Ultrasound Showed Right Kidney Has Shrunk

Hi Lorraine

I had a scan on my kidneys due to never ending kidney/UTIs and it was shown that my right kidney had shriveled and was only working at 25% my left kidney however was good and doing all the work, I too was put on nitrofurantoin daily ongoing as a preventative measure, after a few weeks of taking it I began to feel nauseous until after about 6 weeks I became ill, was rushed into hospital to find that my gfr had dropped from 60 to 18, I've never felt so I'll in my life, it turns out that the cause of the nitrofurantoin, it had caused a kidney injury, they say I had an allergic reaction to it, however I was told that with my gfr going to and down that I should have had blood tests to see if my gfr was high enough to have been started on the antibiotic, the last gfr I had was less than 50 before I had the nitrofurantoin and so shouldn't have been prescribed it, I was ill for months and on steroids, I now have a damaged left kidney as well as the shriveled right kidney, so I'm worse off than before, my gfr is now stable at 50, the good thing to have come out of it is that the nephrologist advised me to drink at least 4 pints of water a day, which I do and it's kept me free of UTIs ever since, the nitrofurantoin did nothing to help as a preventative, only injure my good kidney, the water has kept me infection free, maybe speak to your nephrologist about drinking more, I now wee a lot more and am out of pain, I don't know if this will help 😊

Hi Lorraine about four years ago I went fo a scan for something entirely unrelated and found my left kidney had shrunk to nothing ,since then I had a regular check up ie blood tests two years later I started seeing ,by chance another doctor in the same practice who has really taken me on board ,,my remaining kidney is at 50 % I have other issues ,polymybalgia being tested at moment for vascullitis ,,I have blood tests ever2/3 weeks take one blood pressure tablet to protect kidney ,,on steroids plus iron tablets ,,don’t like taking meds cos of damaging kidney .drinking loads of water does help a lot ,,I have to get up several times in night ,,but persevere with the water I have glasses of it dotted around the house ,I also drink tonic water which helps with cramps ,,like you I have had water /kidney infections all my life ,but sadly these things weren’t dealt with like they are now ,,do you get tired in afternoons -I have been recommended the very bland diet cos of very high pottassium and must say has made me feel a lot better although boring ,,keep in touch 

 

I know how scary this can be but remember millions of people live normal lives with 1 kidney! My story: I developed stage 3 kidney disease after bladder cancer. 1 kidney was 20% functioning, the other 80% . I was ok for 10 years then kidney infections began. After months of this I went to my urologist who gave me radioactive tests to see my kidney function. The 20% one is tiny & non-functioning. They put a stent thru my back into my kidney & down my ureter to push thru scarring. Unfortunately it came out but the infections have stopped, & unless they start again I will be fine. I have to drink lots of water & stop sodas. I've got other health issues not related to my kidneys but am so happy not to feel sick from infections I have found new strength to get in better shape. Friends say I'm glowing!

Best of luck & please post your test results for us!

Thanks guys , I really appreciate your comments & I'll certainly let you all know what's said on Thursday. Im guessing I'll be having more scans & bloods taken. X

hi

with an egfr of 87 you have absolutely nothing kidney related to worry about, your tiny kidney and normal kidney are doing a good job! Good luck with other health issues