I figured I would give folks an update on how I've been doing since my last post.
I was given a 3 day supply of Nitrofurantoin 100mg (MacroBID) and it did get rid of some symptoms. However it made my back pain unbearable and I was still peeing blood, so I called my GP and got switched to Cefalexin 500g for 7 days. I finish that course of antibiotics tomorrow.
I've had some undesirable side effects from Cefalexin, the most frustrating one being heart palpitations and feeling dizzy. I had a moment while I was doing the washing up and nearly fainted (this has happened once before I had the kidney infection and I need to talk about it with my GP), but after 5 minutes of lying down I was absolutely fine and it was like nothing had happened.
What concerns me is that I'm still having back pain and I am still peeing blood. I'm back at work, thankfully my employer has been very understanding about my health. I stayed an extra hour at work tonight to get some things sorted out and was meant to leave at 10pm, but left at 9pm due to the back pain being absolutely awful.
I have a day off tomorrow which will be used to rest. I think I pushed myself a little bit too far this evening because my body was having none of it! Clearly the infection isn't shifting so I will be calling my GP tomorrow to see if I need stronger antibiotics.
I increased my Levothyroxine dose to 75mcg and I don't know if that played a part in some of the pain going away after 3 days. I've ordered a thyroid function test to see the results for myself but I will wait to use it because I feel I would get more accurate results after this infection has gone.
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Yasai
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Thank you very much! I was hesitant to do the test immediately because one of the antibiotics I am/was on throws off blood counts a bit and can mess with blood test results. I will hold off for now 🙂
Recommended on here that all thyroid blood tests should ideally be done as early as possible in morning and before eating or drinking anything other than water .
Last dose of Levothyroxine 24 hours prior to blood test. (taking delayed dose immediately after blood draw).
This gives highest TSH, lowest FT4 and most consistent results. (Patient to patient tip)
Important to regularly retest vitamin D, folate, ferritin and B12
Have you had these tested yet
What vitamin supplements are you currently taking?
I always make sure that it's the same brand of Levothyroxine every time. Usually I open everything up and double check everything is in order with my prescriptions so it can be sorted out quicker and I don't have to go out back to the pharmacy to put everything into place!
I always get the earliest appointment possible and leave 24 hours between my last levothyroxine dose. I get my B12 and Folate levels tested alongside my thyroid because I have been deficient in both in the past. I haven't had my vitamin D or ferritin levels tested to the best of my knowledge and they haven't been mentioned before when I've had blood work done but I shall investigate that further.
At the moment I take a B12 supplement and a folic acid supplement. I take my B12 supplement when I get home from work as I'm usually in a rush to get ready before my shift starts. I need to order more folic acid tablets, would have done it earlier but I had to keep a close eye on my finances for a few weeks and there wasn't any room in my budget to get them at the time. I got paid yesterday so now I've taken care of a few things with rent and bills I will be ordering some!
Usually I open everything up and double check everything is in order with my prescriptions
Excellent practice. Preferably before you have even walked away from the counter. I have had pharmacists endorse me doing so. I think they would rather sort an issue immediately than have possible consequences down the line.
I always open it up and check at the counter, too. Understandably they're extremely busy in the current climate and I don't want to inconvenience them by leaving and then having to return when they have many other prescriptions and people to see to.
I work in retail and I know the feeling of thinking that a task has been completed and then finding out something hasn't been done properly later on, especially when at that point you have many other things to do simultaneously and you have to go back and correct or redo something that should have been done hours ago. And the sinking feeling afterwards when you realize that you're not going to be clocking out when your shift is meant to end that day. 😓
Hi ya ouch that sounds like a nasty infection ir problem with your kidneys there, i would definitely go straight back to the doctors to sort that out. An interesting point the doctor told me when i had a nasty kidney infection and i kept fainting or nearly fainting is that your kidneys control your blood pressure so the fainting is due to that not being right
I've been given another week's worth of Cefalexin and if I'm still having problems after that it will be back to the GP. It wasn't too long ago I had the first fainting episode, and I'm now thinking it was a precursor to this kidney infection.
Nearly fainting didn't freak me out at all but it always chooses the moment when I'm washing up a knife or something similarly sharp and that's always the thing I worry about. 😞
I'm due for a blood pressure check at some point next week so I will see if it's doing anything it shouldn't be (the answer is most likely yes)!
If you have concern over blood pressure, it can be a good idea to acquire a home blood pressure monitor. That allows you to check as often as you like. You can do left arm then right arm. If someone speaks while you are doing it, you can do it again. And so on. And it avoids white coat hypertension - where your pressure goes up when a medic does the check!
Make sure the cuff that comes with it fits your arm (or wrist).
A home blood pressure monitor is on my Christmas list this year. Money has been a bit tight the past few months because my partner got made redundant a few months ago so I had 2 jobs for a month to cover rent and bills while he looked for another job, so my savings are kind of depleted.
I will do some research into the best one to get and either subtly hint to my partner that's what I would like for Christmas or do some extra overtime over Christmas to buy one myself! 😊
I have had several kidney infections over the years and I don't want to alarm you but back in 2005 I had what I thought was an infection and it turned out to be kidney stones. I would ask for a kidney scan just to make sure you don't have any stones. Just to reassure you I did recover but it took me days to pass them and it was extremely painful.
I should get a call from my GP this afternoon and I will ask if it's possible to get a kidney scan just to check it isn't stones. Since last night the back pain has ramped up a bit and I am noticeably more uncomfortable - I must have looked ridiculous at work trying to stretch my back to a position that was actually comfortable but absolutely yesterday has been the worst day in terms of pain I've had since starting antibiotics!
At this point I'm very fed up and I don't mind the pain if it means I will start to feel better and not feel like rubbish over Christmas.
It took me almost a week to pass my kidney stones and it was worse than giving birth. The pain is horrible and constant and my back was very painful and I could not lie down at all or sleep. Keep on at your doctor for that scan.
Interesting that you were given Nitrofurantoin (Macrobid). Whilst researching it for mum's UTI a week or so ago, I read that it was only for bladder infections and NOT kidney. No doubt the GP will have an answer though!
Seems to have removed mum's infection according to our home dipstick test yesterday after 3 days on the a/bio so presume it was a bladder infection she had.
I'm not sure if it started off as a bladder infection and then made itself at home in the kidneys but the bladder infection problems were gone by the first 3 days. The back pain and bleeding haven't stopped and I was really hoping the first week of Cefalexin would do the trick but it hasn't.
GP should be calling me this afternoon to see what the next steps should be.
You might have kidney stones. I struggle a lot with kidney infections & had kidney stones twice to my knowledge. My first episode sounded very similar to yours. Ask your Dr for a CT scan, as they don’t always show up on an ultrasound scan.
At this point I think it's probably kidney stones. I've had a UTI before and this has just been a completely different experience. It's dragging on for a bit too long now and at this point I'm really concerned about missing any more work.
I'm finishing my probation period at work and when I did my return to work meeting they were very understanding that my time off work was very valid and had a genuine medical cause, but I do worry. I love my job and everyone is so lovely and it would be my worst nightmare to be asked to leave because of something entirely out of my control.
My GP is calling me this afternoon to discuss what my next steps should be.
As this us not the first time this has happened, and as you are still exhibiting significant symptoms, your GP should really be investigating what is going on, as issues such as kidney stones can cause similar symptoms. Relevant tests for kidney function and a scan should be discussed. The HU kidney group could be of help to you. I hope you get this sorted out soon.
I had to call back my GP surgery to check if they were still going to call me. Turns out they had taken me off the list because I got another 7 day course of Cefalexin prescribed last night from the Out of Hours service and they didn't see any reason to call and check in.
I'm back on the list now and they should be calling me this afternoon.
Thank you very much! Hopefully this will get sorted out soon and I'll know where I stand. It's exhausting to not feel well like this and not know what's going on. 😊
The blood was what has really worried me - it's enough that I was wondering if it was my period and then realized that it couldn't be my period because I was in the middle of a pack of pills and I had no PMS symptoms. So it's absolutely coming from the kidneys.
Some days are better than others, generally if the back pain is worse I don't bleed as much but if I don't have any back pain I bleed more. It's very up and down at the moment and I'm keeping an eye on it. I'm getting a call back from my GP today to discuss it a bit more.
My GP was fairly dismissive of the fact I've nearly fainted, coincidentally when washing up sharp knives. I'm waiting until my partner gets home from work to even attempt the washing up because I've been lucky in that I reacted quickly the previous times and could keep myself safe. Home alone it isn't worth the risk for me.
My GP has told me to keep taking my Cefalexin and I have an appointment on Sunday at a walk in center to see a doctor there. I've called 111 and am waiting to get a second opinion because I would rather go and have a CT scan today to figure out if this is kidney stones or not than wait around and delay treatment if anything can be done.
Regardless of if anything gets done today or not I have a 9 hour shift at work tomorrow and if I feel terrible after that I will be taking myself off to either Urgent Care or A&E. I'm very fed up at this point. Back pain isn't too bad because I've been in bed all afternoon and got comfortable, but when the time comes that I have to actually get out of bed and do some chores I'm not expecting it to be painless!
It appears that both my GP and the Out of Hours nurse I phoned yesterday weren't taking it seriously. I told them I was in pain to the point I had to leave work early and that I had nearly fainted with no prior warning that it's going to happen and the solution has been a repeat of my current antibiotics or another type of antibiotics (I can't tell the difference at this point because after yesterday I'm exhausted).
I'm going to try moving around a bit and get some chores done. If it gets worse during/after that I'm going to call an ambulance. At this point, work can be put on hold. I just want to not feel awful anymore.
Hope you get it sorted. I actually had to pass my first stone, before anyone took my symptoms seriously and I could have died. Fingers crossed you get the right help & you are in the mend again very soon.
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