Kidney infections

[jkv44]

Morning,
I hope all of you had a nice weekend. Recently have developed a yeast/vaginal infection as well. The doctor put me on Clindamaycin for seven days. Since then have had severe cramping, gas pains, nausea and ended up in the ER Thursday morning. All tests came back negative thankfully.

Now, my lower back is aching around the kidney area. I had a urine test done and it came back normal.

Have any of you taken clindamyacin?

I read some of the side effects and they match my symptoms.

Any thoughts? Always looking for some good info from the experts here. JKV44

[JackieCalifornia]

Thanks for the kind words, but everybody here is pretty positive -- it's one of the best things about this site.

It's hard to keep the calories up to a reasonable level when eating like I have been.  I cook with olive oil, and I even take an extra spoonful most days, because it's antifungal.  That adds some calories right there.  The eggs and chicken and fish add fat calories too, and that helps keep the energy level up.  I hear you about not being able to keep up just eating vegetables, which I guess is why the vegans I know are so thin. (!)  

I'm not much on beef or pork -- I just lost the taste for them long ago -- but now that I think about it, some bacon might not be so bad.  Hmm. I've been so brainwashed into thinking meat is bad that it's hard for me to remember I need the calories and should eat what's fattening for a change!  Keeping the calories up will help you feel better and less faint.  It happens to me too when I don't eat enough.

I don't like plain water, so a little lemon or lime juice makes it taste better.  Not much, just a touch.  I have read in several places that yeast likes an "acid" envionment in the body, and much of the usual Western diet leans toward acidity.  Meat, eggs and dairy all lean toward acidity, but vegetables are the opposite:  alkaline.  Although lemon and lime juice are acid, when it's taken into the body, the chemical reaction is such that it has an alkaline effect, which is good, and it also has Vitamin C of course.  (There is a lot of misinformation on the web about which foods are acid or alkaline, so triple check any information.)

Anyway, I just put a splash of lemon or lime juice in a tall glass of water so it tastes better.  I also started adding unsweetened cranberry juice when I thought I was getting a bladder infection.  Just a splash of that too makes water taste better.  (I buy big glass jars of unsweetened cranberry juice at the grocery or health food store, but you're right, it's hard to find sometimes and is a little expensive.)

I was taking a LOT of garlic when I first realized I had a big yeast infection.  I would put it in everything I ate, and I even bought some empty gelatin pill capsules and stuffed them with minced garlic to swallow raw.  (I don't recommend the plain raw garlic -- I tried it -- ewww!  burned my throat.)  I realized however that (with some other supplements and meds I was taking) that there was a triple whammy effect with the garlic, and my blood platelets were declining sharply so that I was bruising very easily, so there is a downside to too much garlic.  I stopped garlic all together when I was bruising too easily, but still eat onions all the time (cooked).  I'll go back to the garlic at some point.

Thanks for asking about my latest tick.  I find out later this week what miserable disease(s) he inflicted on me.  I am feeling better however ... when I have a bad day, it's not as bad as the previous bad day.  So maybe my immune system is beating the stuffing out of the bugs.  We'll see!

Good luck with work -- I know it's scary.  I feel the same way, that if I take on too much, I'll make a huge mess and won't be able to sort it out because I feel so lousy.  But like you, I tend to make it through.  (And I wouldn't say teaching special ed is not hard!  I would be terrible at it!  You must have a wonderful gift of teaching.)

So hang in there!  The 'no freaking out' rule is now in effect (except when you really *need* to melt down sometime, then it's okay).     :)

Let us know how you do.

[jkv44]

Hi Jackie,
thanks for all your help. you are really such a positive person and your knowledge is awesome.

I'm trying really hard to keep my diet like yours with just protein, vegetables. I try and eat a lot of salad, chicken, fish, eggs, celery. I just find that sometimes it's not enough and get very weak and light headed.

i am curious however what do you do with the lime juice and water? Just drink it? It's hard for me to find unsweetned cranberry juice.

Do you eat the garlic and onions to help with the yeast infection? I know that garlic is good for yeast. I have started taking a strong garlic pill.

You sound like you are feeling much better. What ever happened to the last tick bite you found? Did you get tested again?

On another good but scarry note. I'm going back to work Thursday. I feel ready but really, really, nervous. My job is not hard. I'm a special ed teacher and have a lot of support. I guess I just need to suck it up and get back into it. I will say was much sicker last spring and worked then.

Well, off to the doctor to check in. Wish me luck and I'll try not to freak. JKV

[JackieCalifornia]

Diflucan is usually the right drug, but it's not effective against all kinds of yeast, so if you're not getting better, call/see your MD.  There are other kinds of antifungal meds other than Diflucan (generic: fluconazole) that work against fungal infections other than Candida.  Candida is, I have read, the most common, but other kinds of yeast/fungus are becoming more common and so can't be disregarded.  I can't get my MDs to test me for any other kind of fungus, and I think it's because other kinds of fungus are so common in the environment and in people's bodies that it would be like testing for water in your body:  "Yep, there's water here!  What do you want to do about it?"  

The different types of probiotics are clearly labeled as far as I know, and the yeast-based ones like Florastor (generic: S. boulardii) are not mixed with the bacteria-based ones like acidophilus.

I went to several very experienced MDs with my problem, and NONE of them picked up on the fact that it was a fungal/yeast infection that was my problem.  MDs are not, it seems, very aware of the risks of yeast-based probiotics and so are not on the outlook for someone who may have one.

Sometimes the doses of Diflucan are insufficient -- at least they were in my situation, again because the MDs didn't realize how bad an infection I had.

I think I am over the yeast problem now, but I have gone to some lengths to cure myself.  I gave up all breads and cereal (wheat, corn, rye, etc.), all fruit, all dairy, and all sugars, and for almost five months now have eaten only proteins and low-sugar vegetables.  

A typical day's diet includes egg, onion, garlic, olive oil, salt, squash, cooked carrots, spinach, chicken or fish, lime juice in water, and unsweetened cranberry juice in water.  You'd be surprised how many different ways you put those bits and pieces together.  Ha.

It worked for me, however, and I no longer crave sugar like I once did.  I've dropped a good bit of weight (which I needed to do) and feel pretty good except when the Lyme bugs are bugging me.

I don't imagine a lot of people would last as long as I have on this rather repetitive diet, but I am pretty motivated.  I don't recommend it for anyone, and I am careful to take a multivitamin and mineral every day, and to take calcium and magnesium and Vit C supplements to make up for what I'm not getting from my diet.  I expect I will return to a 'regular' diet one of these days, but not yet.

You also mentioned kidney problems.  I have a damaged kidney from years ago, and when
I get dehydrated, I get little tiny kidney stones that it takes a while to clear.  Again, mine is an
usual situation, but I did get some small kidney stones while on Diflucan (a rather high dose
for several months, which is unusual) and it has taken a while for them to clear.  So I think most
people would not get that problem, and it's because of my damaged kidney.  The Diflucan did
leave me VERY parched all the time, and I was on purpose drinking a LOT of water to keep
my kidneys flushed, but it didn't prevent all the problems.  Again, my situation is unusual.

So don't freak, talk with your MD, and keep him/her in the loop on your symptoms and changes.

Hang in there!

My situation was very unusual, I think, so please talk to your MD before doing anything, okay?

[jkv44]

Hi,
thanks for the help. I'm such a mess right now. My candida test that the gyno did came back positive. so he put me on a dose of difflucan.

I'm going to check the probiotic and see if that ingredient you mentioned is in there. Is so, will tell my doctor on Friday.

Did the yeast infection you had go away? I hope so it sounds awful

I read on other postings that you developed a kidney infection. Was it from the lyme?

JKV

[JackieCalifornia]

Clindamycin (generic for Biaxin) can be a tough one.  Some people have no problems with it, but some do, like me and apparently you.  I got waterlogged (edema) with swelling all over, but esp in my legs.  It may have been some other chemical was out of whack in my body, but the LLMD too me off the drug right away.  I still don't know what caused my problems.

Entirely separately, at another time, while taking other antibiotics, I also got a very bad yeast infection, but it was intestinal and not vaginal.  I got abdominal bloating, stabbing pains at the waist, fog brain, and gained a bunch of weight.  It took almost 6 months for the MDs to figure out it was a systemic yeast infection -- I guess they don't see many of them.  So that's probably not your issue, but thought I'd mention it since your symptoms sound similar to mine.  If it doesn't go away, you could ask them to run a blood test for Candida (which is the most common yeast infection).

Are you taking probiotics?  In a very very small number of people, the S. boulardii yeast probiotic (in Florastor and also generic) can overgrow and cause problems, and I'm pretty sure that's what happened to me after a long time on antibiotics and accidentally taking too much Florastor for several weeks.  The packaging and advertising for Florastor does not highlight this possibility, but it's becoming better known as more people take it.  

The general attitude among MDs is that probiotics are harmless, but in certain circumstances, they can cause serious problems.  Don't freak out over this, but consider it and keep it in the back of your mind, okay?  

If your gut symptoms don't go away, check back in with your MD.  [I'm not medically trained, so don't rely on me!]