Question: I'm 82 in good health with proportionate height to wait. 5'11 / 175 lbs... I take a blood pressure medication and various supplements to help combat macular degeneration along with a healthy diet. I write for a living and during the last few weeks [4] I get a sharp pain that last one to two seconds [like a pinging] in my right side belt high about two inches from the vertical center line of my side to the backside of my body. I experience this about a half dozen times over 24 hours and it doesn't seem to have a time or place or the various position of my body that brings this "pop" on. I'm pretty sure it's not related to my exercise program or long walks. I don't think the nutrients I take would bring this on since I've been taking the same regiment for many months and this is a recent occurrence. At my age one gets various aches and pains but this doesn't seem to fall in that old age category since it is sharp, specific as to location, and reoccurs about 6 or 7 times during the day and for no apparent reason. I was successfully treated for prostate cancer [radiation and pellets] 15 years ago and my every 6 mo PSA always scores zero. Two hip and one knee replacement over the past 15 years but not relevant to this. I can live with this as I've lived with other issues in my life but if it's a precursor for something more serious then I'd like your thoughts on a course of action. Obviously all doctors want to take the conservative and safe road and just say go see you GP, which I can do, but do you think this merits that at this point or not? I'd appreciate some feedback as to what might be causing this short of taking an MRI. I appreciate your thoughts and "speculation" knowing this is an online situation without the benefit of a hands on analysis. Thanks again for your sage comments.. XXXXXXX MacGregor / XXXXXXX CO.

Not having any urinary issues or discharges/blood in my urine. Also, the site/location on my side that I've listed isn't tender when pressed on or in the surrounding area. I can turn or rotate and bend my body in various positions with no discomfort whatsoever. That is what makes this so strange in that it seems to appear without any physical movement on my part and has no time table. I had 2 or 3 occurrences this morning and I've had nothing since then so I've had almost 12 hours with nothing I've had a little constipation but nothing major and my bowel movements are like clock work every morning. I realize this is difficult for you to analyze without out benefit of urine or blood work and having to do this over the internet becomes a real guessing game. I was hoping you might at least give me a multiple choice answer as to the things "it could be" short of just being an old guy who gets these kinds of aches and pains after so many years. Thanks... XXXXXXX

Thanks ... all you comments make sense and are good suggestions. I'm now wondering if my nutrients may now be the culprit and are affecting my kidney. Even though I don't have blood in my urine the location of the pain is in the area of my kidneys. A quick review. I'm battling AMD and to combat the disease I've concentrated on taking a regiment of the following nutrients every six hours night and day. I've been on this program for almost 6 months with some limited success as far as slowing the disease down in one eye and keep it from starting in the other eye. Lutein 40mg Zeaxanthin 4mg Meso-Zeaxanthin 10mg Graprseed Extract 400mg Bilberry Extract 1000mg ... And once a day I also take one multivitamin.. 4 months ago I added these nutrients to my once a day intake. Vitamin K-s 100mcg Vitamin C 1000mg Zinc Gluconate 50mg Vitamin D-3 5000IU XXXXXXX 2mg Vitamin A 7500mcg with the hope that these additional nutrients might add to my inventory of things that could possibly either slow the disease down or halts its progress. I still have one good eye but the other eye which was wet [6 months of shots] and now dry has been dramatically effected and I have blurry vision and some loss in the frontal area. So that is what I'm battling ... I'm trying to keep from going blind. Can you see any of these items or any combination that could effect any vital organs or parts of my body that could cause this occasional shooting pain in my side. XXXXXXX ... thanks again for working with me on this.