Have any of you had an IVP for kidney problems?

I've had recurrent kidney infections for years and was told by previous doctors that some people are just prone to them. They were never taken seriously despite my insistence that something was wrong. At times, the infections would just be crippling, with intense pain in my lower left back and down into my leg.

In Sept I ended up in ER due to more severe pain to the point that I thought I would pass out. I was that I was in serious condition, with a very inflamed kidney filled with stagnate urine. A stone had obstructed my kidney and it was nearly ready to burst. I had to have a stint put in immediately to roll the stone out of the way.

A month later, I had lithotripsy to bust up the stones in this kidney. And that was supposed to solve the problem. I should pass the stones and everything would be ok. But I wasn't. Not all of the stones pieces passed and I kept an infection all the time. I'd be off antibiotics for about two weeks and then be in severe pain and I'd be put back on antibiotics and pain killers.

In May I ended up in the hospital again for 8 days with another severe infection. And this time they had to do surgery. They cut into my kidney to remove all the stone fragments which were trapped in a mass of yeast. The doc said the yeast was the result of so many antibiotics and the yeast had kept the infection going. So I was on antibiotics for another month.

And now I have another severe infection, or part of the original infection which just never went away. And I'm on some heavier antibiotics which really make me sick. The doc now wants to order yet another test, an IVP. All the expensive xrays and cat scans I've already done apparently don't hold the answer. So he wants this IVP, where they inject some dye and then do a series of xrays at different intervals which take about an hour or so. He won't tell me anything about what he's expecting to find, what the IVP would tell him, what he suspects, what the possibilities are, etc. And I'm quite frustrated! The lithotripsy in Oct was supposed to fix it all. But it's been a series of infections, pain, fatigue, tests, hospitalization, surgery, and now more??

I did some research on the IVP and it seems it can be dangerous. For instance, it can damage the kidney if the kidney isn't functioning properly. Hellloooo, mine isn't functioning properly! Also I could have a reaction to dye. And not to mention the radiation from Xrays. I've done quite a few cat scans and xrays in the past year. There's a reason why the xray tech stands behind a glass panel when she does the xrays!

And then of course it could be just a waste of money like everything else. It may not tell us anything! I have two step sisters currently on dialysis and one is on a waiting list for a new kidney. So I don't mind telling you I'm getting a bit concerned! I don't feel good and the drugs make me even sicker. I have things to do and I just want to feel good!

Has anyone had any experience with kidney problems and IVPs? Can you tell what to expect? Does it hurt? Can we compare symptoms and treatments? I need some information before I go nuts!

NancyAnn