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Do Your Kidneys Seem To Hurt?


penguin

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penguin Community Regular

Hi all,

Yet another strange thing that can happen as a result of celiac :rolleyes:

I've been glutened, and my kidneys hurt, or at least my back hurts suspiciously where the kidneys are. Ow. I've been drinking a lot of water and while they hurt the first week I went gluten-free, they don't usually anymore.

Oh, and I always drink a lot of water, so that's not different.

Could this be related to the glutening?

(no more scientific experiements for me :rolleyes: )

Thanks! :D


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jams Explorer

I have a cronic pain where my right kidney would be. I saw the dr for it and they took out my gallbladder. It is still happening now though. I don't think it was my gallbladder!! I don't know what's going on. My dr doesn't seem to be too worried about it. It is a dull pain, not sharp pain.

GlutenFreeAl Contributor

I have the same pain.

I don't have any insight except that maybe it's not our kidneys but our intestines? They wrap around all over the place, so maybe it's that?

But I can sympathize. The right side of my back pretty much always aches...

PghBOB Newbie
Hi all,

Yet another strange thing that can happen as a result of celiac :rolleyes:

I've been glutened, and my kidneys hurt, or at least my back hurts suspiciously where the kidneys are. Ow. I've been drinking a lot of water and while they hurt the first week I went gluten-free, they don't usually anymore.

Oh, and I always drink a lot of water, so that's not different.

Could this be related to the glutening?

(no more scientific experiements for me :rolleyes: )

Thanks! :D

I GET PAINS IN MY LOWER BACK ,RIGHT OR LEFT NEVER BOTH AT SAME TIME. I BELEIVE IT TO BE KIDNEYS ALSO. I WAS TOLD BY A DOCTOR AND A NURSE BACK PAIN IS COMMON WITH GI PROBLEMS

jerseyangel Proficient

When I get a gluten reaction, I get an achy pain in my back (where you describe) and also in my upper arms and thighs. The type of aches you might get with the flu. This lasts only a day or two.

penguin Community Regular
When I get a gluten reaction, I get an achy pain in my back (where you describe) and also in my upper arms and thighs. The type of aches you might get with the flu. This lasts only a day or two.

That's what I get exactly, only in the neck and shoulders (and the back). I always thought I was getting the flu and I never did get it (knock on wood that I won't). Glad to know I'm not the only one. :)

cgilsing Enthusiast

I never really thought about it, but yes! Not so much if I have one accident, but before I went on the gluten-free diet I had kidney infections all the time. I'm sure my mom has celiac disease (although she is not gluten-free and has not been diagnosed with celiac disease) and she has always been prone to kidney infections too. She was actually hospitalized for several weeks with a bad infection once. However, in the 1.5 years that I've been gluten-free I haven't had one single kidney infection!


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DonnaD Apprentice

My daughter gets kidney pain when gluted. We have had a neuclear scan of her kidneys today to make sure there is no scarring. It seems to be linked to bladder problems.

Guest cassidy

I am 28 and I have kidney stones. Last time they checked I had 5 left, some in each kidney. Sometimes my kidneys start to hurt and I'm afraid it is going to turn into bad pain like one of the stones is on the move, but it never gets worse than an ache. I've never thought to compare that achy feeling with when I'm glutened. I wonder if kidney stones have to do with Celiac, every other problem I have has gotten better since going gluten-free. Usually older white men have kidney stones. My mom also has kidney stones and Celiac, guess I got both from her.

Guest Robbin

I have the same thing and also, does anyone have really bad smelling urine when they get this pain? It seems when I get glutened I get this too. ?? I don't have pain when urinating, just the dull ache in the back. :blink:

CMCM Rising Star
Hi all,

Yet another strange thing that can happen as a result of celiac :rolleyes:

I've been glutened, and my kidneys hurt, or at least my back hurts suspiciously where the kidneys are. Ow. I've been drinking a lot of water and while they hurt the first week I went gluten-free, they don't usually anymore.

Oh, and I always drink a lot of water, so that's not different.

Could this be related to the glutening?

(no more scientific experiements for me :rolleyes: )

Thanks! :D

I deliberately ate some coffee cake on Saturday, I think it was (very bad decision!). About an hour later the first reaction I got was an aching neck and lower back, arms too, and that was followed by pain and burning in my stomach. This lasted maybe 12 hours. I never used to connect my aches/pains with gluten...but I've spend a fair amount of time going to bed early with a hot water bottle for the aches. Weird how gluten can cause this, I just never connected the two things. :o

ravenwoodglass Mentor
Hi all,

Yet another strange thing that can happen as a result of celiac :rolleyes:

I've been glutened, and my kidneys hurt, or at least my back hurts suspiciously where the kidneys are. Ow. I've been drinking a lot of water and while they hurt the first week I went gluten-free, they don't usually anymore.

Oh, and I always drink a lot of water, so that's not different.

Could this be related to the glutening?

(no more scientific experiements for me :rolleyes: )

Thanks! :D

I do think this is gluten related. I get this also and also tend to throw microscopic blood in my urine when it happens. My Mom was an undiagnosed celiac and died of bladder cancer. Makes me wonder if there is a connection.

hungryforlife Apprentice

A few weeks ago I went gluten free for one week. Felt fabulous. Then decided that I wanted to get tested so started eating gluten again. Then next morning when I woke up my back (where my kidneys would be) was in terrible pain. Not stabbing pain, but just very noticable. I have always had this feeling, and while I get very frequent UTI's I have never had a kidney infection. Also during the week I was gluten free I was on antibiotics for a UTI and stopped two days after consuming gluten again. So was actually on the antibiotics when the pain came back?

In the past I always assumed that it was female related ( In my mind, it doesnt matter what time of the month it is, I would just assume the monthly cycle was getting shorter/longer instead of four/three/two/ I was down to one good week?) They have tried to diagnose me with endometriosis (sp), but I now wonder if it is just not a reaction to gluten as well.

Susan123 Rookie

I get pain in my kidney area from inflammation in urinary tract. My doctor says it isn't my kidneys but muscle spasms from the inflamation below. Maybe the intestines?

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      Hi Florence, thank you for clarifying — and no worries at all about late-night writing. I appreciate you explaining that you’re specifically asking about gluten cross-reactivity, particularly the proposed immune cross-reaction between alpha-gliadin and certain non-gluten foods on a gluten-free diet. It’s an interesting and often confusing topic. The Vojdani & Tarash paper you mentioned did report antibody cross-reactivity in laboratory settings, which has led to a lot of discussion in the gluten-free community. However, it’s important to note that in-vitro antibody reactions (in a lab dish) don’t always translate into clinically meaningful reactions inside the human body. At this point, major celiac research centers generally conclude that true immune cross-reactivity to non-gluten foods in people with celiac disease hasn’t been clearly demonstrated in well-controlled human studies. That said, many individuals do report symptoms with foods like corn, dairy, oats, or others, and those reactions can absolutely be real — they just may involve different mechanisms, such as food intolerance, FODMAP sensitivity, separate immune responses, or individual gut permeability differences rather than molecular mimicry of gliadin specifically. If certain foods consistently trigger symptoms for you, keeping a structured food and symptom log and discussing it with a knowledgeable gastroenterologist or dietitian may help clarify patterns. It’s a nuanced area, and your question is thoughtful — we just have to separate what’s biologically plausible in theory from what’s been conclusively demonstrated in patients.
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