Roughly a year ago a blood test revealed my gfr as 82 with the comment stage 2 chronic kidney disease. This initially alarmed me so I googled it and was reassured that this is normal for my age (72). It also implied that it wouldn't ever get back to a higher level. A couple of weeks ago I had a routine blood test and this time the gfr reading was 79. Out of interest, I decided to look online at my patient records for previous blood test results going back to 2010. There weren't many to find as I don't have blood tests that often. I never studied the test results back then and just trusted my GP saying that all was normal. I was amazed to find that in 2010 when I was obviously 10 years younger, my reading was only 59 and in 2013 it was 60. This is where I'm confused as to me, these figures seem rather low compared to the 79 and 82 readings of recent times. Can anyone tell me if its normal for such large fluctuations like this to happen, especially such an improvement as the years have gone by. I'm not complaining at all but am just a bit baffled. Looking back, I'm glad I didn't delve into then as I would have been really concerned!!!
confused over GFR readings: Roughly a year... - Early CKD Support
confused over GFR readings
You shouldn't be worried about "large fluctuations" because your recent blood work does not indicate large fluctuations. 10 years span is ancient when it comes to blood work. If you had progressive kidney disease, your GFR would be lower than it was 7 years ago. There is also much controversy in diagnosing someone your age with CKD at a GFR of 79. You're usually not diagnosed with CKD and until your GFR goes below 60 for at least 3 consecutive blood works, spaced between 1-3 months apart.
You could have been on a medication that was lowering your GFR at the time? Maybe you had kidney stones?
Downward trend of GFR, upward trend of BUN, symptoms, and problems with vitamin/mineral retention are everything when it comes to CKD. If you are worried, ask your doctor for blood work every 3 months to continue to monitor your GFR.
Thank you for your reply. After reading on here of the many fluctuations, I think I've been reassured. I don't recall any meds I may have taken back then. I know I've been on various vitamin supplements over the years. Never had kidney stones. All very confusing. Best wishes.
I went back checked my results and realized my gfr was 47 in 2011! Two months ago it was 91!
Wow!! Thanks for your reply. I never knew that gfr could fluctuate so much. When I looked into it a few months ago I honestly thought mine would naturally only decline more with age. As I mentioned earlier, I was baffled by much lower results from years ago. I've given up puzzling over it now after reading everyone's experiences with fluctuating numbers.
My GP never told me I had CKD until I changed Dr's this year - then right to 3B. Your eGfr, for your age, is not to bad. Fluctuations are common. It doesn't take too much of a non-kidney friendly food-binge to cause large fluctuations.
Its baloney that gfr cant increase. Or that is going to get worse, my gfr has been in 50s for fifteen years.
"Your results may vary from the numbers listed above, depending on the laboratory’s testing ranges. Your doctor will likely recommend taking your GFR over the course of several months to establish a pattern."
See the website:
exercise.com/learn/can-crea....
Interesting article but I was more concerned with GFR levels rather than creatine which is different, but thanks anyway for your concern.
Sorry, I didn't understand what you wanted. Levels of serum creatinine has an inverse relation with Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR). See website:
kidney.org/newsletter/what-...
I do apologise. I was confusing creatinine with creatine kinase (CK) which is also about muscle loss. I only heard of this when my late husband had his heart attack and his CK level was through the roof due to heart muscle loss. I'd forgotten they are two different things.
That's ok.
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