kidney stones or something else?

[rbeachem]

Background info: I am a 30 year old female with no history of kidney issues. I had several UTI's as a child, but none since elementary school. I am overweight, have hypothyroidism, and PCOS.

For a little over a year, i have been experiencing what I thought was just an anxiety symptom. I will urinate and then, by the time I have wiped and am pulling my pants up, I feel like I have to go again, but nothing comes out (maybe a drop or two). I do this up to 3 times. This doesn't happen all the time, but usually about 1x day. In the fall, I began having intermittent pains in my left side that I can only describe as similar to a stitch in your side that you get after running. It is either under my left rib or behind my ribs on the left side. This would happen 1-2 x month. I was evaluated by my family doc in November and he thought it was a muscle strain. 10 days ago, I began having these "episodes" all day. My side would have a dull ache all day and would be a sharp pain any time I took a deep breath or laughed. Out of the 10 days, 7 were pretty bad and the others were less so. The last day that it was really bad was on Monday. The doctor found microscopic hematuria and I have what he described as a lump that he can feel in my back below the ribcage. It hurts when he pressed there and in front under my ribs. He sent me for a CT scan to check for kidney stones and this came back normal and no signs of infection were found in the urine. I am supposed to go back in a week for another urinalysis to check for blood. Since I saw the doctor, I have been passing white pieces of tissue in my urine intermittently. These range in size from a speck to about the size of a dime. They are white, except for one was pink and white. I am not on my period, but it is due in the next week or so. However, I have never passed tissue on my period except for on the day it starts and it is usually gray and red in color. The past two days, I have had some lightheadedness and fatigue. I have also gotten short of breath when doing housework (putting away dishes and laundry).

My question is, should I ask for a referral to a urologist? Could there be something wrong with my kidneys that would not show up on the CT scan or urinalysis?

Thank you for your help.

[Dr Santos]

Hi,
Good luck on your next appointment.  Don't forget to increase you fluid intake and urinate frequently. Avoid citrus juices, coffee, alcohol and soft drinks with caffeine. Take care and keep us posted.

[rbeachem]

Just an update - the sharp left rib pain has returned with increased severity. I am no longer passing tissue, but I still have blood in my urine. I saw my family doc today and he referred me to a urologist. I see him next week. He feels like I either have a kidney stone that was undetected by the CT scan or some other type of infection/inflammation of the kidneys.

Thanks again for the help.

[rbeachem]

The tissue is little wispy pieces of white. Some are very small about the size of a pinhead. Some are bigger with a thicker looking center and trailing pieces, almost like a flower or snowflake. When I urinated today, there were tons of little pieces in it. It looked like when you're stirring sugar into a glass of water (floating every where) and one bigger piece that sank to the bottom of the toilet bowl.  I have not had any blood tests. I was found to be borderline anemic several months ago after a particularly heavy period, but my doc felt that it was situational and has not followed up on it yet (i was dizzy, short of breath at the time - much more severe than I am now).  I will ask him for a referral to a gynecologist when I go in for the urinalysis again on Wednesday.

Thank you for your help.

[Dr Santos]

How are you? Can you elaborate more on the tissue in your urine? Was there any blood tests done to check for kidney function or anemia? It is good that your ct scan and urine analysis came out normal.  It is also advisable to visit your gynecologist to rule out other pathologies.
Take care and keep us posted.

[rbeachem]

I forgot that I am also experiencing mild back pain and I have begun to have pain on my right side in the rib area and right side of my back. This pain does not increase with a deep breath, but is intermittent.

Thanks.