Gfr went from 98 to 73 in 6 months?

[Oopsyadaisy]

My grf has dropped from 98 to 73 in 6 months and im stressed. Ive always had concerns with my kidneys as ive had two things i thiugh strange. I cant eat bananas as my pottssioum would skyrocket. I cant drink to much water or my potassium plummetts. The ultrasound done was fine but i dont trust it. The only thing Ive done that im aware of is take flora liquid iron because i was so low and moved to a new house. And i notice my inflamation marker is very high. My blood pressure is normal im a thin person. Has anybody else experienced this?

[MAS_Nurse]

Hello Oopsydaisy

Thank you for your message and welcome to this community.

I am sorry that you have some concerns. Our members are very supportive and knowledgeable so may be able to offer you helpful information to answer your question.

You might find the following websites helpful.

Www.kidneyresearch.org

Www.nhs.uk/conditions/kidney-disease

Keep in touch

Best wishes

[Teshie27]

inflamation marker...first time I've heard of it. did you request for that test or was it your Doctor?

[Teshie27]

Diseases that can cause inflammation:

asthma.

chronic peptic ulcer.

tuberculosis.

rheumatoid arthritis.

periodontitis.

ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

sinusitis.

active hepatitis.

(I just googled it)

[Marvin8]

A million different things can cause inflammation. The standard test for measuring it is c-reactive protein, which is normally part of a blood workup.

[RickHow]

You seem very much involved in monitoring your testing and results. A good thing of course. But I am reading your post that you are perhaps self analyzing a little too much. First and foremost it seems your doctor certainly is doing all the necessary testing. Blood, ultrasound, potassium levels, etc. But you do not mention what he/she tells you about these results. I too had potassium that was on the low side. My doctor(s) said lets wait and do another test in 3 months. It was steady but a bit low (I too drink 60 to 70 ounces of water daily). They had me add a small yogurt to my diet once a day, or twice if I wanted. Levels went to normal and remain around there. Your levels can be a bit high one test and a bit low the next. The body does not do a perfect job every moment of the day. :). There is nothing surprising about banana's raising potassium. Especially before the day of a test. You do not trust your ultrasound? Why the heck not? It is an image. It is like a photograph of your kidney, etc. What is not to trust? If something is there (tumor, etc.) it will show. If it is not there, it won't.

Inflamation is not an indication of necessarily CKD or kidney problems. The list of things that cause body inflammation is so long it is almost silly. It could be acute or chronic. It could range from an ingrown toenail to cancer. Again, our doctor seems to not be as alarmed as you. You must have faith in your medical team. If it were me, I would just wait and see my next test, unless some other symptom presented itself, such as pain, etc.

Now the drop in GFR would concern me. HOWEVER, I would look at my other markers. Was your creatinine and your bun/creatinine ratio in the normal range? Then I would not be too concerned. Very recently I had blood work done by my GP. The very next day I had blood work done by my oncologist. They use the same lab for test results. My creatinine level on both days was identical. BUT they reported two different eGFR results!!! I ran my creatinine level through an online calculator to determine eGFR. It matched one of the doctors but not the other. Again if you doctor is not alarmed, then just wait for you next test and see what happens. If it is 6 months away, I would request a test earlier (2 or 3 months).

[Zazzel]

With all due respect to you Rickhow and to the medical community, I do think you are right to be concerned and do your own research and push for questions if you can afford various testing. We are all different and the medical field has come a long way, but to expect doctors to know all the answers would be asking a lot of them especially our general practitioners as they are being asked to know about every little thing.

For many years I had health issues that my doctors brushed off saying that my labs were normal even though I felt lousy. They chalked it up to getting older, indigestion or anxiety. It wasn't until I found an integrative doctor that I found out I had multiple food and environmental intolerances. A lot of issues were cleared up, however, I felt things still weren't quite right.

When I received labs that said my GFR was 51, I questioned my doctor whom I trusted and who had always been very thourough. I had never paid much attention to my labs and always relied on my doctors analysis. He said many things could cause it and I shouldn't be alarmed. But, after my pushing things, we did more testing and I was sent to a urologist due to finding microscopic blood in urine. I did lots of testing even though the urologist said it could be normal for me. This lasted over a year of repeated testing. Finally he said that although it could be normal, if it were his daughter, sister or wife, he would want answers so he sent me to a nephrologist. She said she suspected IGA Nephropathy an immune based kidney disease. I had an ultrasound on my kidneys which showed them to be normal as well. I then had a biopsy which showed kidney scarring and that I did indeed have IGAN. Ultrasounds can detect scarring, but not always. Here was a study done regarding that. clinicalradiologyonline.net.... I'm not suggesting you need a biopsy, only that ultrasounds may not show the whole picture.

Agreeing with the others that many things can throw off your inflamation marker, my first instinct would be autoimmune issues. They often do an ANA blood test for that, although mine was fine as it doesn't indicate all autoimmune diseases. If you don't feel your doctor is giving you the respect you need, find another one. Integrative doctors take in the whole picture and will look more closely at nutrition and other factors which may be affecting your potassium levels.

After years of feeling like a hypochondriac, my answers were finally found and I have read this from so many people who have suffered from autoimmune issues. Since then, my GFR has increased by 20 and even 30 points at times, but fluctuates by 10 points or more when I am exposed to something that affects my immune system.

I have since left my integrative doctor due to rising costs, but my current GP that I really like, thinks my kidneys are functioning normal now because I'm above the 60 GFR marker with normal creatinine and doesn't seem too concerned about it since I'm now in the 70s. My nephrologist would disagree with that knowing that any slip up on my part with nutrition or environment could cause my kidneys function to plummet. The difference between a generalist and a specialist.

Good luck on your quest! If your gut tells you something isn't right, keep searching for answers.

[Ijxyz]

Did you manage to get to the bottom of this? Perhaps this was just a normal fluctuation of the Creatinine levels?