flank pain while sleeping

[teejax]

when i am laying on my side i have lower back pain and it feels like my kidneys.  It is flank pain on both side then i have a hard time getting out of bed.  Any suggestions

[SJMCRAE]

Hello.  I also have this horrible flank pain and it is only during sleep and waking from sleep, pain is so awful that its difficult to roll over and get out of bed. I am a 34 yr old female.  I have had numerous tests and nothing has been found.  It feels like it is exactly coming from my kidneys and radiating around the front stomach area under both ribs.  My doctor is at his whits end and has recommended that I see a chiro and seek out pain management or nerve block.  There has got to be some reason for this pain.  Can you take a deep breath upon waking b/c I cannot until I stand and move around for about 10-20 minutes, then I'm fine for the rest of the day.  This is very mysterious as I have had MRI, CAT scan, bladder functioning tests, pulomonary testing, lower lumbar xrays etc with no explanations.  I know there is a reason for this, I used to be able to sleep 12-14 hours and now can only sleep 5-6.  Even tried anti-inflammatory prescriptions which have not helped...taking pain meds before bed and still wake up in excrutiating pain.  I hope you have found some kind of answers as I have not.  God Bless.

[JaneZ7]

I have the same mysterious pain. I haven't had any tests done. Just haven't had the time. I pretty much just tried to research and rule out some things like kidney problems etc. I am kind of thinking it is a muscle problem though. I actually had this problem about 6 years ago for a few weeks and this week it has returned so I have been going over activities that could have "set it off".  

The first time it happened I had two little ones in diapers I was lifting and carrying, now I help move patients. Another similarity is both houses had tile floors so I don't sit on floor and stretch in the morning like I always did on my floors that were carpeted (or maybe tile floor is more jarring on my joints?).

I know it took me over a year to put it together that any time I wore high heeled dress shoes, I would have upper back and neck pain for several days.

One other thing I noticed in my case is sleeping later actually seemed to make it worse. When I sleep a whole 8-10 hrs, I wake up in pain. If I set an alarm for 5 hours, it is more of a stiffness.

Good luck finding an explanation or cause & please post back if you find out something. I know the pain is unbearable. For the first time in my life I am looking into pain meds. (I didn't even use them for having my babies!!!) I just have to find something that won't affect my mind or make me tired.
Best Wishes J

[Mary220]

Hi,  I too have this mysterous flank pain on my left side.  I have had a CT scan of kidneys, gallbladder, liver.  All came back o.k.  This has been going on for 3 months.  Dr. running bloodwork now.  I know how frustrated you probably are.  I not only have it while lying down but thoughout the day.  When I take a deep breath there is pain.  When you apply pressure there doesn't seem to be pain anywhere particular.  I'm interested in what you find out.  My Dr. is also referring me to a Gasterologist (sp).  Though I did have a colonoscopy 2 years ago.  My mom just passed away of Colon Cancer so it's always at the back of my mind.  I will keep you posted to what my dr. finds and perhaps it could help you too.

[Paula10]

I have that, I think it is just some kind of muscle spasm, only a guess.

[stardust1956]

I also have had this problem and had every test under the sun and was told a couple of weeks ago by a neurosurgeon that it is a "idiopathic neuropathy" and I would just have to deal with it.He was very rude to me and was not the Dr. I was suppose to see so I called the office manager and told her about his attitude,she set me up with the original Dr. I was suppose to have an appt. to see. 2 days later I saw him and he wants me to have a bone scan to rule out possible cancer along with some other suggested test. I agree with you all that something has to be causing this other than an unknown cause.I toss and turn all night and some nights I have to sleep in my recliner. If anyone gets a diagnosis please post it..  Good Luck to all

[therealbill]

Fibromyalgia maybe IN YOUR CASE.  My daughter who is 15 has the same problems and we are going to a lot of specialists and running out of options - we are finishing up right now with CARDIO examine. CARDIO says things look good but we are doing stress and other tests to see how that goes.  We even looked at LUPUS, MS, LYME, NEUOLOGIST -- you name it.

It is appearing to be FIBROMYALGIA OR BIG CELL ARTHRITIS... Sleeping a lot won't help as the pain will get worse, yes indeed, but if you get deep REM sleep you will see a difference and antidepressants can help, like Zolof (believe it or not) but it does help with the pain.

My daughter is beside herself and after years of hard work is looking at dropping out of VARSITY BASKETBALL having been picked up as a freshman. Her deam come true as she wanted to play for NC state. She's worked many years, on her own,  getting scholarships to basketball camps etc. MOM and I never tell her what to do but I do try to get her to take it easy as she pushes for perfection. She just made the school athletic HONOR ROLL but she appears to be burning out but won't give up!  Sad thing is watching her back go out. Its bad enough in the morning to wake up in pain but by the end of the day she has sever problems sometimes she comes home from basketball, layes on the floor and litterally cries in pain.  NO END TO IT.

The Doctor swears, if she can get deep REM sleep, many of the symtoms can be controlled. Long term, god knows.

[Leo33991]

Hi ,This is just a thought I am a massage therapist who has many people come in with the same low back complaint . I reccomend you seeing a good LMT and getting a deep tissue massage in the lower back and also have them work on your QL.(quadratus lumboratum)
and all your glute muscles. This can be very painful but it seems to be the only things that works for my clients. The only thing is to get rid of the pain you must figure out what the repetative motion is that your doing to cause this pain to re occur. once you find this out and see a LMT as often as you can afford you should be sleeping much better

[momof3littleboys]

I have been having this type of back pain as mentioned...it is progressively getting worse. I have a history of endometriosis so at this point that is where I'm starting. It can be on your back and even bowels and cause this kind of pain. I also have tailbone pain which puzzles me as well. I have a feeling this is the start of a long process to figure out what is going on.

[GMoore]

I  have had this same pain for many years.  Just like the other my doctor could not find out what it was.  He then prescribed Arthrotec and it has almost completely removed the pain when I sleep.  I am happy the pain is gone but hope not to be on medication for the rest of my life.
Last week I noticed that sleeping on a med soft mattress had also worked.  I forgot the medication and slept on the med soft mattress with also no pain!  Looking back I think it was the mattress that caused the pain.  
I am going to buy a new mattess.  I will let you know if it works.

[dake2kirsten1]

I also have this problem. I thought I was the only one. It is awful! It feels like your kidneys are on fire and and everytime you take a breath, it hurts deeply! Someone please help! I have had so many tests that came out clear?? It hurts every time I wake up. I had a kidney reflux surgery when I was 12, I am now 22 and I am still in pain. Is it scar tissue? Am I going to have this forever. If anyone has answers please post! I will be in debt to you!

[lizkell]

I started having this pain 22 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child. I thought it was due to the pregnancy. Well, all these years later, I still have it. It is sometimes worse than others. But always the worst when I accidently fall asleep on my back!  I've tried being mindful of beverage intake before bed thinking that might make a difference. No luck! As many of you stated, you can't breathe or roll out of bed sometimes due to the excruciating pain!
I too have seen Dr.’s and run the gamete of tests and still no answers! And it seems to be getting worse as I am growing older!
I do have to say, I feel relieved to find so many other people on this website with the same issue. Sorry to tell you, changing mattresses didn’t help either.
I will continue to check back frequently to see if ANY ONE can come up with a solution!

[Rainypm]

Hi all,

I've been suffering from this type of morning back pain for close to 20 years.  Sometimes it's worse than other times (right now it's really bad), but I can't remember not having it.  I decided to start a message board on Yahoo groups so maybe we can have more of a discussion between people and come up with our own solution.  Please stop by if you want to help solve this!

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/**************

Thanks!  
-Ellisa

[suspentch1]

At this Time I am getting very fired up. I am a motorcycle rider and thought that it was compressed verts. But, now after having kidney scans test mri's cancer test, and every therapy and stretch and flex under the sun. Whats weird is some days are worse than others. I go to sleep and I wake in the middle of the night feeling like I am bent in half for days and every effort to straighten or un-kink seems to hurt. (But i am not bent at all)Its like sitting on your knees for 2 hours and then trying to straighten and just start jumping around except worse. It feels like knives that are stuck in vertebrates. I try to move and stretch them away and it just flat aches. I am going to get some spinal tapping stuff done. Spinal cyst, checks. When I stand while trying to talk to someone, i find that I can barely take the pain. I must either stay moving or sit. I cant lean forward while sitting, things just feel wrong. I don't have any issues diagnosed as of yet, but i will figure it out. if you find anything out, send me an email ***@****
Pete

[lowerbackowie]

I have the same thing. Really feels like it is the kidneys or some kind of organs in that area. It hurts pretty much only to mostly when I'm sleeping/trying to sleep. If I wake in the middle of the night, it really hurts when I try to take a deep breath. I've had all sorts of tests done- Xrays, blood tests including for cancer, bladder infection, kidney infection, etc. All negative. Recently I have noticed that if i drink more water and try to clean out my intestines, it doesn't feel so bad. I know this sounds gross, but sometimes I think there might just be gas stuck in there, because if I try and relax and let as much out as possible and go to the bathroom if possible, I sleep with no problems. Try taking all natural colon cleansers and clean your system out, or for quick relief, use some kind of laxative and get everything out of your colon. I think maybe there's something stuck in there! Let me know if it works for you because I really think I'm onto something and all these doctors don't have a clue.

[dude516]

I solved my problem and had very similar symptoms with no answers form the docs and specialists. This may help some of you so here it goes: I started taking a blood pressure med (HTCZ or something like that a year ago.  The name is not as important as reading the side effects ( a mile long for some of these meds).  Well, I stopped taking meds 2 weeks ago (FIRST CONSULT YOUR DOC ON HOW TO SLOOOWWWLLY GET OFF THE MED SO YOU DON'T STROKE OUT!) and the pain went away.  That and a new mattress seemed to do the trick.  My doc said that if I needed to get back on a BP med, there are many choices and there are BP meds that do not have this side effect.  Again my med just happened to be for BP, but it's worth taking a look at the possible side effects of anything you take.  I believe that the docs did not catch this side effect cause it's rare plus there are so many meds out there, he'd have to memorize all of the side effects for all of them to be able to know...anyway, some times it pays to do a little research yourself, just don't scare yourself too much by looking on the internet for hours like I did, verify stuff with the docs who went to school for this stuff.

[RRR1974]

i have all these symptoms also. my doc is testing for uti infection in which case antibiotics might be the answer ..... hopefully.

[briso7]

I'm relieved there are so many of you like me. Sorry if that sound sadistic but I was getting really worried. Doctors keep telling me it's muscular. My exact symptoms are alternating left & right pain under the rib cage in the front with usually followed later in the day back pain in the left & right flank / & back kidney area. It's not severe but getting worse by the week. Ive a shitload of blood tests gone off to the lab for analysis. Im hoping they come back clear.

God bless you all,

B

[VegRibs]

Hy everyone, I am amazed as to see how many others are going through my same pain.  I do not feel alone anymore.  I have been having this pain for the last 3-4 years.  I did get breast implants about two years ago, that may probably have worsened it, but still, I have always had this pain in my ribs, while sleeping and waking up.  Its like SJMCRAE says on her post, to take that first deep breath in the morning is dreadful...right?  But, I feel better now knowing you all are out there for support and very useful information! :)  have a great weekend!

[sandlawman]

I have been going through this for a month. The description "I go to sleep and I wake in the middle of the night feeling like I am bent in half for days and every effort to straighten or un-kink seems to hurt. (But i am not bent at all)Its like sitting on your knees for 2 hours and then trying to straighten and just start jumping around except worse. It feels like knives that are stuck in vertebrates" is spot on. I also get the knife pain in my sides and the the pain often radiates around my ribs towards the center of my chest. Have had cardio and gastro and all other tests for internal problems the docs can think of. All conclude it is muscular. The biggest problem aside from the pain is the lack of sleep. I sleep maybe 3-4 hours at a time and awake with this pain. As it takes 2-3 hours for the pain to calm down with ice and heat treatment, I am simply not getting enough sleep.

I do take DiovanHCT for blood pressure control and have been on it for 6 years. This pain started a month ago after lifting a heavy object so I do not think it is the side effect of the med.  

[KristinStellaH]

I too have the same issue... It's been going on for quite some time now, about 5, maybe more, years.  I will go to bed for the night, but before I do so, I relieve myself by urinating.  Most of the time, I will wake up with this pain.  It's a deep throbbing pain, and it hurts to breathe.  I will get up, urinate, and when I lay back down, the pain will either be mild, or completely gone.  It's exactly where my kidneys are located.
I mentioned this to my GYNO and he said that it could be endometriosis, however; I have absolutely NO other symptoms, and apparently, men suffer from it too!  Apparently, he hasn't had other patients complain about it.  I seriously thought I was the only one.  My BF wants me to "get checked out", but I feel FINE otherwise.  Granted, I urinate often, but I've ALWAYS been like that.  
When I started on the pill, it went away for awhile, and I also noticed, that if I am in bed alone, it doesnt hurt as much, if at all.  Maybe stretching out, and having more room in bed is a must for all of us.

Has anyone received a diagnosis yet???  

[hannah608]

Hiya. I have the sorta same problem, everytime I go to sleep and wake up in the morning I have a nasty pain in n my lower back under my rib cage, it feels like my kidneys are in such pain. I've researched kidney infections and I don't have any of the symptoms that have been said, I don't know what it is. But I'm only 16 so it surely can't be that serious...can it?ow

[sab302]

I have this pain only after i have been asleep for a while its on my left side if i sleep on my left side its on my right side if i sleep on my right side i feel like the pain is my kidneys but i was thinking if i had a kidney problem it would hurt all the times not just when i am sleeping. I think the pain is not as bad if i dont eat much for that day. I have tried getting a new mattress but that didnt help does anyone have any answers

[valleyangel]

I go to a message therapist and chiropractor and feel like I am 20 instead of 50 when I leave there, but when I go to sleep at night, that will usually do me in again with shoulder and upper back pain.  I did have whiplash 2 times and think that this may be the cause-if not any ideas? Lorraine

[jgnz721]

Well my symptoms are all similar on my left side. I have seen all sorts of drs. My chiropractor thinks is a knot in my rib cage. My GI Dr has done an upper endoscopy an ultrasound of my abdomen and my kidney area and all came back clear. Know they are starting to question my mental stability. The pain is always there. I'm on paxil and xanax to try to calm my nerves. My urine looks like dark beer early in the morning. I also have very little appetite and have lost 30 lbs since thanksgiving. I have been really depressed I can't work and spend a lot of my time in bed which probably makes the problem worse. I'm going to schedule another deep tissue massage. I'm in bad shape if anyone has any ideas please share. I'm at my wits end and feel like giving up sometimes.