Question about someone with one healthy kidney

[howietung]

This just came to my mind lately. I know it's a stupid question, but I still really want to know. How come someone with one healthy kidney which has creatinine number around 1.8 ~ 1.9 would feel fine? it's higher than the normal person (2 kidneys)'s range. How come I don't feel fine since I got 2 kidneys and my creatinine number is 1.4~1.5 which is lower than that ?

[Skeptix]

Because your not feeling fine may be down to something other than creatinine? I gather creatinine at CKD levels even, isn't toxic so isn't going to make you feel bad.

You feeling bad could be down to other kidney related metrics (urea??) or something not kidney related at all?

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

You need to talk this over with your doctor. We are not medical experts on this site, but can only speak from our own experiences. Your doctor can look at all your lab results, not just your creatinine. Elevated creatinine won't make you feel bad, but the other labs can show your doctor why you are unwell.CKD doesn't usually have any symptoms until you wind up in Stage 4 or 5. This is why there are so many people with kidney issues and have no idea. Here in the US, the NKF stats show that 37 million people are affected with kidney disease and 90% don't know they have it.

[Michael__S]

It's not a stupid question but the answer is more nuanced than you might think. Something to discuss with your medical team. Every ones lives it differently. I am more or less living of one kidney right now and my creatinine level is lower than that and I still feel like crap. And to be blunt and honest I don't think it mean anything at all. Yes it's unfair and there is nothing that you can do about it.

Focusing on thing that you can improve and taking your health in charge is much more important than comparing yourself with others. Learning from other's success is a different story but you have to be careful as we all have different (set of) medical issues. That's why it's important to have good communication with your medical team.