Frustated over husband's condition

[Lalay40]

Hello everyone,

I am from the Philippines and since December 2018, I have been overwhelmingly sad and frustrated about my husband's health condition. He was admitted at a local hospital last Dec 2018 with crea of 9.2.He had arthrocentesis on both knees and blood transfusion as hemoglobin level was 7.8. After a few days,he was discharged with a diagnosis of chronic gouty athritis in flare since his nephrologist could not determine the exact reason why his crea soared to 9.2 while his ultrasound result turned out normal.Upon discharge, his crea level was 7.7.From the time of his discharge up to now March 30, we visit his doctor every two weeks. There are times when his crea level goes down below 7 and there are also times when his crea level goes above 7. It was last March 16 that the doctor told us that his condition is CKD and we were told to prepare for any possibility of dialysis since his crea level went up to 8.2 despite high dosage steroid medication for two weeks. Right now, his prednisone intake is already 10mg once in a day from 30mg twice in a day. He still has the "moon face" and swelling of both legs. From the time he was weaned from steroid intake, there have been lots of boils on his skin and I just treated them with topical cream. I really need help on what to do next as I really wanted to do away with dialysis considering that dialysis in the Philippines is very expensive. Your advices can mean a lot. I also need help with my husband's renal diet.

[Bassetmommer NKF Ambassador]

Hi Lalay,

I am not a doctor but it seems like there is a lot going on that needs more investigation. This is what concerns me...gouty arthritis, boils on the skin and joint pain. Anyone test your husband for psoriatic arthritis? it is done with "Erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels: These blood tests measure inflammation in the body"

google.com/search?sourceid=...

Also, the prednisone may be causing the creatinine. Something to look into. I know I had issues with it.

"We conclude that GFR rises during 2 weeks of high-dose prednisone administration, a rise that is not reflected by a decrease in plasma creatine concentration. On the contrary, both plasma creatinine concentration and urinary creatinine excretion increase, probably as a result of the catabolic effect of prednisone. As established by the present study, prednisone 60 mg/day is associated with protein wasting, also after 14 days of treatment."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/8...

[Lbw62]

Davita.com

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

You need to see a doctor (nephrologist) that will take the time to do more testing to find out the answers for all that is going on with your husband. Also needs to be able to explain this all to the both of you. I mentioned a nephrologist since his creatinine is high. I would want to know why his creatinine is all of a sudden so high. Bassetmommer is correct that it could have something to do with the prednisone he takes. It seems like a fine line with drugs that are suppose to help and if the dose is too high they do more damage.

I do know friends that suffer from psoriatic arthritis and have had some of the main issues your husband has had.

Overall, your husband needs more testing and a doctor that will take the time with both of you to figure out what is going on.

Best of luck to you both! Keep us posted.

Davita.com is the site that many on this site use for renal diet help.