Kidney Stones?

[Cint]

Hello friends,

I've been taking Topamax now for nearly 10 years and every now and then I get this severe stomach pain. I stand up and am in so much pain, I have to double over and then go lie down. I can't eat, feel bloated, nauseated, and mainly, it's the pain. I did call the dr., but by the time I was able to get an appt., the pain was gone, so I canceled. The pain only lasts a couple of hours, and when it subsides, I feel normal again. I experience it about every 4-6 months.

Here is something I just found about kidney stones:

Kidney stones form when the components of urine — fluid and various minerals and acids — are out of balance. When this happens, your urine contains more crystal-forming substances, such as calcium and uric acid, than the available fluid can dilute. At the same time, your urine may be short of substances that keep crystals from sticking together and becoming stones. Kidney stones are also prone to develop in highly acidic or highly alkaline urine.
Problems in the way your system absorbs and eliminates calcium and other substances create the conditions for kidney stones to form. Sometimes, the underlying cause is an inherited metabolic disorder or kidney disease. Gout promotes specific types of kidney stones, as does inflammatory bowel disease. So do some drugs, including furosemide (Lasix), used in treating heart failure and high blood pressure; topiramate (Topamax), an anti-seizure drug; and indinavir (Crixivan), which is used to treat human immunodeficiency virus, the cause of AIDS.

What do you all think? Could it be kidney stones due to the Topamax?

[Nakamova]

I think that kidney stones actually feel like intense back pain as opposed to stomach pain. It may be that the topomax is irritating your stomach in some way though. Can you remember if there are any particular food(s) that you were eating at the time?

[epileric]

I think you should still make a doctors appointment. Just because the pain isn't constant doesn't mean it isn't indicative of something gone wrong.

I think that next time you get the pain you should mark down everything you can think of to describe it-where it is exactly, how intense, throbbing or constant, dull or sharp, and whatever else you can think of. That way you can give the doctor a full description when you do see him/her.

[occb]

I would definitely write everything down and bring it to the doctor with you, and make sure he gets you checked out. Kidney stones don't normally just disappear on their own after a few hours, at least, not without the person painfully passing them. My SIL's uncle gets them, and he can feel them coming on, and is in agony for a long time with them. He also says the pain is in his back. Chances are what you're experiencing is not kidney stones -- still, a complete checkup of your abdominal area is a good idea. There's all sorts of trouble your gut can get up to.

Another possibility is that it might be a type of partial seizure -- apparently people with focal epilepsies can experience abdominal auras which can include all of what you described. Have any of your previous E experiences included stomach auras?

[roo]

The pain you're experiencing Cint, could be caused by any number of things and I agree with the others in that you really should see a doctor regardless whether the pain is there at the time or not.