Acute Kidney Injury and Ileostomy - Seeking Advice

Hi all, I have just got out of the hospital after an acute kidney injury. This is my second one, the last being 4 years ago. The doctors are saying this is happening because I have a high output, which I have had since the ileostomy was done 12 years ago. Does anybody have this happen to them? It is scary how quickly my kidneys packed in, and I wonder how I can stop it from happening again.

Hi Freyamac, I don't have a ileostomy. I have a colostomy. I do get a lot of UTIs. Not sure if this is caused from the colostomy or not, but I did not used to have them. Not sure exactly what acute kidney injury is.

Hi Freyamac,

Can you give us some more info on this? When you say "kidney injury," are you talking about kidney failure or kidney stones or something else? Not sure what having a high output has to do with your kidneys, that's why I'm asking. If you're constantly dehydrated, you could clog your kidneys with the waste it filters and/or cause stones. And if you're having urinary tract infections like Lovely is talking about and not getting them treated, you can damage your kidneys... but other than that, I'm not aware of why having high output would be connected to kidney problems. Please elaborate if you can.

Thanks,

Bob

Hi Bob, it is failure of the kidneys this time. I went from okay to total kidney failure in 2 days. I then ended up admitted for 4 weeks, the first week spent in intensive care. The treatment was just liters of fluids with salts and everything else my body needed replaced until my kidneys recovered. I had gotten very confused over the 2 days and though I felt okay, my daughter who called the ambulance said I looked and sounded as if I was totally doped up to my eyeballs and was talking a load of rubbish. The blame was all put on my stomach output being high, though to me it is my normal loose output and I have been banned from drinking coke and coffee and have to drink a liter of dioralyte instead. Water is also seemingly bad if you have an ileostomy, but other than that and now weekly blood tests to give warning if it's happening again, they don't seem to have advice on how to prevent it happening again. I wondered if it happened to others and how they managed the problem. nbsp

Hi Frey,

The leading causes of kidney failure are diabetes and high blood pressure, so assuming you don't have either of those, then dehydration becomes a more valid possibility. Do you check your hydration level frequently? The easiest way is the skin pull test and checking the color of your urine. From the way they treated you, it sounds like pretty standard dehydration that ostomates get. Check out the link below as it explains it pretty well. You need to start mixing up your own oral rehydration solutions (ORS) unless you like the taste of the commercial ones, which no one does. Read that link and then I can fill in the blanks or answer any questions you have.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.buckshealthcare.nhs.uk/Downloads/Patient-leaflets-gastroenterology/Gastro2520inflammatory2520bowel2520disease/Dehydration.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjT8YSezaPnAhX8lXIEHRgbAbYQFjAMegQIAhAB&usg=AOvVaw2fD6WRmZbKSVT3EN5aQwGR&cshid=1580122251346

Regards,

Bob

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

Thanks Bob, very helpful. Yes, the doctors definitely blamed severe dehydration and I am now drinking a litre a day of St. Marks, which is an ORS solution they recommended. My worry is the lack of warning I seem to get as my output is very high. I am always fighting the battle to keep hydrated. Hope the ORS helps, but would love a way to stop the high output.  

Freyamac,

I had this happen to me back in May, roughly a month after surgery.

I was drinking as much as one could hope, but my poor little 6 feet of gut just wasn't absorbing enough water to catch up with what I was losing through my gut. I was a day and a half away from needing dialysis. I was readmitted to the hospital where we pushed lactated ringers. It took about a week for my kidneys to recover enough to go home.

Now the bad news. I came home needing to infuse a liter of lactated ringers every day by way of a PICC line they installed before releasing me. I continue to infuse every day. I'm working on using ORS mixes in my water, but as yet it hasn't made enough difference to even consider tapering off the IV.

Believe me, I didn't see this coming and my decline was remarkable. It's like wading in a pool. You notice maybe it's getting deeper, but there's a heck of a drop-off when you finally reach the deep end.

Once you reach that tipping point, things happen really quickly.

Dave

Hi Dave, yes, as you say, it's the speed with which it happens that is what's scary. I saw my daughter on Friday, and when I saw her on Monday, she was so worried by how I was that she took me straight to the hospital. They said that any later and my kidneys would have failed completely. That is what's worrying.

Good discussion and hope you're on a path to full recovery. I've had an ileostomy for nearly 30 years and have been hospitalized a few times due to severe kidney stones, requiring surgery once. Best take away I can share is that my urologist said to drink fluids with citric acid. I was an iced tea junkie but tea apparently can help create stones when combined with dehydration. Sure hope things get better and folks like us need to drink a lot of water gang.

Google it!  Very serious condition where the kidneys start to fail. Some people have to have dialysis. 

Can be caused by some meds or excessive vomiting. 

I had it 2 years ago. Fortunately, it resolved quickly after IV fluids and close monitoring in the hospital.