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What Causes Swelling In Calves And Ankles After Kidney Stone Removal?
Question: Seven months ago I was hospitalized with a severe UTI and sepsis. While in the hospital, I also caught a staph infection. Three months after that session, I had a kidney stone (first one ever) and since it wouldn't pass I had surgery to retrieve it. Since that time, I have become very thirsty, had a dull ache in my lower abdomen, and have had a couple of incidents of bed wetting which has NEVER happened before. No fever, clear urine, only other complaint is swollen calves, ankles and feet every so often. Never had ANY of these problems at all until after the sepsis and kidney stone surgery. I don't have very good insurance (am looking into Obamacare) and I am still paying off the bills from my sepsis stay and my kidney stone surgery. I hate going back and having endless tests and expenses and finding out it is actually nothing to be alarmed about. Could you please help me? I am a female age 65 and feel like I have suddenly turned 165. I have always been very healthy.......I'm so frustrated now. Can you help me?
Brief Answer:
swelling of legs
Detailed Answer:
High XXXX
having a kidney stone or urine infection is not something out of place,
but the problems i could understand from your description are-
Swelling in legs and ankle- this is a very important sign of kidney disease- you have to reduce your liquid intake to < 1.5 litre a day including all liquids till the swelling goes away. You have to meet a doctor to get investigated for extent of kidney involvement with the help of following tests.- urine spot protein creatinine ratio , urine routine, and serum creatinine. these are bare minimum investigations to detect kidney damage. you should be cautious in selecting painkillers use, only kidney safe ones like tramadol and paracetamol should be used. Pain killer use can itself lead to kidney damage. I think you should give more importance to this symptom of swelling of legs.
As far as symptom of bed wetting. i need to know that in day time when you get the urge to pass urine is it so fast that you need to rush to the toilet. or you can hold for some time. do you drink a lot of water before going to bed.
You should not be frustrated. every one has problems and usually they will settle down with guidance.
As far as avoiding a meeting with your doctor- i don't think it is a correct step.
Best wishes.
swelling of legs
Detailed Answer:
High XXXX
having a kidney stone or urine infection is not something out of place,
but the problems i could understand from your description are-
Swelling in legs and ankle- this is a very important sign of kidney disease- you have to reduce your liquid intake to < 1.5 litre a day including all liquids till the swelling goes away. You have to meet a doctor to get investigated for extent of kidney involvement with the help of following tests.- urine spot protein creatinine ratio , urine routine, and serum creatinine. these are bare minimum investigations to detect kidney damage. you should be cautious in selecting painkillers use, only kidney safe ones like tramadol and paracetamol should be used. Pain killer use can itself lead to kidney damage. I think you should give more importance to this symptom of swelling of legs.
As far as symptom of bed wetting. i need to know that in day time when you get the urge to pass urine is it so fast that you need to rush to the toilet. or you can hold for some time. do you drink a lot of water before going to bed.
You should not be frustrated. every one has problems and usually they will settle down with guidance.
As far as avoiding a meeting with your doctor- i don't think it is a correct step.
Best wishes.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
Dear Doctor Bansal.
The swelling of my legs and feet come and goes. I can go a week or two without it, and then it pops up again. Usually it goes away within a few hours if I put my feet up and stay down for a short bit of time. I have been drinking a lot lately because my doctor told me to drink two liters of liquid a day to keep my urine an almost clear color, and to keep myself hydrated. I have been doing that, so I am drinking more liquid than usual. I WILL TAKE IN LESS FLUIDS WHEN MY LEGS AND FEET SWELL and use that to control it. Perhaps I will not drink as much liquid as I have been........I used to not drink hardly ANYTHING, then had the sepsis and was told to drink so much to keep hydrated. I will cut the amount down to the 1.5 liter a day and see if that helps me at all.
I NEVER have to go to the bathroom in a rush. I just seem to have to go more at night than I used to do. I don't know if that is tied to the fact I have been taking in so much more liquid than I did before the kidney stone. My problem at night a few times has been I am in such a sound sleep that I don't wake up until it is too late. It hasn't happened many times......only about seven, but I think that is seven too many. I drink liquids right until I get into bed at night, so I am drinking all day and night. Maybe too much????? The doctor said that drinking the two to three liters of liquid would help flush out my system and keep me from getting any more kidney stones. Maybe I am overdoing it.
I will contact my GP and ask him if he could run the tests on me that you suggested. I truly appreciate your advice on the kidney matter.
Do you think the lower front abdominal dull pain is caused by my kidneys or bladder not working correctly? Since I have NEVER had a UTI before I came down with sepsis and was hospitalized for it, I think it is odd that I have had two UTI's since being hospitalized. Like I said, the first one had a bacterial infection in my bladder, and this last one showed strep in my bladder. Do you think I have a kidney AND bladder problem?
Thank you for you time and passing on your knowledge. It is comforting to be able to get your opinion on things. If you could answer the questions I have in this follow up question, I would really appreciate it. Thanks... XXXXXXX Okay.....here I am again waiting for an answer. I thought that I was supposed to have an ongoing talk with the specialist, thus the chance to write a follow up question. I asked my follow up question over 24 hours ago, and still no answer.
I was under the impression that the $29 was for a whole month of interaction. I guess if your site considers one question and then ignores the rest for the upcoming month, there is nothing I can do about it.
I am saddened by the fact that this site hasn't lived up to it's promise of " We offer 24x7 almost instant, detailed, personalized answers to all of your medical queries."
I was really hoping for some sincere help here. I am just needing some help. I have always been told.....if it seems too good to be true.....it IS too good to be true.
So sorry you weren't able to follow up for me. I'm so disappointed.
The swelling of my legs and feet come and goes. I can go a week or two without it, and then it pops up again. Usually it goes away within a few hours if I put my feet up and stay down for a short bit of time. I have been drinking a lot lately because my doctor told me to drink two liters of liquid a day to keep my urine an almost clear color, and to keep myself hydrated. I have been doing that, so I am drinking more liquid than usual. I WILL TAKE IN LESS FLUIDS WHEN MY LEGS AND FEET SWELL and use that to control it. Perhaps I will not drink as much liquid as I have been........I used to not drink hardly ANYTHING, then had the sepsis and was told to drink so much to keep hydrated. I will cut the amount down to the 1.5 liter a day and see if that helps me at all.
I NEVER have to go to the bathroom in a rush. I just seem to have to go more at night than I used to do. I don't know if that is tied to the fact I have been taking in so much more liquid than I did before the kidney stone. My problem at night a few times has been I am in such a sound sleep that I don't wake up until it is too late. It hasn't happened many times......only about seven, but I think that is seven too many. I drink liquids right until I get into bed at night, so I am drinking all day and night. Maybe too much????? The doctor said that drinking the two to three liters of liquid would help flush out my system and keep me from getting any more kidney stones. Maybe I am overdoing it.
I will contact my GP and ask him if he could run the tests on me that you suggested. I truly appreciate your advice on the kidney matter.
Do you think the lower front abdominal dull pain is caused by my kidneys or bladder not working correctly? Since I have NEVER had a UTI before I came down with sepsis and was hospitalized for it, I think it is odd that I have had two UTI's since being hospitalized. Like I said, the first one had a bacterial infection in my bladder, and this last one showed strep in my bladder. Do you think I have a kidney AND bladder problem?
Thank you for you time and passing on your knowledge. It is comforting to be able to get your opinion on things. If you could answer the questions I have in this follow up question, I would really appreciate it. Thanks... XXXXXXX Okay.....here I am again waiting for an answer. I thought that I was supposed to have an ongoing talk with the specialist, thus the chance to write a follow up question. I asked my follow up question over 24 hours ago, and still no answer.
I was under the impression that the $29 was for a whole month of interaction. I guess if your site considers one question and then ignores the rest for the upcoming month, there is nothing I can do about it.
I am saddened by the fact that this site hasn't lived up to it's promise of " We offer 24x7 almost instant, detailed, personalized answers to all of your medical queries."
I was really hoping for some sincere help here. I am just needing some help. I have always been told.....if it seems too good to be true.....it IS too good to be true.
So sorry you weren't able to follow up for me. I'm so disappointed.
Brief Answer:
uti
Detailed Answer:
XXXX
I was travelling and could not get to see the follow-up query
i still feel that you are taking lot more fluid then 2 litres . i would suggest you to keep two bottles of water filled every morning ( 1L each) and take all your liquids from that only. Like if you take a glass of milk you fill the empty glass with water from your bottle and throw it. like this the 2 bottles act like a measure of your liquid intake. I think your intake once measured would exceed 2 litres.
When you lie down at night the body water from swelling is mobilized and enters the blood compartment and thus there is more urination at night in patients with swelling.
good that you agree for the investigations.
lower front abdominal pain can be part of UTI cystitis- if the urine shows pus cells ( WBCs).
Even if you never had UTI earlier You can develop UTI. But i don't think you should be scared of it. bacteria and strep are same things they are variety of bacteria
Only way to assess if the kidney has become damaged s by blood testing for serum creatinine levels.
Best wishes.
uti
Detailed Answer:
XXXX
I was travelling and could not get to see the follow-up query
i still feel that you are taking lot more fluid then 2 litres . i would suggest you to keep two bottles of water filled every morning ( 1L each) and take all your liquids from that only. Like if you take a glass of milk you fill the empty glass with water from your bottle and throw it. like this the 2 bottles act like a measure of your liquid intake. I think your intake once measured would exceed 2 litres.
When you lie down at night the body water from swelling is mobilized and enters the blood compartment and thus there is more urination at night in patients with swelling.
good that you agree for the investigations.
lower front abdominal pain can be part of UTI cystitis- if the urine shows pus cells ( WBCs).
Even if you never had UTI earlier You can develop UTI. But i don't think you should be scared of it. bacteria and strep are same things they are variety of bacteria
Only way to assess if the kidney has become damaged s by blood testing for serum creatinine levels.
Best wishes.
Note: For further queries related to kidney problems and comprehensive renal care, talk to a Nephrologist. Click here to Book a Consultation.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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