flank pain, back pain and stomach pain

@cindyc Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I see this was your first post after joining the ranks a couple of months ago. There is a lot to read here, isn't there?!

How was the e.coli infection found, and why was there a suspicion of it?

Seeing that you are posting this in the kidney and bladder group, are you a chronic kidney disease [CKD] patient? From my experience, I had a bladder infection that went to my kidneys, and caused the exact pain you spoke of. I was already a CKD patient. There was unfortunately a substitute doctor when I went in, who insisted that "kidneys don't hurt". Well, they can and do! Did they do a dip stick or urinalysis and note any blood in your urine? [I ended up on antibiotics for three weeks]

I'll be waiting for your answers. Let's see who else responds to this discussion.
Ginger

@cindyc. My doctor's NP passed off my fever with no respiratory symptoms as a UTI. Within a few days I developed back and flank pain. I finally saw my doctor who was alarmed by the symptoms and sent me for an ultrasound. I had a very large kidney stone in the upper portion of my kidney that was too big to move. When I look back at that experience I realize that I was too ill and too non-assertive to advocate for myself.

I don't know if your pain could be due to e. Coli or gallstones as I have not experience either. Also, we aren't medical professionals on Mayo Clinic Connect so we can only share our own experiences and support you.

Your pain is telling you something. Does your provider use and respond to a patient portal? Or can you call your provider's office tomorrow and get an urgent appointment?

>I had a very large kidney stone in the upper portion of my kidney that was too big to move.

Do you still have the stone in your kidney, and if so, is your doctor following it via re-imaging at certain intervals, like every 6 months? I have a large stone in my lower pole but my doctor is not recommending removal unless there's a symptomatic event.

Thanks in advance of your reply.

I got sick over the weekend. The symptoms were flank, low abdominal & pelvic area pain; sudden & extreme urge to urinate with uncomfortable pressure but couldn’t pee; off color (cloudy & pinkish) urine plus funky smell. This seemed like symptoms of a urinary track infection (UTI). I’ve had them before. I also have chronic kidney disease (CKD stage 4). I’m always trying to protect my kidneys and maintain kidney function as best I can, so I decided to get myself checked out. I went to urgent care and was diagnosed with UTI and put on some antibiotics. I’m getting better now but when I was in pain and couldn’t get anything done other than sit on the toilet (on a weekend day especially), I’m glad I got it checked out. I tend to err on the side of caution and I’m glad I did. Hope & pray you are better soon.

Hi Cindy!
I'm sorry to hear of your pain. You might look up side effects of the nitrofurantoin on the Mayo Clinic website. That may be some of your problem. For pain, I often drink Gatorade. It balances your electrolytes which can help a lot. The lime flavor is mild and non-offensive. Also plain yogurt is a good protein and very soothing. And, just drinking a lot of water helps your body immensely.
I hope things get better! I'll remember you in my prayers.
PML

This all occurred over 20 years ago. I had inpatient and outpatient shock wave lithotripsy surgery to remove the kidney stone. By the time the kidney stone was found it was infected and had the infection continued I could have developed sepsis.

I followed up for a few years after that with periodic urinalyses to detect a UTI and fortunately I haven't had a kidney stone since that time.

I’ve had so many UTIs in my lifetime that I don’t even get a temperature or feel discomfort. My main indicators are cloudy urine, odor and frequency. You might want to get some urine dipsticks that test for UTIs. You can get them at any drugstore but I like to order ones that have more parameters especially including blood. You can get them on Amazon.

I'm glad your infection resolved. It's wonderful you're kidney stone free now. Thanks for sharing.