Lower back pain only in morning

[SJMCRAE]

I wake every morning with horrible pain in lower back (kidney area) that radiates to the front of stomach (rib area).  I have had battery of tests and found nothing.  I am only able to sleep 5-6 hours before pain wakes me, also unable to take a deep breath until I get out of bed (very painful just to roll over), once I stand and get out of bed the pain almost immediately starts to ease.  After about 20 minutes of walking around and after first morning void, pain disappears for remainder of day.
Could this be a pinched nerve or nerve compression?  Had MRI of lower lumbar which showed normal...chiro recommends stretching excersises, something serious has to be wrong with this kind of pain.  If anyone has any ideas it would be GREATLY appreciated!!

[gue5t]

A holistic approach is taken to relieve persistent backache and neck pain. London based chiropractors take into consideration the complete lifestyle of the patient, allowing for a more successful treatment of individual conditions and establishing a long term therapy that actually works instead of quick fixes.

[AngieWind]

Just a hunch, as I had the same thing... mine was a rib out of place from an injury.  I had a chiro work to release the muscles that had grown around the damaged (out of place) rib, and I now use yoga daily to keep my muscles long and flexible, and keep my posture proper.  I also still visit a chiro frequently to keep the ribs in place.

[Rainypm]

It's so inspiring to hear that some of you have found relief from the pain through stretching.  I'm going to start working on my PSOAS tomorrow, I'm so excited to try that!

I did find something else that works for me 100% of the time:  Sleeping in a recliner.  I can sleep 12 hours straight in a recliner and wake up with no pain.  My husband puts up with it because he knows how miserable I am when I'm in extreme pain after yet another night of only 5 hours of sleep.  I suspect it's because the recliner changes the weight distribution on my back and shifts it into my hips and butt.

I tried to recreate a similar situation in my bed and partially succeeded.  I find that if I sleep with the upper half of my body elevated on a foam wedge and if I stay on my left side, I am mostly pain free after 7-8 hours of sleep.  I can't manage much more time than that before I start to hurt though, and when it starts it comes on quickly.  

It might seem like a hassle to change how you sleep, but it's well worth it if you can get a few more hours of sleep.

I'm off to go research stretching!

[PrayBelieveReceive]

It seems that there are a number of causes and subtle differences to this morning waking with pain syndrome
1  Musculoskeletal
2  Kidney
3  Arthritic
The symptoms may sound the same but there are subtle differences and therefore bespoke solutions.  The thing for everyone in this thread is to see which one relates to you. What are the precursors to your pain, what causes relief, what exacerbates it.
With musculoskeletal (muscle and bone interaction and dysfunction) the stretching, new bedding, etc will be effective.
With Kidney - none of you note what colour your urine is when it is worse - try the lemon and lime before sleeping or another solution would be to eat melons during the day and plenty of water, cut down on the coffee, aim for a very pale colour urine.  As the pain goes away after passing urine, then there has to be a relation to the kidney/bladder.
Arthritic changes (Ankylosing Spondylitis) in the body can only be relieved through seeking the help of the GP.
And finally there is the gut. Are you a windy person? Do you find that turning onto your left side produces a gaseous release and a relief of the pain in which case charcoal tablets could be the solution.
As there seems to be a lot of people who are getting investigations and no relief from health professionals, we need to self diagnose and look at what makes the pain go away for you and what the true source of the pain is.
For me waking up at 4 every morning with the pain means I haven't had enough water to drink and my kidneys are complaining, the dark urine is a big signpost.  The pain is always relieved by passing urine and waiting a while.  I don't drink coffee or alcohol and am slack on the amount of water that I drink. So when the pains begin again I buy a 2lt bottle of water and drink one a day for a week, on top of what I usually drink, for a week to flush my kidneys.  It works for me.  The summer is not the only time when we should remain hydrated.  Stand in the cold for a while and your will find that you soon want to urinate as your blood goes from your skin (hence you feel cold) and migrates to the internal organs. So make sure you keep hydrated over the winter months too.
One serious concern is the Big C.  If you start passing blood in your pooh, or in your urine, if there is a change in your bowel habits ( more often, loose and more frequent ( look up the symptoms)) get it checked out sooner rather than later.

[geo8100]

Let me describe this as exactly as I can so maybe someone can help me figure out what it is and the cause of it.  Ok I wake up too early every morning with my lower back/kidney area (both sides) burning so bad that I cannot possibly sleep any longer.  I know that it is gas build up that lingers in that area when in the horizontal position for too long because I'm always flatchulant after I get out of bed and whenever I pass gas the burning pain feels better.  Also once I get out of bed and in an upright position the pain starts to subside.  I do not over exert myself at all ever so it has nothing to do with that.  Does anyone have any ideas because I too have had all the tests done and everything is always negative and the doctors don't seem to know anything about it.

[BumBack74]

Oh my, how all your stories describe me to a T. The main difference is I have had herniated disc surgery on my neck, still have 2 buldging discs and a genetic fusion in my neck that gives me enough problems on its own. I also have a buldging disc near my tailbone, another genetic fusion near my tailbone, been diagnosed with DDD and Facet disorder. I can't move my legs, really any thing from mid rib cage down without extreme, excruciating pain after about 30-45 minutes of laying in bed. Generally and more often than not I can only sleep about 4 hours if that, before I'm awaken when I attempt to reposition myself. The pain brings me to full attention, I'm wide awake at that point and just simply ease out of bed and start my day on the couch and on a heating bad until my medicine takes over the pain away enough that I'm able to function.  The other night I fell asleep downstairs in my recliner in a sitting position. In the morning, I felt much better then I usually do. I've been living with this only about 4-5 years but it feels like a lifetime. I'm not even 40 yrs old so this is all a bit much for my psyche at times. What I can offer is this, I too have had pain injections or nerve blocks in my lower back. It took about 2 months after the first round to start feeling results. But my surgeon forewarned me that some people have to go through 2-3 rounds of the 3 round injections before relief is given. So don't give up on the injections. We have a dual comfort bed. One side is harder than the other. Once I flip our bed and take my turn on the softer side, my back gets a million times worse. Unfortunately my husband has back issues as well so we take turns with the firm side. I am on pain meds, a mixture of Morphin and Norco with a chaser of Savella. The Savella is supposed to help with my Fibromyalsia and after a 3 week trial, so far it has helped more than anything else has with the exception of the sample of Cymbalta which worked wonders. Cymbta also assists with skeletal pain. Unfortunately I have to be suffering with psychological issues before my insurance (Prescription Coverage portion) company with consider paying for it. Because you do know, that these POS insurance companies know better than my body and the specialists they are paying very well to diagnose and treat me.   Anyway, hang in there. Make sure you have a compitent physician well aware of the pain your in so they can treat it the best they can and keep an eye on it especially the DDD and Facet. Both get progressively worse and I'm being told that basically I am just on borrowed time before I will require lumbar surgery. Now granted everyone is at a different stage and so not everyone is where I am at or ever will be. Try placing a board under your mattress if you don't have a firm sleeping surface. You'll get used to it over time and it truly does help. I've also noticed sleeping on my side with either a body pillow or regular pillow between your legs offers a noticeable amount of relief.  I'm can only theorize that the pillow keeps your spine in a straightened more relaxed position?  If your on pain meds try to take them 30 mi before getting out of bed. I've also been told that a strong core and back is also key. Unfortunately, because of the array of issues I have to limit my exorcise tremendously. I am looking into a water aerobics class. And most of all, keep telling yourself and believe that you are stronger than the pain you experience. Otherwise it can wear you down and affect other aspects of your life. Good luck to everyone. You are definitely not alone.