reacurring kidney infections

[briannentx]

i have never had problems with my kidneys until the last yr I have had severe kidney infections back to back and they put me on levaquin and Cipro one round and the other different meds then it finally went away..My Achilles tendon got a big lump on it and now it hurts all the time.. Recently I found out about the meds I took and the affiliation between the meds and tendon rupture...Now my raging kidney infections back and I'm going to the hospital tomorrow I'm just wondering what types of antibiotics that would be ok since the others have caused the tendon problem and i'm allergic to sulfa drugs. We drink alot of water in our family and crystal light, I may splurge 1 day a week and get a coke.. I'm confused to what may be causing the infections.. My mother recently has been getting them but hers are not as bad as mine... We have city water, could it possibly be the water we are drinking from our house? I'm just stumped any help would be appreciated thanx Bri

[silentypo]

I used to drink a lot of crystal light in high school and found it really played weird with my body.  Kind of like being dehydrated...  maybe they have changed the formula since then (it was 20 years ago)...

but, if both you and your mom drink quite a bit of it, I'd say try an experiment and don't drink it for a month and see what happens.

[DrKalraMD]

Hi, “infections of the urinary tract are the second most common type of infection in the body. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) account for about 8.3 million doctor visits each year.* Women are especially prone to UTIs for reasons that are not yet well understood. One woman in five develops a UTI during her lifetime. UTIs in men are not as common as in women but can be very serious when they do occur.

Normally, urine is sterile. It is usually free of bacteria, viruses, and fungi but does contain fluids, salts, and waste products. An infection occurs when tiny organisms, usually bacteria from the digestive tract, cling to the opening of the urethra and begin to multiply. The urethra is the tube that carries urine from the bladder to outside the body. Most infections arise from one type of bacteria, Escherichia coli (E. coli), which normally lives in the colon.

In many cases, bacteria first travel to the urethra. When bacteria multiply, an infection can occur. An infection limited to the urethra is called urethritis. If bacteria move to the bladder and multiply, a bladder infection, called cystitis, results. If the infection is not treated promptly, bacteria may then travel further up the ureters to multiply and infect the kidneys. A kidney infection is called pyelonephritis

Some people are more prone to getting a UTI than others. Any abnormality of the urinary tract that obstructs the flow of urine (a kidney stone, for example) sets the stage for an infection. An enlarged prostate gland also can slow the flow of urine, thus raising the risk of infection.

UTIs may occur in infants, both boys and girls, who are born with abnormalities of the urinary tract, which sometimes need to be corrected with surgery. UTIs are more rare in boys and young men. In adult women, though, the rate of UTIs gradually increases with age. Scientists are not sure why women have more urinary infections than men. One factor may be that a woman's urethra is short, allowing bacteria quick access to the bladder. Also, a woman's urethral opening is near sources of bacteria from the anus and vagina. For many women, sexual intercourse seems to trigger an infection, although the reasons for this linkage are unclear.

According to several studies, women who use a diaphragm are more likely to develop a UTI than women who use other forms of birth control. Recently, researchers found that women whose partners use a condom with spermicidal foam also tend to have growth of E. coli bacteria in the vagina.

Taken from website http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/Kudiseases/pubs/utiadult/

Antibiotics like ampicillin, cefexime, cefuroxime, doxycycline are quite safe medicine.

[DrKalraMD]

Also, please get ultrasound KUB along with urine and blood examination done to find out the cause. Cystoscopy is indicated when ultrasound is normal.

[rosh2554]

Yups getting Ultrasound done to the earliest is the best solution for you. I feel water may not be the only cause for your infection...

[briannentx]

Thanx for the help I'm deff.. gonna ask the docs if they can run these tests for me while I am there. Also can they do a test on our water ? If not do you know where we could get it tested to see if its clean or not..We didnt have these problems before hurricane... Rita and after the water was off for so long here and we have a old house old pipes..Thought I would just ck that end out also to make sure it was ok .. thanx Bri :o)