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Original poster

Urinery/kidney reflux...any experience of it?

24 replies

DelGirl · 03/04/2006 16:08

DD has been diagnosed with reflux today and is on prophylaxis antibiotics. Just wondered if anyone has any experience of this please?

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Bethron · 03/04/2006 16:31

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Original poster
DelGirl · 03/04/2006 16:34

Thanks Bethron Smile

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Bethron · 03/04/2006 16:35

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Original poster
DelGirl · 03/04/2006 16:39

She's 1 in 2 weeks. She's been on the anti b's since the end of January. I'm not seeing the consultant until the 28th. I'm not overly stressed about it, hopefully there is no need to be just would like to hear of other experiences. Did your ds have a urine infection?

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Ledodgy · 03/04/2006 16:43

My ds was suspected to have this before birth but it turned out he was fine however I did research the topic. It usually means low dose antibiotics everyday for around four years till they grow out of it to prevent urine infection or worst case senario a small routine operation to clear/widen the uretha. All in all it's nothing at all to worry about.

Original poster
DelGirl · 03/04/2006 16:45

4 years Shock. I knew it maybe until she's out of nappies. I have read that some grow out of it by the age of 5.

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Original poster
DelGirl · 03/04/2006 16:47

I'm glad it has been detected early. At least it reduces the risk of further infection and possible kidney damage.

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Original poster
DelGirl · 03/04/2006 17:06

bump

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Bethron · 03/04/2006 17:11

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Chapsmum · 03/04/2006 18:37

delgirl, I had repeated UTI's as a child and now nly have one kidney due to the other being sa badly damaged from an early infection. I am fairly clued up on this subject. what would you like to know?

Original poster
DelGirl · 03/04/2006 18:41

sorry to hear that chapsmum. Don't know really, I suppose what check ups are you given, how long have children been on the anti b's. Any other problems, that kind of thing and if they grew out of it.

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Chapsmum · 03/04/2006 18:46

ah in that case have some info, making the wee chaps dinner but will post it all later!

Chapsmum · 03/04/2006 20:34

how old is your wee one?
reflux is the abnormal pathway of urine from the bladder back to the kidneys.
THis in itself is not particulaly harmful, however during the first two years of life the kidneys can become scarred from infection very easily. If a child has a UTI or cystitis and has reflux the infected urine travels very easily from the bladder into the kidneys and this is where the problems start.
prophilatic antibiotics antibiotics usually prevent infections from occuring in the first place but do not stop the reflux.
from the kidney to the bladder there is a dranige tube called a uriter it is a bit like a straw with a valve on the end. This valve should let fluid in but not out. Sometimes in children whe the bladder is full the vavle closes shut and the urine cannot flow from the kidney, therefor it refluxes back the way. In other children the valve itself is leaky.
In both cases this usually rights itself in time.
your wee probably will grow out of it by the age of 16 if not before.
I had urine cultures sent off monthly(but only because my mum did not want to have me on the antibiotics)
your wee one will have culteres every three months and yearly checks untill this problem resolves. The only way to tell will be another cystoscopy.
has your dd had the dye test to see if her kidneys have been affected?

Original poster
DelGirl · 03/04/2006 21:16

Thanks for that info chapsmum. She had the mcug today with the dye and it showed the left side had reflux. I think they said the kidney looked ok but I'll find out more at the outpatient appt. She's 1 btw. How old were you when it was discovered if you don't mond me asking?

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Chapsmum · 03/04/2006 21:27

I can remeber it so must have been three, but it was only discovered as one of my kidneys was so bad. My reflux was due to a kink in one of my uriters

agalch · 04/04/2006 07:05

My eldest ds now 14.5 had a blocked ureter from the age of 4.5 till he was 9 and thankfully had an operation.His kidney was damaged but not so badly that it was useless.He and i were ridiculed every time he had to be taken to see the doctor.They said he was attention seeking because i am a childminder and busy with other kids all day!!He was only diagnosed because i saw a boy on a childrens hospital programme and recognised the symptoms and problems he had.Went to doc and demanded a scan and he had the dye thing done and hey presto off to sick kids and operation a few weeks later.Your dd will be fine as they at least know there is a problem.

Chapsmum i feel for you,i will never forget my son being in agony all those years,a doc told me that renal pain is similar to labour pains,ouchShock

Marie12 · 04/04/2006 11:54

My son has got kidney reflux, he is 10 months old and it was discovered when I was pregnant with him. Sonographer noticed one of his kidneys didn't empty when I was having a scan.

He has been on trimethoprim every day pretty much since birth and will remain on it until he is at least 3/4 years old. He has several (some invasive) tests to check the extent of it and whether his kidneys are scarred.

The abs are to prevent urine infections which can scar the kidney tissue. He has nly had one infection so far and that was during a period when he wasn't on abs (long story).

It is worrying but the consultants have reassured me that most of the time it is something that they 'grow out of' and they will check him every 6 months to a year to make sure it hasn't got worse. If he doesn't grow out of it, it will require an operation to correct but that is a last resort.

gigglinggoblin · 04/04/2006 12:17

hello, ds1 and 2 both had this. they are now 7 and 5 and have both grown out of it

ds1 became ill when he was about 3 months old, he got ill so fast we took him to casualty where they immediately started treating him for meningitis. turned out to be a urine infection caused by reflux kidney. ds2 was tested because it runs in families, he has never had an infection as he went straight onto antibiotics

it didnt really have much effect on their daily lives, other than the antibiotics - they both started rebelling against them when they got to be about 2, so that wasnt much fun! other than that the only thing that i had to do differently was be vigilant and if it looked like one of them was getting an infection take a urine sample to the docs quickly just in case (antibiotics dont work completely).

they had 6 monthly checks for the first few years, then the last couple were yearly. getting a urine sample was always the biggest problem. until they can wee on demand they used to stuff their nappy with a sterile pad which they could then squeeze the wee out of to check for any sign of infection. after a while i got organised and took the pads home so i could do the sample before we went into the out patient clinic - we were in there for 4 hours once as ds1 refused to wee!

hope this helps, im sure you wont have any problems now it has been diagnosed :)

Original poster
DelGirl · 04/04/2006 12:48

Oh thank you all so much for your posts Smile.

dd had an infection in Janaury and ended up being ambulanced as she had a 'rigal' fit as her temperature was so high. She'd seen a doctor twice and 3 doctors in the hospital also checked her for meningitis. I'm so twitchy now when she has a high temp which seems to be every week. I'm going to mention that to the consultant when I see him/her though it's probably to do with all the coughs & colds and bugs she's been getting since starting nursery. You'd think the low dose trimethoprim would help a little!

It took 4 hours to get dd's wee sample too when she was in the hospital. She had a pad put on but unfortunately something else contaminated it on the way to it being tested and I then had her sat on my knee for 4 hours with a pot underneath her.

I know it's good that they've caught it early and hopefully there's no damage done (win't know until the OP appt) and it sounds promising that it's something she'll grow out of.

I do wonder whether this is what's wrong with me or was in the past. I used to have problems as a child and have had 2 lots of kidney stones, 1 of which has recently been blasted.

Thanks again Smile

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Christie · 04/04/2006 12:59

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Original poster
DelGirl · 06/04/2006 20:41

Hi Christie, i'm glad your dd is ok now Smile

I mentioned it to my sister today and she wondered whether it has any effect on potty training at all? Not training dd as she's only 12 months but I thought i'd ask Did you have many wet beds etc?

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Christie · 06/04/2006 23:39

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elastamum · 06/04/2006 23:47

My DS1 had this problem as he had a blocked ureter. He had surgery at 7 months and was on antibiotics for 2 years but he is absolutely fine now and just has a check up at GOSH every 2 years. We never had any probelms with the antibiotics, you just need to keep getting the dose adjusted as they get heavier.

FastasleepInABunnySuit · 06/04/2006 23:56

Hey elastamum my DS had exactly that prob! (Not used to bumping into people who've had the same thing!)

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