Hey! Have you mentioned this in your appointment with Matia?I think it is fairly common to have pain in the lower back and kidney area. I have heard others mention they had kidney pain. This is actually a symptom that preceded my IC and is something I have felt on a much milder scale ( it was really bad before starting treatment) off and on throughout treatment. Never bad or persistent for a month straight. Since  the kidneys are SUPER important organs it's def. something to pay attention to- and would be a good idea to rule out things like a kidney infection. I would email her and stress how this is concerning you- especially if there are other symptoms.  If you had a kidney infection which is the only thing I could think would really warrant persistent kidney pain that I can think of-I even think Matia could knock it out with herbs but I think in certain cases she might have  have folks do antibiotics for that. In general before I go to the western doc I always like to check with Matia- (it could be just a bad month of die off )- I completely trust that she knows her scope of treatment and if it was serious, suspicious and beyond her treatment reach that she would tell me-yes go get that checked out. Even if  I knew I was going to the wesern MD anyway- I like to know and prepare for the ways that western medicine could impact my treatment with Matia and so she is aware of what is going on and can tailor my herbs post treatment. ie- I found a cyst in my breast- and I was pretty sure it was benign and hormonal but Matia told me to get it looked at by a western MD. Turns out to be nothing seroius- totally benign cyst that has gotten smaller a month or two later. She wanted to make sure it was nothing to worry about and it wasn't. However the ultrasound gel made me FLARE bad for like 36 hours afterward so she was also able to tell me what to do to deal with that. Basically cover all your bases- - email Matia about your concern make sure its nothing more serious that temporary kidney pain and maybe your formula needs a tweak for that?  and hope you're feeling better soon! Mary