Does anyone struggle with kidney infections with RA and lupus?

[Panda91]

I keep getting water and kidney infections roughly every few months and takes weeks of antibiotics to clear it. The doctors just seem to keep throwing antibiotics at me and don’t know why I keep getting them. I wondered whether anyone else who suffers with RA and lupus struggles with something similar. I have a kidney infection at the moment and it seems to set off my lupus as my body and hands are really painful and I am exhausted. I would appreciate any help or recommendations as I have been struggling with this for over 10 years now.

[Spanielmadlady]

I have class 5 lupus nephritis and rarely have any infections or problems.do you see a nephrologist? Rheumatology dont look after my kidneys my nephrologist does so it might be worth asking to see one.kind regards x

[Jhpc]

I had about 4/5 UTI’s not very pleasant last one was quite a bad one with high temperature. The doctor has put me on Hiprex antibiotic also topical oestrogen for below, since January I’ve had no recurrent infection. Was also advised to take Yakult, cranberry juice, d-mannose tablets. I also have lupus and RA.

I still have what my doctor calls an overactive bladder when I have urgent need to go to the loo..

Hope this helps

[heatherevans28]

Yes sadly. Since November I've had one every month requiring hospitalisation almost every time, as most are antibiotic resistant. They have once leading to sepsis and one severe adrenal crisis (I have secondary adrenal insufficiency as well as SLE). It's not any fun at all, as they make you feel so unwell and they are a total nuisance to get rid of. If you're on immunosuppressants like me, we often don't get any symptoms at all until its quite advanced.

Are you having samples sent to the lab each time? Also have you had any tests to rule out an underlying cause? Sending samples to the lab is really helpful to make sure the antibiotics you are given will clear it without having to try a few. Also other tests will rule out an abcess if it keeps coming back, or another underlying cause.

Sadly (?) for me all my tests have come back clear so we think my immune system is just very weak from years of steroids and immunosuppressants. Cranberry extract and dmannose help a lot of people and I've been trying them as well. If they can identify a trigger, you may also be offered prophylactic antibiotics for a period.

Hope you find something that works soon.

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Hi. I used to get mild kidney infections almost every month. I was told to try taking twice the recommended dose of cranberry pills.

For me, it worked and I've never had another one.