problems were cost by diabetes and one grandfather died of some kidney problem before I was born so I don't know all the details, the other grandfather had kidney stones that got infected leading to double heart attacks that killed him. I just really needed to vent and any words of encouragement would be very appreciated right now. God bless those of you who are living with this disease. You are very courageous.

[Beth Witten MSW ACSW]

Having worked as a social worker with people who have kidney disease for many years, I can understand your concern and even fear, especially in light of family members who have kidney disease. It's good that you are persistent about your health. People with a family history of kidney disease are at greater risk and should let their doctors know about this family history and ask for kidney disease screening when they have routine physicals. See http://www.nkdep.nih.gov/ for information from the National Kidney Disease Program.

Flank pain accompanies kidney problems, but it can also be a sign of cystitis, a urinary tract infection, as can frequent urination. You say your doctor did blood tests. Did he/she ask for a creatinine or BUN? You say that your doctor found white blood cells in your urine. Did he/she find blood or microscopic amounts of protein? Seeing a GYN is a good idea to rule out a GYN infection. Getting a urine culture can let the doctor know if you have a bacteria and what drug it is sensitive to that could clear it up. Women are at greater risk than men for cystitis just because of the way our bodies are made. If you're sexually active, bacteria may be entering your urinary tract during intercourse which is explains why it's often called "honeymoon cystitis."

Here are some things you might be interested in reading:
-- On urine tests:
http://www.webmd.com/hw/health_guide_atoz/hw6580.asp
-- On urine cultures:
http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/urine_culture/test.html
-- On urinary tract infections:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000521.htm
http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/conditions/uti.html
http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=116 (urinary tract infections)
http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=81 (interstitial cystitis)

-- On kidney disease and treatment
http://www.kidneyschool.org (multiple topics)
http://labtestsonline.org/understanding/conditions/kidney-2.html
http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=118 (signs & symptoms)

[DoriSchatell]

Lexi1008 wrote:

My blood test were fine but my urine show a high amount of white blood cells.

Lexi, it's very unlikely that any problems with your kidneys could be serious at this point if your blood tests were "fine." There is a calculator on-line that you can use to check the level that your kidneys are filtering, at http://www.kidney.org/professionals/kdoqi/gfr_calculator.cfm. I suspect that if you plug in your serum creatinine level (this should be one of the blood tests you have done), you will find out that your glomerular filtration rate, or GFR (level of filtering) is within the normal range.

The real question is, if kidney failure is not causing your persistent symptoms, what is? Dizziness, nausea, and shakiness are non-specific symptoms that could be related to a lot of different medical problems--and we are NOT doctors, here. If you had blood tests done, I assume they included a fasting blood sugar level to rule out diabetes?

Nausea, in particular, can be a side effect of a number of prescription drugs, or the result of an allergy--usually to a food. You might learn more if you keep a symptom diary:
-- What time of day do your symptoms occur, perhaps on a scale of 1-10 throughout the day? How do the symptoms relate to your mealtimes?
-- Does anything make the symptoms better? Worse?
-- Are all of the symptoms always together, or do some get better or worse independent of the others?

What sort of diet do you normally eat? A diet that is heavy in low-fiber carbohydrates (white bread, white rice, potatoes, sugar or sugary sodas, fast food...) can cause your body to put out a lot of insulin, which will then make your blood sugar drop an hour or so after you eat. This can leave you feeling shaky, dizzy, and possibly nauseous. But this is just one possibility among many.