Chronic back/abdo pain in teenager

[DoubtjngThomas]

I'm wondering if anyone is able to shed any light/experience on what could be happening with DD 17.

Back in March she had what we thought was a UTI but her mid/lower back hurt so much we ended up in A&E. An abdo CT scan didn't show anything and after a course of ABs the pain subsided.

Fast forward 6 months she started weeing a lot of blood and doubled up with back pain. Inflammatory markers high.
She was admitted into hospital and stayed for 10'days. Myriad of tests including a gastroscopy but nothing conclusive. No sign of infection when she was discharged.

She has been referred to the renal clinic but she is still in constant pain and absolutely wiped out. I just don't know what to do, she has already missed a lot of school and just seems a shadow of the normal teenager she once was. Literally crawls in and goes straight to bed.

I am at a loss as to how to help her

Your poor DD. I suffer from recurrent UTIs, and go through episodes of back pain.

Firstly, is she under urology? If not, get the GP to refer her. Sounds like she needs a cystoscopy to check her bladder. Did the CT scan check her kidneys?

Thank you...she's been referred to the renal clinic.
Yes she had a kidney scan, no sign of any structural abnormalities

They did suspect kidney stones at one point but that's been discounted

She hasn't been messing with ketamine has she?

I hope not but will ask
I take it there's a connection?

Christ just googled it! Never seen signs of drug use but of course you never know.
Would also like to hope that any traces would have been picked up in the multiple blood tests she had

It's probably nothing to do with ketamine and I'm definitely not trying to insult your dd - it's just that I have recent experience of ketamine damage in my own family so I've done quite a bit of research into it. It's a bit of a time-bomb unfortunately, people don't realise just how quickly it can harm some young people and the damage can be devastating. I just thought I'd mention it in case it was a possibility.

Whatever it is, I hope they get to the bottom of it quickly and she can get back to her old self

She needs a cystoscope. I wonder if she's got interstitial cystitis. Which I once heard as the lining of the bladder feels like it's been scrubbed with a Brillo pad.

She could have a chronic uti that is affecting her kidneys. https://cutic.co.uk/?origin=serp_auto

I've heard cytoscopies can create more problems than they solve by damaging the urethra/bladder?

Hi @DoubtjngThomas I had a cystoscopy, and it was surprisingly easy, with no lasting damage! It stings a little, but that's it. It's worth having to rule things out. Mine discovered debris in my bladder.

Back in A&E; back pain worse and temperature

Oh sorry to hear that @DoubtjngThomas. I had similar a few weeks ago, and it turns out it was an ecoli UTI. The back pain was awful! Keep us posted. X