Kidneys still sore after 2 rounds of antibiotics?

I had a mild UTI at the end of December and went to the doctor for antibiotics because my kidneys felt tender. They never really hurt, but I could feel them as if they were slightly swollen. The doctor tested by urine and my blood and gave me an injection of penicillin and 7 days of cipro. The UTI symptoms (burning, bloating, etc.) went away immediately and have not returned. However, my kidneys were still tender even after finishing the antibiotics. I went back to another doctor and he prescribed me 10 more days of cipro without retesting my urine or blood. During those 10 days, all symptoms went away and my kidneys felt completely normal. As soon as I finished the 10 days of antibiotics, the kidney tenderness returned. They still don't really hurt, but they feel swollen. Is this normal? Should I go back for more antibiotics? I'm in a foreign country for the next three weeks so I don't want to go to the doctor unless I have to. Any chance this will go away on its own?


This discussion is related to Bladder/Kidney infection not responding to antibiotics.

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
For ruling out any kidney infections you should get kidney function tests and an ultrasound kidneys done. You should consult a physician or a nephrologist and get it ruled out.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.