Suggest Treatment For Fever When Diagnosed With Kidney Failure

Posted on Sun, 2 Aug 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 2 Aug 2015 Answered on

Tue, 25 Aug 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : My father is hospitalized with a fever following a diagnosis of kidney failure. The disgnose came two weeks ago. After being transferred to a long term acute hospital to see if his kidneys would bounce back after dialysis, it appeared that he was in good shape other than kidneys (the kidney failure was caused by huge prostrate that blocked urination and led to huge bladder). After a few days he developed high fevers and they suspected an infection so he was transferred back to hospital. There it seems that he has gotten worse and the fever never really goes away for good. He has c diff, but they dont think that is the problem because it is mild. He has now. Developed myoclonic jerking and twitching and the doctors say that is related to the antibiotics and their toxins. They are not worried about that even though he is very confused often and cannot really talk. The next step is a white blood cell scan. I am really worried but doctors dont appear to be too concered even though he is in icu and is really frail and cannot eat. Is it typical for someone to have such a fever that will go to 103 before coming down with tylenol to have such a sustained 5-6 day fever?

Answered by Dr. Kathy Robinson (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
not typical to have such fevers

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
I am sorry that your father is so sick.
When someone is having fevers that come and go up to 103 degrees it is a sign of a significant infection.
Sometimes is it very difficult to find the cause of fevers like that. In other cases it is difficult to find the correct antibiotic to treat the infection due to resistant organisms that sometimes do not respond to the antibiotics.
When older people are very sick and in the ICU it is not unusual for them to be confused. The older we get the more susceptible our brains become to fluctuations in temperature and environment.
Once his infectioin clears hopefully he will become mentally clear again and the jerking and twitching will stop.
The jerking movements can be due to medications but they could also be due to his infection or kidney failure. When kidneys fail sometimes toxins build up that can cause muscle or nerve irritation that results in jerking movements.
Please let me know if you have further questions.
Dr. Robinson

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Kathy Robinson (2 hours later)

Thank you. This is what they are telling us. It is very scary right now. I just hope the white cell scan helps them find the source. Thank you .

Answered by Dr. Kathy Robinson (18 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
you are welcome

Detailed Answer:
I hope they find and can treat the source of infection soon.
Many blessings to you and your family
Dr. Robinson

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar