Worried about kidney problems

[figuerpa]

Not sure if you all remember, but a couple weeks ago I found out I had a kidney infection. I felt fine while I was on the cipro the doctor prescribed. Well a couple days off the antibiotics, I started getting feverish again, and the pain in my kidney came back. Well I called the doctor and she had me come in and they did some bloodwork and a urine test.

Once again there is blood in my urine and elevated white cells, which indicate the infection is still there. She gave me another prescription for antibiotics and said that she is going to order a CT of mykidneys to see what is going on.

I am worried why it won't go away. Cipro is a pretty strong antibiotic but something is going on. I hope the CT shows something and the doctor can get an answer to what is going on with me.

I will keep everyone informed as the process goes on.

Paula

[Audrey_M]

To All:

I'm bumping this just to give you some background on figuerpa and the kidney infection which now has her in the hospital. It might give you something to go by if you contact her or if you are someone who has a history of UTIs of kidney infections.

I'm going to step up on a soapbox now, especially in light of the fact that within a very short period of time, members of this forum have had some serious complications with UTI's and kidney infections.

-If you have bladder problems as a result of MS, it would be wise to get a urologist as a member of your medical team. When selecting a doctor, you might want to ask how much experience they have with MS patients.

-A kidney infection is usually indicative of a prior or ongoing infection in the urethra or bladder. Because of this, it is important to know the signs/symptoms of bladder UTIs and kidney infections. Educate yourself here.

-Ask whether Furadantin is an option to prevent future UTIs. A full list of medications and your medical history is needed to make this decision. Based on the research that I have done, it probably would work in only a minority of MS patients. For garden variety UTIs, it was very helpful for me, with a two year period free of infections.

-Whenever you have symptoms of a possible urinary tract infection, ask, no demand, that the doctor to run a culture/lab tests that will specifically identify the type of bacteria causing the infection. Generic identification will not do. 90% of UTIs are caused by e coli, but there are a number of different strains of e coli, each of which will respond differently to antibiotics.

Throwing the wrong antibiotic at at bacterial infection can mask the underlying ongoing infection, allowing it to grow stronger over time and in some cases become systemic, and thus life threatening if the bacterial has not been properly identified.

-Using the wrong antibiotics for bacterial infections is responsible for bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics, creating the need for development of super-antibiotics, which may kill bacteria healthy to the system.

Kidney infections are painful.

I'm going to send Paula a PM now.

Audrey

[figuerpa]

Audrey,

My PCP sais that if this round of antibiotics don't work they will put me in the hospital for IV meds, not sure what kind of cultures were run, I will ask when I go back to see her. And don't worry about the way you write lol I read it fine and didn't even notice it was wrong until you pointed it out so I am right there with you lol.

Luvsummer,

Thank you for your kind words and thinking about me. I hope I start feeling better soon too. This is crazy and the pain I am having in my leg and hip has to be due to the infection, hopefully these antibiotics work. :)

Paula

[luvsummer]

I am new to the forum, but want to offer support and well wishes to you.  I'm sorry you are dealing with this and hope you get the answers you need soon.

I've had a lot of bladder infections, but never kidney.  Bladder problems are bad enough, so, I would imagine your level of comfort is zilch.  

I don't have one tiny bit of any kind of helpful advice for you.  Just know that someone is thinking of you and wants you to feel better real soon.

Sincerely,
Luvsummer

[Audrey_M]

Paula and the Forum:

Just reread my post and I feel like a functional illiterate.

My first paragraph should have read:

First, I am sorry to HEAR this FROM you. IT comes on the heels of finding out what happened to LuLu with a UTI.

I never made these kinds of mistakes before this s**t started happening. I try not to let it upset me, but it does. I fear that it takes away from the integrity of what I am trying to pass on in my post, just like I worry about how these mistakes impact my job performance.

Paula, again, I do hope that you are on the right meds and are on the road to recovery.

Audrey

[Audrey_M]

Paula:

First, I am sorry to here this for you. I comes on the heels of finding out what happened to LuLu with a UTI.

You don't say if this started with a UTI, but that is probably irrelevant. What is important is to properly identify the cause of infection, so that the right antibiotic is used. While your doctor is ordering a CT, I would also ask her what type of culture is/has been run to identify the specific bacterial strain causing the infection.

Dear old dad is a retired analytical research chemist who specialized in antibiotics. It used to drive him crazy how antibiotics were prescribed before identifying the bacteria causing the infection. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics has led to some of the super germs we see today, as well as cases like LuLu, where infection was allowed to linger in the body growing ever stronger due to the wrong course of medication.

Keep us posted and hope that they run the right tests and get you ship shape soon.

Audrey