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Daily aches... a new normal

Years ago during long car rides I would feel a dull crampy ache right along my waist on the left side. I would stretch in my seat, thinking that I'd been immobile for too long. Sometimes the ache would go away, other times it would seem to persist. Luckily it wasn't painful. It was actually... just annoying.

At that point in my life, I knew that I had Polycystic Kidney Disease - I would eventually find out that pretty much everyone on my mother's side of the family tree had it as well - but I never really connected that sporadic driving discomfort with the disease.

1 + 1 = 2

I finally put it together.

That infrequent achy feeling is now a persistent resident in my life. I wake up with it. I sit with it. I walk with it. I drive with it. I still try to stretch it away but I know it's futile.

This, my friends, is PKD flank pain.

Sources say that this chronic ache/pain can be caused by:

  • the outer lining of the kidney being stretched (i.e. cysts are growing)
  • an enlarged kidney pressing on surrounding organs/tissues (i.e. it's outgrowing its space)
  • changes in posture due to large kidney (slouching while driving?)
  • other (things no one understands yet)


I consider myself fortunate. I have yet to experience the sharp pangs of pain that are so often associated with the disease. And up to this point, it's more of a discomfort than anything else. So I'm not even treating it with Tylenol (the only drug I/we can use).

Regardless, chronic pain and discomfort can affect your quality of life. It can cause anxiety, depression, insomnia, financial strain due to lost work and stress on family and other relationships. So in addition to managing the pain, it's also necessary to manage its effect on your life.

Take care of you.
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