Can anyone with Kidney infection/UTI experience please ease my mind?

[Guest]

• I have been having what I guess is flank pain lately, comes and goes sometimes sharp, but also dull ache. All on one side of my back mid region.
• My doc felt it this morning pressed hard and I jumped, she said yep kidney and had my do a urine sample.
• It said there was "trace blood" and sent it off, which I guess doesn't come back for 5 days.
• She prescribed antibiotics to have on hand if I "start feeling worse / have a fever" because word for word she said I could go septic.

I have no other UTI / Kidney infection symptoms like pain urinating or weird colored urine, just the flank pain.

Now suddenly this evening I'm feeling feverish and checked, I'm at 99.6.

I am worried to take antibiotics if I don't actually need it, but also worried to not take it if this sounds like an infection.

Any input of those who have had a kidney infection before would be appreciated!! Did your temp spike very quickly/suddenly? Did you have other symptoms?

I hate that the doc put the ball in my court to decide.

[Alexis]

I’ve been through this, and sometimes if you’re petite in size- anyone grabbing/ pounding on your kidney will hurt it. My boyfriend is a physician associate and grabbed mine then hit it for fun and I yelped.

I was having intermittent back pain and UTI symptoms at the time. Urine came back with a uti but CT showed that it was not in the kidneys. My doctor told me that you’d be vomiting and have high fevers if it was in the kidneys. She said that there would be no doubt in your mind it had moved to the kidneys based on symptoms.

If you don’t want to start the antibiotics, and you aren’t running a fever (100.4°) then I’d suggest taking d-mannose and drinking tons of fluids. If you begin running a fever, vomiting, feeling extremely lethargic, etc then I would suggest taking the antibiotics.

[Jennifer]

I just took a round of antibiotics for nothing.

Thought I had a kidney infection and uti, started them, cultures were negative for infection. I finished taking them anyways. Turned out to be an ovarian cyst.

[Allison]

I had a kidney infection several years ago and did not have the normal uti symptoms. I had back pain for several days and one day I felt like I was feverish and very nauseous and went to the dr and they called to tell me I had a kidney infection a few days later.

[Lucy]

Please follow your doctor’s recommendations and take the antibiotics now that you have developed a fever. UTIs can travel to the kidneys and cause a lot of issues. Drink a lot of water and cranberry juice. A small amount of antibiotics is not going to hurt it’s usually when you have to constantly be on them when you could have issues.

[Kristy]

I had a kidney infection that started as a UTI after I gave birth to my son, didn’t know I had the UTI as I was healing from childbirth, I must of had it for about 3 months and ended up as a kidney infection and had to stay in hospital.

The pain I had with the kidney infection was a very constant sharp ache that hurt when I breathed. I was given Morphine and IV antibiotics in the hospital.

[Melina]

If your body temp is elevated it could very well be your body trying to fight the infection.

Take the antibiotics.

Worse case you don't need them. If it is an infection and you don't take them, it could get much worse.