Over the last few months I have been in and out of doctors, hospitals and had numerous of tests done. Originally I went in with a lump on testicles and abdominal pain, I was then referred to have an ultrasound to test for testicular cancer, just before that my ALT levels went up to 150 and my ast went to 60. These were regularly checked and they decreased as I went on. I have been very persistent with the doctors and something was causing this severe abdominal pain that radiated to the back. I had a blood test conducted and all of a sudden on the 21st of May my alt was 42 and ast had also lowered, but my gfr levels dropped for 46 and creatinine was at 160. This really really panicked me with the sudden drop. I went to the hospital today, further blood tests, ultrasound and ct scan. My right kidney is slightly bigger than my left and it could potentially be stones but they were not able to identify anything sinister. The bloods came back and my gfr levels were back to 90 and creatinine dropped. How can this happen? The doctors were not able to say much and why this could be apart from saying it could have been a stone that’s past but the abdominal pain is still there. I was very hydrated the last 2 days, can this cover up the fact that there could be an issue or does it not work like that? I am so worried with the fact that it fell so low and I am only 25, hardly drink alcohol, no drugs, great diet and train 5 times a week most weeks. Can anyone shed their views?
Thanks
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RyanWills
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I think as one swallow doesn't mean its summer one test cannot be relied on. You need regular testing for a while to see what's occurring. If it was just a blip, I can't say what caused it, but if the trend is bad then there will need to be further investigation.
It’s just so odd. To go so low and be a blip just confuses me so much. Something is happening somewhere because of the pain I’m experiencing and symptoms etc and they wouldn’t have investigated it for no reason. I’m trying to search for people with the same experience and I’ve seen nothing about someone’s going right down then all the way back up
Stones will cause the pain you were speaking of. But I think you would have known if you passed a stone. I know from my experience when I passed a stone, my labs would go to hell and then rebound shortly after. It sounds like they did not find any stones in the imaging, though.
Extensive exercise can also change your lab readings. Also being less hydrated will impact the results. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/6...
I would ask the doctor to due the labs again in a couple of weeks and then in three months.
Thank you very much for your reply. I had my blood tests at a walk in centre straight after gym, a lot of caffeine prior etc. Have I worried myself over nothing? It was just so nerve racking to see that they had fallen considerably low but then straight back up. Can hydration cover up the fact that there could be an issue, I was well hydrated when I had my next ones. My creatinine only dropped slightly.
Strenuous exercise just before lab tests and being dehydrated can and do raise creatinine levels which directly affect computed GFR (GFR is computed off creatinine levels). You did not exercise and were properly hydrated for your next set of labs so that brought readings back up to normal. Although a GFR of 90 is still a great score, you are very close to Stage 2 CKD which has a high end value of 89 in its range. I would certainly start reading up on CKD and maybe cut out some foods which are bad for kidneys. Keeping daily sodium intake under the new 1,500 mg limit per day is a good start as well as keeping highly hydrated.
Thank you! I have to go back somewhere in a couple of weeks for further checks as I seem to have an enlarged right kidney and some fluid in there. It’s a wake up call so I’ve programmed a diet plan that I’m going to follow which involves low amounts of salt, less red meat etc. Thank you for your reply.
You're welcome. If you want to be years ahead of the CKD game, I would strongly suggest reading the best CKD book ever written which came out on January 14, 2019... so it's super-new. It's Stopping Kidney Disease by Lee Hull which is on Amazon for $20. Here is what it did for me:
Chapters 1-33 are the information on CKD. Chapters 34-40 are the eating plan. It is a tome on CKD. You will have to do all the work yourself; do not depend on doctors. Good luck.
Thank you, I am really hoping it’s a blip! Both blood tests were done of days of each other so is it at all possible I could have a third set and they got right back to normal? I’m still so confused of why the big jump and they can’t even put their finger on it after the scans apart from it being slightly enlarged and a bit of fluid. One thing they did say is my scans are different from my first set. Surely they would have been able to detect ckd there or anything sinister?
You're welcome. I am not trying to scare you, but at age 25, a young man who works out should have a GFR very close to if not at 100. I wish I knew all of this stuff at age 25 and if I did, I wish I had taken it seriously. It's just like insurance, it's better to know it and not need it, then to need it and not know it. So educate yourself now. Also, eating a diet that is geared to keeping your kidneys healthy now will pay off decades from now. You may also want to read How Not to Die also available on Amazon - it discusses all sorts of medical conditions, one chapter at a time. I think you are fine. Once again, use doctors to help you, but do the work yourself. Good luck.
I had a 6 and 1/2 mm stone, gfr Ann kidney functioned dropped, the stone most likely damaged kidney. Outpatient surgery scheduled to get stone. I had passed it and never knew. Grr was up 19 points in 6 months, not sure how but will take it.
Just back from doctors this afternoon. Been referred to a gastroenterologist and a urologist. Serum Total Bilirubin gone up to 26, ALT is still going down (which is positive) now at 40 u/L from 160. Serum Creatinine gone down to 86 from 160 and my GFR gone to 96 from 46. The doctors are confused of why it went down dramatically. The 4 bloods I had prior my GFR was always above 90 each time. It’s been going on for so long now and I guess I’m probably over thinking everything.
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