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no other symptoms except...

For about 3 months I have had a mild discomfort in the area of my kidney on the left side.  It started  mid October but was mid to late November before I associated the discomfort with something other than what thought might be a pulled a muscle in my lower back.  I'm pretty good at listening to my body and it finally seemed to say "kidney infection"  .  I don't have insurance and money is extremely tight, so instead of what I knew would be a $200 trip to doc in a box and a prescription for antibiotics, I chose an otc urine test strip.  It showed leukocytes but no nitrates.  I am a 51 year old woman, excellent health, peri-menopausal and have had no period during this time.
Since I have had no urinary frequency, no fever, no other symptoms, I decided to try the natural-path route.
I began treatment with oil of oregeno capsules, garlic capsules, cranberry tablets and lots of water.  This has been about 4 weeks and the discomfort has gone away, but yesterday's strip test still showed leukocytes but not as deep a purple color as previously, but still purple on the strip.
When I press on the area of my mid-lower back where the pain was, it is slightly tender but nothing like it was previously.
I still have no other symptoms and feel fine.
I wonder if I might have a kidney stone that has moved in to the ureter and lodged, and is perhaps small enough to not cause further discomfort.  
I think it's odd for just the leukocytes and no nitrates for this length of time.
Please advise.
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4851940 tn?1515694593
Hi Molisser

Your husband is definitely right there.  Does he know what type of stones he passed?  I certainly do not want to go through that again - the pain was worse than giving birth (had a really painful one with my second child and nearly gave up pushing - only when I heard that the baby's head was turning blue that I shocked me into "action").

You can also look at the colour of your urine.  If the urine is cloudy than can be a sign of a uti.  Dark coloured urine can mean that you are either dehydrated, have had some food like beetroot, or can be an indication of blood.

Other lower left side pain in us women can be from ovaries or womb.

Best wishes
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Avatar universal
WOW!  So much amazing information!  Thank you!  I have had none of the discomfort you talk about.  My husband has passed kidney stones before and says I will DEFINITELY know it if it starts to move.

Will stay the course.
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4851940 tn?1515694593
Sorry to hear that you have been feeling unwell in the kidney area.

You have done the right thing in increasing your intake of water.

Leukocytes in the dip stick usually is an indicator of infection with or without having protein and or blood.

A positive Nitrite result on the urine reagent strip is an indication of infection - usually, but not always Cystitis.

As you have access to a computer you can check out about Leukocytes and Nitrite in your urine.

In my experience though, if I have nitrite (any shade of pink) treatment for cystitis sorts this out.

Unfortunately, the urine strip will not detect kidney stones.

At the age of 39 (I am 60 now) I had kidney stones and one got stuck in the ureter and had to be surgically removed.  When the stone was not moving there were no symptoms at all.  But when it started to move I experienced fever, blood and sometimes green gunge in the urine and extreme pain (pethedine gave me no relief and on one occasion I was thrust into a sitting position when I was lying down due to the intense pain), also renal colic (wind like spasms in the belly on the side of the ill kidney) diarrhea as well as vomitting (those symptoms were not present all of the time).  It was only by accident that  knew I had a kidney stone.  I was sent for xrays for other reasons.  My initial symptoms were pins and needles in my feet and puffiness under my eye (the opposite one to the kidney that had the stone).  

It took the medical profession months to find out what the matter was.  But I knew I had a water work problem, because I went to reflexology and aromatherapy sessions and the reflexologist on examining me said that I had a waterworks problem.  She was not able to say exactly what though.

When I finally saw the specialist, he was convinced that my stone was in the bladder and it was only by having the dye xray that showed where it really was.

I have just finished a course of Trimethroprin (antibiotic) for a kidney infection (leukocytes, protein and blood showed on the stick).  I am still having uncomfortable feelings in the area of both kidneys and my urine has had a lot of sediment.  I am also thinking whether I have another kidney stone.

The only way of knowing whether you have a stone or not is by having an xray, ulstrasound or the dye injected and being scanned.  Normal xrays do not always show that there is a stone.  It depends on the size and type of stone that you have.

Also there are 4 different type of kidney stones: cystine (this is hereditory), struvite, calcium and uric.  Mine was identified as a calcium stone and I was told to avoid all dairy products as well as some veg and fruit.  Also kidney stones can form from becoming dehydrated and from frequent infections.

You have definitely had or still have a urinary infection.  In which case you may benefit from a course of antibiotics.  A urine sample sent to the lab can identify the bacteria to see which antibiotic will kill it off.  In the UK we take a sample to our surgery which is then sent to the lab.
Other syptoms of a urinary infection can be a feeling of disorientation.

When you go to the toilet, catch the urine into a clean glass jar and examine it.  Sometimes when the stone breaks up you may find very fine grains of sand.  Also when the stone travels down you will experience pain and discomfort.  Another point is to smell the urine.  My urine smelled of kidney/liver when it was really bad.

Hope that it is not a kidney stone.  Keep up with drinking water, 2-3 litres is usually the recommend amount.  

As you have no other symptoms, you could just keep monitoring yourself and hopefully this will settle on its own.

Let me know how you get on.
Best wishes





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