What to do if you have a Kidney Infection

When you have a kidney infection, a condition known as pyelonephritis, you suffer from an infection that has moved up from the bladder and into the kidney organs.  A kidney infection can affect one or both of the kidneys at the same time.  When the infection hits the kidneys, you’ll have a great deal of pain in your kidneys (in your back) and you may have cloudy or bloody urine and you’ll likely have a fever.

You may have nausea and vomiting.  You may feel the constant urge to urinate. A kidney infection can be sudden (acute) or it can come on slowly and be chronic in nature.
Some causes of your kidney infection include being pregnant, having diabetes, having cancer or kidney stones and having a structural problem with your lower urinary tract that contributes to getting a kidney infection.  If you are sick and have a catheter in your bladder, you are also more likely to have gotten the kidney infection.  Women can get bladder or kidney infections after having sex.

A kidney infection can lead to a serious blood infection so you should seek medical attention as soon as you feel you may have a kidney infection.  A trip to the emergency room is not out of the question.  The doctor will examine you and will take samples of your blood and urine.  If you are sick enough, the doctor may decide to put you in the hospital and provide you with intravenous antibiotics.
With a kidney infection, your white blood cell count will likely be increased; there will be blood and infection fighting cells in the urine and bacteria will probably grow out from a urine culture (but this takes one to two days to return).  If left untreated, labs may show evidence of kidney failure or kidney damage. 

When you go to the emergency room for a kidney infection, they will check your vital signs, including the amount of oxygen in your blood.  You will have the tests mentioned above and will probably receive an IV in your arm to receive extra liquids.  Antibiotics for the infection can be given through the IV as well and will reach the kidneys faster than oral antibiotics.  There are specific antibiotics that work very well for this type of infection.  Sometimes, the doctor will prescribe antibiotics by IV and will switch to oral antibiotics after you get better.

With your kidney infection, you may have a degree of pain such that the doctor will prescribe pain killing medications.  You may also be prescribed medications for nausea and be given extra fluids in the IV if you can’t drink enough fluids yourself.  After you are better, you will be able to eat regular food.  You may need to undergo further testing to determine why you got the infection in the first place.  An IVP or intravenous pyelogram will tell whether or not the structure of your urinary system is normal or not.  You may need an ultrasound of your kidneys or a cystoscopy, a test that actually looks inside your bladder, to see the cause behind your kidney infection.