cold fingers and feet

[nogzi]

hi... i'm new here.

trying to figure out my symptoms:

last 2 days my hand and feet are cold, especially my fingers, even though the people around me are comfortable and warm. i sometimes feel dizzy. at times, i've felt nauseous. my urine is bubbly.

i recently got blood test results that for the first time showed that i had eGFR of 52.3, which means i'm CKD stage 3.

i've known that something has been wrong with my kidneys since I had catheter interventions for heart attack about 8 years ago, but creatinine level has remained more or less stable at around 1.20 mg/dl. Uric Acid has also been consistently high at around 8.0 mg/dl for the past 8 years. But none of this has bothered me until now.

At first, i thought my cold hands/feet could be due to CKD-related anemia but my red blood cell count = 480, hemoglogin = 15.0 g/dl, hematocrit = 43.7%, which suggests i have enough red blood cells.

If not CDK-related anemia, what could this be due to?

BTW, I'm in Japan and the doctors I've consulted here are of no help so far. I'm scheduled for more appointments with other doctors to find someone who can actually help. Until then, I'm trying to do my own researching online. Hope someone out there has some ideas.

[MAS_Nurse]

Hello and welcome nogzi to this informative community.

It is not always a good idea to look at unsupported websites as the information can sometimes be incorrect and suggest things that could be harmful as they don't know your medical history and can give conflicting info and advice. I would suggest that you take someone with you to the next appointments and write down questions you have even if you think they are silly, please ask them because then you will have all the information from the correct source and can make an informed decision on your health. This is an anonymous community of peer support and also can't offer anything more than their own experiences. This can be very supportive however but doesn't replace your health professional.

As you have access to the internet you may like to view some websites that are professional but are based in the UK. They have a lot of pertinent information for you.

Good luck and best wishes. We would like you to please keep us informed in how you are getting on.

MAS Nurse and Moderator.

nhs.uk/conditions/kidneydis............ This site can also give you information on treatments, diet, medications, lifestyle etc.

kidneyresearchuk.org

kidneycareuk.org - When I researched this they have centres all over the world.

[nogzi in reply to MAS_Nurse]

Thanks for the words and links, MAS_Nurse.

I will definitely keep everyone informed as I learn more about my condition.

[curleytop1]

Hello Nogzi, I also experience the icy cold hands and feet, but not your other symptoms of nausea and bubbly urine. In recent months my toes have become numb and sometimes tingle even though they are warm, but I do not know if this is because of CKD or not. I did mention this to a new GP recently but she did not comment on it as she was more concerned with my rising blood pressure figures!

I will be seeing her again next week for a review of my medication so will mention my symptoms again to see what she thinks. I always write out my questions to a doctor as it doesn't waste the time one has with them.

Having very cold hands and feet can also be a symptom of Reynaud's disease. Hope this helps you, best wishes - Curleytop1.

[nogzi in reply to curleytop1]

Thanks, Curleytop1. I will definitely look into Reynaud's disease. Will keep everyone posted on anything I find out.

[RickHow]

I believe you are falling into the typical trap of being told you have stage 3 CKD and therefore everything in your life that changes you assume is CKD related. When I was first told of CKD I too did the same. If I got what turned out to be a muscle ache in my back, I thought, oh its CKD. If I felt bad for a couple of days, I thought, oh its CKD. I started to analyze everything about my every movement, just looking for problems. Such as uh oh is that urine more foamy than usual. I think you are doing the same. To this very day for over 18 months my urine I have thought to myself has excess foaming. But urine test after urine test has shown all is well. People DO have or get foamy urine which for them is just natural and NOT CKD related. I mentioned once to my father I thought my urine was foamy. He laughed. He said his has been that way his entire life. He lived to be 92! Dizzy, nauseous, have your blood pressure checked. You yourself report that all your critical measurements have been stable for years. REMEMBER what is Stage 3. It is NOT a death sentence. It is NOT terminal. It is MODERATE Kidney disease. Everyone on the earth has kidney degradation as we age. For peace of mind go have a round of blood and urine tests. I bet you find all is well. The cold hands? Again, check your bp (sounds like could be too low). Are you on medications? (i.e., diuretic). STAY AWAY FROM WEBSITES, except those like this one where you can talk to people who have gone through what you are experiencing. For every "expert" website you find that tells you what to do, what it is (without even looking at you), I can find you the same number of websites which provide conflicting information. Again, every change in our bodies, our lives is NOT associated with CKD MODERATE. My mother we used to call the ice lady. If you touched her hands it was like touching an ice cube. She lived until 87 years old and simply passed in her sleep. People are each their own unique creation.

[nogzi]

RickHow, thanks for pointing out the trap and I agree. I may just be in a panic. My symptoms may very well have nothing to do with CKD. CKD just happens to be the only thing I can connect it with considering the limited amount of information I have at the moment. That being said, since I posted I'm more informed about the various numbers on my blood test and I can pretty much rule out CDK anemia since it looks like I have enough red blood cells, etc.

[Jonquiljo]

Rick is totally correct. Its hard to tell in what is called stage 3 CKD if there is anything wrong with your kidneys at all. The kidney societies that publish this scale must have wanted CKD to be a progressive and degenerative state going from Stage 1 to stage 5. Yet this kind of progression makes no sense. Stage 1 and 2 (IMO) really mean very little. You are given a diagnosis of a disease in a stage that no one can identify a symtom of. Stage 3 isn’t much better. Unless you can find a diseased kidney by biopsy (NOT LIKELY), or find lots of protein (albumin) in the urine (not common for many), stage 3a doesn’t really have much meaning.

Here’s a calculator that someone published to put some reality to all of this ... kidneyfailurerisk.com

Someone recently given a diagnosis of CKD is really prone to attribute more things to CKD than is necessary. It’s very normal. But remember, your chances for end stage renal disease (dialysis) are small. Good luck.

[nogzi]

Thanks, Jonquilio. What you and Rick are saying brings me relief. I won't disregard what my body is trying to tell me, but I am definitely not as worried about it now.