Kidney Noob, 33yo m, eGFR 78 - should I be concerned?

[Bananasincustard]

Hi all,

I'm a 33 yo white male and I took a medichecks test as a random health MOT. My results were all marked normal but I noticed creatinine was near the top end of normal and the eFGR was near the low end of normal so I looked into it a bit more. My creatinine was: 96 umol/L and my eGFR was 78.25.

I was surprised to see this eGFR number suggests mildly decreased kidney function/stage 2 kidney disease- so I looked up test results from my yearly GP checkups over the last 5 years and noticed my creatinine has usually always been between 70-81 and my eGFR has always been normal (over 90). My last result in July 2019 was creatinine 73, eGFR 107. So it looks like a drop of 29 in my eGFR over 18 months.

My diet has been pretty poor and I've gained 25lbs over those last 18 months. My BMI is now high (30.5). Blood pressure is slightly high but not crazy - 130/82.

Do you guys know if I should be concerned about this result? Is there anything I should be doing?

Thanks

[Sharam]

Hi

That is exactly what happened to me.

Unfortunately most doctors tend not to say anything until your kidneys start to fail!

When I asked my doctor why my GFR was 75 about 7 months ago, he said it wasn't important. But now it has actually become important!

But still, it seems like creatinine level / eGFR alone isn't enough to conclude you have CKD.

As most people here say, an average of your GFR over a few months or years can show where you actually are.

Plus, it is normal for muscular people to have higher creatinine levels.

Kidney.org says your GFR must be lower than 60 for more than three months to suggest CKD. And for higher GFRs there should be other indicators like something unusual in your ultrasound, proteins (albumin) in your urine, blood in your urine and so on.

For now, I guess doctors (if they care enough) suggest regular checkups.

I would visit a good nephrologist who listens to me and explains everything patiently (mine didn't even answer my questions, and I'm going to change my doctor)

[madonbrew]

Generally I think doctors look for a trend, so I would want them to keep an eye and do another blood test in 8-12 weeks and see what that shows. A one off drop could be caused by a few things, hydration for example, but if the trend continues to drop then especially taking your age into consideration, would want to know what’s causing it.

High blood pressure and diabetes are big causes of CKD and there are others here who will know far more about how diet affects your kidneys than what I do. Being overweight generally doesn’t help with any health issues, but I’m fully aware (and totally not judging) how hard it can be to keep within a healthy BMI range.

So I would ask your doctor to redo bloods so that they can pick up a trend of what’s happening and in the meantime, if possible, try and lose some weight which might also help with your blood pressure and long term risk of diabetes.

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador]

Here is a link to information on eGFR. It is something to be tracked and see if it was just a one time blood work result, and/or if there is a trend. kidney.org/atoz/content/gfr

[SkiingSailor]

I think you know that the answer to some extent lies in your question. Generally people with higher BMI have raised blood pressure and high blood pressure makes your kidneys work extra hard, and damages them. Most of us on here have learned to cut out/down on meat protein. We have been fooled into thinking we need more than we actually do. Animal fats and junk food just add to the load. My advice would be to;

Make sure you request repeat blood tests in 3 months and make it a bit of a game/challenge with yourself to see how much you can change your diet/ lose weight/ walk most days to see what changes you can bring about.... see how close to that hallowed 24.9 BMI you can get to !

I think you’ll be amazed at how much better you feel and look and how much better your body will work for you. You’re young, take this as a wake up call !

Good luck and keep us all informed how you’re doing.

[Bananasincustard]

Hi everyone, I really appreciate you taking the time to get back to me on my original post. I threw out all the junk food from my house and have overhauled my diet this past week. Looking forward to keeping that up.

Just a quick update - my GP decided to redo my bloods and my creatinine had come down to 71 and my eGFR according to the calculator I just used has gone up to 117 (highest I've actually seen it). I was quite surprised as I wasn't expecting that following my last results.

Do you guys know if it's normal for kidney function to have quite a bit of a short term drop and then go back to full function soon after? Or is it likely my blood test was a dud? Should I still keep an eye on them going forward?

Thanks again