Not Diagnosed Yet, But Going To The Doctor Next Week

[realitytvlover]

Hi. Well I think that I have Chronic Kidney Disease, but I haven't been diagnosed with it yet. I am going to the doctor next week though. I have just been getting some strange symptoms so I was reading online to see what might be causing the symptoms. First of all my tooth broke. Then after that happened I started getting these muscle twitches that won't go away. I was reading online that people who get hypocalcemia can sometimes have problems with their teeth breaking and they can get muscle twitches because their calcium levels are low. Then i also read that people with chronic kidney disease can get low calcium levels. I also have a few other symptoms like tea colored urine, diarrhea once a week, and increased skin pigmentation. I read on a few websites that those symptoms usually appear in someone who has stage 4 and 5 of chronic kidney disease. I don't feel tired, nauseous, or weak at all though. Like i feel fine, but alot of those symptoms that i'm having do occur with kidney disease. So I was wanting to know if there are some people who are in stage 4 or 5 of chronic kidney disease that don't feel tired or sick at all ? Or are there some people who are in stage 4 but don't get more severe symptoms until they get to stage 5 ? I am just worried that I could be in stage 4 already but I just might not be getting any severe symptoms yet.Have any of you who are in stage 4 not had any severe symptoms yet? I also have high blood pressure. I just found that out too when i went to the dentist. So that's why i think i may have chronic kidney disease. I just wanted some opinions about it before I go to the doctor. If any of you all do think that I may have it then at least I won't be surprised if the doctor diagnoses me with it. Although i will be very upset about it.

[Hidden]

Write down your concerns to inform your doctor. Either take excellent notes or have someone with you who can. If not, ask permission from the doctor to record it, a digital recorder is inexpensive and what I use. This way you can review it at your leisure and search what s/he tells you at a later time and not worry about forgetting something important.

Until you get solid, reliable information from the doctor, relax and enjoy your life. There are some websites that will help you understand the information you will be getting. To better understand your lab results try labtestsonline.org To help you understand any medications you are prescribed go to drugs.com

Once you get specific information from your doctor come back here and you'll find a lot of people who have been where you are that will be happy to share with you and help you get through this.

[realitytvlover in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for the advice. I will write down my symptoms that i am having and tell the doctor about them. I guess i could also tell the doctor that I am worried that I could have kidney disease and ask them to test me for it. I will try to relax until I get information from my doctor. But it's hard to relax and hard to stop worrying when I think that there is a chance that I do have kidney disease. I will try to stay calm though until I go to the doctor. And if I do end up being diagnosed with chronic kidney disease then I will come back here and hopefully people here would be able to help me.

[Hidden in reply to realitytvlover]

Your doctor will, hopefully, order a full series of blood and possibly urine tests. The two items on the blood labs to look at are your Creatinine level and eGFR. Remember that those and many other numbers are just a snapshot of your current situation. There can and will be a lot of fluctuation over subsequent labs, but a general idea will come out, especially if the doctor orders other tests that may lead to a specific cause of CKD or something else that may indicate CKD or something else.

One other thing to do is when you have a copy of your blood and urine labs, prepare a spreadsheet and write down the labs ordered, and what the values were. Once that is done, I highlight in red the numbers that are higher than normal. I highlight in another color any values that are below normal. This way as you get more and more labs done, I'm able to see a glance any trends in highs and/or lows.

[realitytvlover in reply to Hidden]

So if the creatinine level is really high would that be bad? I am guessing so. Also yes i will ask them for a copy of the blood and urine tests if they don't already give me one. And also how will i know which numbers are higher than normal or lower than normal? i am new to all of this cause i haven't been to the doctor in along time. I am guessing the doctor can explain it to me though if I ask them to? And i am sure they will tell me if they see any major problems.

[Hidden]

The lab sheet will tell you what the range is based on the lab's protocols. There will be (usually) an H if your number is High, and an L if your number is Low. Use the Lab Tests Online link I provided to help you understand what the test is designed to uncover. What you don't understand should be added to your list of questions for the doctor. If your doctor has a patient portal, sign up for it so you can send questions from home and let the doctor or staff answer you that way. It saves a visit.

The creatinine and GFR numbers are what will signal CKD is possible. If you live in the USA go to davita.com and sign up for a Kidney Smart class. They are free and last 90 minutes and are held in your area. If you live outside the USA go to kidneyschool.com/modules You can go through those at your leisure and learn what you need to know. Whatever you still don't understand add to your question list for your doctor.

[realitytvlover in reply to Hidden]

thanks i will check it out. also i tried going to kidneyschool.com/modules and that website didn't work .

[realitytvlover in reply to Hidden]

Also do I just ask the doctors to do a regular blood test? do the regular blood tests show my GFR and creatinine? Or do i need to ask them to do a specific kind of blood test in order for my creatinine and GFR numbers to show on the results?

[Hidden]

The actual link is below. Sorry for the confusion.

kidneyschool.org/mods/

[Hidden]

Not knowing the other health issues you might want to look at things like a Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, Chem 7, Lipids Panel, Liver Function tests, and anything else your doctor feels is necessary. If you have a Urologist you might ask about a complete Urinalysis with a 24-hour collection. Specific tests will be made by your doctors and with the results, you'll have some answers. The Lab Tests Online site I mentioned will explain in detail what each test is and why it is being ordered.

[realitytvlover in reply to Hidden]

Ok thanks so much for your help. I appreciate it.