I have recently been diagnosed with severe auto-immune hypothyroidism for which I have begun treatment. Along with the thyroid bloods there were kidney ones and I was wondering whether they are ok as they are close to the edge of the ranges.
Serum creatinine 89umol/l (45 - 90)
Serum urea 7.7 mmol/l (2.5 - 7.8)
Serum sodium 137mmol/l (133 - 146)
Serum potassium 4.7mmol/l (3.5 - 5.3)
GFR calculated abbreviated MDRD
62ml/min
I haven't the foggiest what these mean. Please would you help me understand.
Many thanks,
Sarfran
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Sarfran
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Hi and welcome to the community. It's important to understand your labs to be able to ask informative seeking questions of your physicians. What I suggest you do is use labtestsonline.org and then click on the TESTS box and look up each specific test. Also, if you have hard copies of your labs, you should have high, low, or no word for each lab. No word means you are within the reference range. High means you are above the reference range, and low means you are below the normal reference range. Anything right at either end of the range should be a question you ask your ordering physician about ways to get ba back into the middle. Also, ask about the meaning of any test outside the range. Always ask and be sure to obtain hard copies of all your previous and future labs. Best of luck.
Hello Sarfran. Welcome. It looks as though a few of your levels are nearing the higher end of the ranges. This may mean that your kidneys are under some strain. I’m not a doctor, and none of us here would even dream of trying to diagnose you (we don’t do that here - Lol!)
What I would suggest is that you request from your family physician an appointment with both a renal dietician and a nephrologist, in order to gain a better idea of what action to take to improve your levels before they reach a problematic stage.
Sometimes, more testing would need to be done to confirm an actual CKD diagnosis. It may just be that your kidneys are stressed possibly because of recent medications you may have been on for an infection, or anti-inflammatory drugs for pain (even over-the-counter brands can put our kidneys under distress). Heavy weight-lifting and consuming an excess of protein in your diet can be rough on the kidneys as well, and cause creatinine levels to go up.
In the meantime, before seeing a specialist or dietician, some things you can do to improve your levels are:
1. Lower your protein intake (ie cut down on red meats, chicken, pork, dairy, beans, legumes, nuts and seeds, any whole grains, and protein bars or shakes). Eat a high-fibre, low-protein (a portion size no bigger than a deck of cards), low-potassium, low-sodium and low-phosphorus diet. You can Google these online to find some kidney-friendly foods and recipes.
2. Stay away from heavy weight-lifting exercises as this type of exertion can raise creatinine by releasing protein into your bloodstream. Try walking for about 30 - 40 minutes, once or twice daily to keep your heart rate healthy.
3. Drink plenty of water daily and remain well-hydrated. This is important in order to flush your system. This will also help to improve your GFR. Ask your doctor what a safe amount is to drink in a day as this can differ with everyone.
4. Really, this should have been number one, but steer clear of any anti-inflammatory medications (prescribed or otherwise, if you can manage to). These are evil and hence very unkind to our kidneys. For over-the-counter pain relief, try to use Tylenol as this is processed by the liver, not the kidneys. It’s a little better for you unless you have existing liver issues as well, or any allergies to acetaminophen.
If you ever require any antibiotics of any kind or meds for any other health issues, always discuss any effects these might have on your kidneys with your doctor first. You may not have CKD, but if your kidneys are showing signs of strain, it would be a good idea to try and go easier on them. What we try to do here with CKD, is to slow the progression. It’s all we can do really.
My apologies for such a long post! Lol! I hope you will find this helpful. Take good care of yourself! I wish you all my best dear. Keep us posted! Bye for now! 😊👍🙏✌️
Thank you so much for that. I suspect that my kidneys have been under strain as I have recently been diagnosed with severe auto-immune hypothyroidism, which has taken a long time to get as bad as it is! I will definitely ask my GP to refer me, as I believe that diet can be a problem when there are possible additional health issues!
Yes. That is true. It is difficult and tricky when you’re juggling more than one health issue at a time, especially when most of them are diet-dependant. I’ve often suspected that I may have hypothyroidism as well, because I seemed to have some of the symptoms, but my doctors have never believed that, so, never actually been tested for it. I hope everything works out well for you Sarfran. Keep us posted! 😊👍✌️
You can get a private test done by Medichecks, you'd want the one that does TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), FT4 (Free T4) and TF3 (Free T3, the really important one). On a Thursday they usually have a deal on. check Thyroiduk forum on Healthy locked as there are a wealth of very knowledgeable people on there who can help interpret your results.
The Doc says that my results are fine and that there is nothing to worry about.
I'm having to adjust my diet for Hashimoto's hypothyroidism which involves Brazil nuts, for Selenium, and going gluten free. I am cutting down on my protein too do that I have less risk to my kidneys.
Apparently kidneys can be affected by hypothyroidism so treating that will hopefully have a positive effect.
Your only real concern here is creatinine at top end, which is part of that egfr calculation. Make sure you're drinking enough water. Cut back or stop sodas if you drink them. Get retested in 3-6 months. Keep a close eye on it. Technically, you're stage 2 ckd, and almost to stage 3. Don't panic. Start reading books written by reputable doctors, one I recommend is learn the facts about kidney disease by Steven Rosanski, MD - that book covers all the kidney disease stages and provides info for managing each stage and hopefully stopping progression (most people can stop progression).
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