Question:
Has anyone had a kidney infection and severe pain in back on left side

Supposedly I have a bad kidney infection that doesnt seem to be clearing up and I have excruciating pain in my back on the left side. I have been to the ER twice and was given pain meds and antiobiotics. I have seen my surgeon who says everything looks fine to him and I have seen my primary care doctor. Nothing seems to be working. I had a CT Scan which didn't show anything either. Has anyone had this type of pain or a severe kidney infection? Please help.    — slfleming (posted on December 9, 2008)

December 8, 2008
I have a kidney/ bladder disorder that sometimes causes reflux in my kidneys which causes pain similar to what you are describing. When this has happened and I go to Emerg. the urologist on-call usually attends and I get doses of Pyrdium (spelling?)- they look like purple-brown Skittles. Whe it kicks in the kidney has a spasm of pain but then starts to calm down and drain...it changes your urine colour too. Other than sharing my experience, I would suggest you get a urologist to check things out... they may have to do some kind of dye-scope where they can watch how your kidney functions and whether it is backing-up/ refluxing. Good luck.
   — CinnSareLee

December 9, 2008
Hello, I had this same pain on my left side about a month ago! it was very painful! I was hunched over and could barely walk. there was minor discomfort when i urinated and my urine was very dark. I was sure it had something to do with the gastric-bypass so I called my surgen told him what was going on, he said to go to urgent care asap for blood and urine test and also a CT scan because of a possible bowl obstruction! when I heard that I said OMG! NO WAY! this can't be happening to me!! when I got my results back it turned out that my urine was so dark because there was blood in it and i was in pain because I passed a kidney stone! once it passed the pain went away and im back to normal . ( no bowl obstruction thank you Jesus! )
   — FLUFFYVIC

December 9, 2008
The test you need is called an IVP; there are two kinds; voiding and nonvoiding. This test requires a dye but it will show if there are any structural abnormalities or tumors or anything. Go to a urologist. And if you need to go to the ER ask for pyridium that will relax and calm the kidney; does turn the urine orange. Anyway, good luck. And seek treatment ASAP. vinnigirl
   — vinnigirl

December 10, 2008
Ok, you said "supposedly" you have an infection. Were there tests saying that you do indeed have one? The CT scan showed nothing and you PC and Surgeon say all looks well. I Had this sort of pain before and was crippled by it. And I do mean crippled by it. My chiro did a hands on test of thumping on one side of my rib cage and because I had discomfort on the opposite side, she sent me to the ER for a possiblee infection. Turns out, I had a severely pulled muscle in that region of my back. Apparently the pulled muscle pain can feel like a kidney infection. I needed help out of bed, help to and from the sofa, help to go potty, I couldn't do anything because of the crippling pain. The ER did all the tests and that was their conclusion - pulled muscle. They gave me some muscle relaxers (10mg which was too high cos they would knock me unconcious LOL) and said to take OTC pain relievers. I went to my PC office and the NP gave me half the dose to keep me from konking out. I took them for a while and went to my chiro and it took about 2 weeks to be back to normal. I did have a few minor relapses after that but took a muscle relaxer before bed and woke up fine. You might want to ask about that.
   — ImanAbdulaziz

December 10, 2008
The CT would show kidney stones. If you are on antiboitics you have an kidney infection. Your urine needs to be cultured to see what antibioitics the bacteria is sensitive too. You could need a different one. But Also give youself enough time. Im not sure how long you have been sick, I would except you to feel poorly for about a week. Remember to drink more fluids. Im not sure if the pyridium mentioned above will be helpful. It ususlly used for UTI. Ask your doc
   — urbrat2

December 14, 2008
I had similar pain last summer - but it was at least the 3rd time in my life I had it...it was not connect to the WLS. Last summer when it came back...it wouldn't go away, and my dr sent me for an ultrasound, which showed my kidney was all messed up...and medevaced me to Singapore (I live in Indonesia), where they did a CT scan, an renal gram and some other tests...turns out I had something called UPJO (don't ask me what it stands for!) but basically it means I had a stricture in the urethra of my left kidney leading to the bladder...and it had become blocked years and years before and the kidney had basically been dead for 15-20 years...and had now become seriously infected. They drained an entire (literally) liter of pus out of it, then removed it laproscopically. I assume if yours was anything that serious, it should have shown up on the CT scan though... Plus, because I also have scoliosis, my kidney(s) are/were not in the 'normal' place...so the pain was not coming so much from my back as my side...so the previous times I had the infection and the drs would thump on my back, it didn't hurt there because my kidneys were lower into my pelvic region...so no one bothered to test it any of the other years I had it going on. Either way...I hope they find a simple solution to your problem...and that you're feeling better soon. I know kidney pain is a bitch...and since stones are supposed to be even more painful than what I had...I can't imagine what anyone w/them would be going through....and hope never to find out!
   — Hollywog

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