CKD stage 3 without proteinuria questions if anyone can help me out

[howietung]

I was being diagnosed with CKD stage 3 with no proteinuria in the end of 2019, but then the last 2 times I went to check my kidneys this year the doctor said the my eGFR was over 60. So I am confused if I had kidney disease or not, because I sometimes feel fatigue now after eating compare to before. Does creatinine number goes up and down through out the day? What part of the kidneys was likely to be damaged if I didn't have proteinuria in my urine ? Thank you in advance for anyone who can help me out!!!

[itzmich]

You need to pose these questions to your doctor.

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador]

Suggest you go over the results of previous eGFR tests with your Doctor. eGFR is an estimated measurement of how well your kidneys are filtering. Are you on a CKD diet?

[howietung in reply to orangecity41]

I am but not strictly, I still eat some sweets sometimes, I don't eat as much protein as before and try to watch the sodium.

[Michael__S]

I am in a similar boat as you, stage 3a and no protein in my urine which is a good thing. As to whether or not you have CKD is something to be discussed with specialists. My issues are related to a kidney blockage (hydronephrosis), I don't know about yours.

If it turns out that you have CKD take your health in charge (look like you are), get a hold of a renal dietician and follow a renal diet according to your limitations -it's possible that some or most of your bloodwork is normal which would dictate less restrictions. High blood pressure and diabetes are the two comorbidity behind CKD progression and my understanding is that nutrition, exercise and managing stress are most effective. Something to discuss with your doctors.

Again I don't know your exact circumstances but if you are entitled to see a nephrologist I strongly suggest that you ask for it. I had to wait for a long time as I was lower priority and the wait was totally worth it. In my case there are still much in the hand of my Urologist as well.

[howietung in reply to Michael__S]

I will try to see another specialist, because I went to see a few different doctors and everyone said different things, so I just want to find any possible reasons for kidney damage without proteinuria and what part of the kidneys is damaged. Thank you for sharing your experience

[Michael__S in reply to howietung]

Issues with kidneys are quite complex and different opinions/approach are to be expected. It's important that you build your own team of specialists, one that work for you. Don't expect anything good from a great specialist if the communication is poor (and vice-versa). There are many post on this forum giving advice on this (and red flags to look for).

Reading your other comment I think that you need to have a more direct conversation with your specialists. I can't tell whether your relationship with that specialist is great or not but if you want to know the cause then you need to take the proper steps to get there. A biopsy appear to be one of them and you should discuss with your specialist what you can expect from it, the alternatives and what information it can provide and causes that it may identify or rule out. AFAIK each method has it benefits and limitation. Don't expect a slam dunk diagnosis on day 1.

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador in reply to Michael__S]

I am at CKD 3b and my urologist also is monitoring.

[RoxanneKidney]

Depends on your age as well. But lucky you find out at gfr of 60 and not 16. And feel good that you don't have protein in your urine yet, because that signals progression. Won't hurt you to start taking better care of yourself. If the membrane isn't damaged from protein passing through, tubes going in and out of the kidneys could be jacked up. Plenty things can be wrong...and mostly there is nothing that can be done about it except to change your diet and lifestyle to keep things ...whatever the cause might be...from progressing. Also possible that you had a kidney stone and now it is gone.

[howietung]

It could had been better, I went to check my body every year and none of the doctors said anything when they saw my creatinine number was close to the edge(or even when it was over 1.3 and showed red on the report). When I asked them they told me nothing to worry and I probably just had too much chicken or protein intake, so I thought creatinine number is like cholesterol number it goes up and down, as long as there is no proteinuria then it's fine. Until I saw a specialist and he freaked me out and told me how come my number was so high. The specialist asked if I wanted to do biopsy but I said no since there is not much I can do to fix it even if I knew which part of the kidneys are damaged.