What to look for in my lab reports?

[Porphyrogennetos]

Hello community,

thank you for being here.

I am a male PKD patient in my fifties, mostly asymptomatic, CFK G3A1 with eGFR of around 70 . Was sent to the nephrologist by the hepatologist, as it turned out by means of imaging (CT with/without contrast) that my problem was more kidney than liver-related. Seen the nephrologist twice so far (next visit scheduled for within 9 months), had bloods, urine and 24 hours urine tested, but am now at a loss understanding my labs. I am more or less familiar with what to look for in coagulation and iron studies as well as in the proteinogram, but sure do have a hard time understanding what is important in kidney-related analytics.

Maybe some good soul could tell me what values to watch closely apart from eGFR so that I can better understand where I stand?

I have learned that A/Cr is an important value.

Also I have seen that in the last to years my serum crestinine has been steadily rising (from 0.8 to 1.2). Is that due to the progress of PKD, or could that be related to supplement intake? Since when my (liver) issues started in 2015, I've been taken B1, B6, B12 (rather strong dosage) as well as ridiculously high amounts of lecithin (20-25g/day). I know by now that was not very smart

TIA,

P.

[dizzydi]

Hello there. Are you in the UK or US etc? Your eGFR for your age is actually good. The higher the eGFR and over 60 eGFR is generally classed as normal and the lower the Creatinine the better too. I am 49 years old and my eGFR is at 22% (eGFR) and my Creatinine around 207. We have so much to take into account with our lab results, for example, Potassium, Blood Count and Iron levels etc as they all important for our kidneys. Our eGFR and Creatinine fluctuate all the time, every day. It's good that your already under a Nephrologist, they will keep a track on your blood results. Anyway, I am in the UK and I receive my results online, if your in the UK I can try posting up what these numbers mean, as they may differ a bit in the US table. Hopefully, you will get more replies on this to help you understand more on this and how it all works, but let me know if your in the UK and i will get the info from my patient view for you of what these numbers mean x Thank you x

[Porphyrogennetos in reply to dizzydi]

Thank you very much. I do not have online access to my stats, but am given sheets with the results of all the values tested as well as the reference ranges. My excretion values in ml/dl are all below the minimum range, but that is probably owed to the increased urine output (>4000ml/24 hours) which seems to be related to PKD.

Best,

P.

[spminer]

You want to watch for these:

Creatine

BUN

Potassium

Protein

Your numbers look great to be honest and would make many of us envious. The fact that the nephrologist wants you back in 9 months is also a good sign.

I would however stop the Lecithin which is soy. Why such a huge dose?

Limit red meat. Avoid as much sugar and sodium as possible ( crucial ) and drink lots of water daily.

Due to your liver problem you already know to avoid pain meds like Ibuprofen and Aleve which are dangerous to the kidney as well.

Hope this helps,

S

[Zazzel]

Ditto, but I also have hematuria (blood in urine), so I have "blood urine qualitative " and "RBC urine" tested which shows the amount of blood in urine- which there should not be any.