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What Causes Severe Pain In The Legs Post Treatment For Kidney Infection?
Question: For six days I have had fevers running 101-102.6, chills, headache, malaise, fatigue diagnosed with kidney infection on 11/22 and I received rocephin IM and PO Cipro. On 11/23 became very dizzy went back to the nurse practitioner b/p was 88/53. They gave me a bolus of IV fluids and sent me to ER where I got 2 more boluses and Rocephin IV and after r/o a stone they sent me home on levaquin. 11/25 I broke out in a diffuse rash not highly puretic went back to nurse practitioner. B/p low again another bolus and more Rocephin IV. changed PO meds to macrobid 100mg tid. The next day my legs have begun to hurt. I cant stand longer than a few minutes without excrutiating pain. If I dangle my legs its the same thing. My arms are slightly effected but not to the extent of my legs. Went back to ER they r/o blood clot but did no other labs. I go back to the nurse practitioner tomorrow so she can send me for labs. What labs should I ask to be ran other than CBC and CMP?
Brief Answer:
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXXX
Without the advantage of examining you and seeing all your test results, I can only share I do have a few thoughts:
1. Cipro and Levaquin are both fluroquinalones, and all antibiotics in this class have the potential for causing achilles tendon rupture and other musculoskeletal damage. There is a black box warning on this type of antibiotic for this reason. The doctor should check your legs for this.
2. At this point I think you need to see a real doctor (not just at the ER), rather than a nurse practitioner. You are too sick and your problems are too complicated for a nurse practitioner.
3. While I understand you may have had pyelonephritis, given the duration of your symptoms, I'd also get a chest X-ray for occult infection/pneumonia.
4. When you were diagnosed with pyelonephritis, was a complete culture and sensitivity test done by the lab? Whenever there is an infection anywhere in the urinary tract, in addition to a urinalysis, a urine specimen should be sent to the lab for culturing (which takes 2-3 days) and after the bacteria is isolated (culture), then a sensitivity test is done. The sensitivity test involves testing the bacteria against a series of different antibiotics and a ranking of sensitive, resistant, or intermediate/partially sensitive is given. It can turn out that the antibiotics they prescribed are not effective enough (partially sensitive or resistant) and you need something else.
Those are some of my thoughts and I hope they help.
Information
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXXX
Without the advantage of examining you and seeing all your test results, I can only share I do have a few thoughts:
1. Cipro and Levaquin are both fluroquinalones, and all antibiotics in this class have the potential for causing achilles tendon rupture and other musculoskeletal damage. There is a black box warning on this type of antibiotic for this reason. The doctor should check your legs for this.
2. At this point I think you need to see a real doctor (not just at the ER), rather than a nurse practitioner. You are too sick and your problems are too complicated for a nurse practitioner.
3. While I understand you may have had pyelonephritis, given the duration of your symptoms, I'd also get a chest X-ray for occult infection/pneumonia.
4. When you were diagnosed with pyelonephritis, was a complete culture and sensitivity test done by the lab? Whenever there is an infection anywhere in the urinary tract, in addition to a urinalysis, a urine specimen should be sent to the lab for culturing (which takes 2-3 days) and after the bacteria is isolated (culture), then a sensitivity test is done. The sensitivity test involves testing the bacteria against a series of different antibiotics and a ranking of sensitive, resistant, or intermediate/partially sensitive is given. It can turn out that the antibiotics they prescribed are not effective enough (partially sensitive or resistant) and you need something else.
Those are some of my thoughts and I hope they help.
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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