Help with interpreting results

[LizzieRb12]

Hi all,

I'm wondering if anyone might be able to help me interpret my recent blood results at all please?

I've also done a urine sample for my GP who found traces of blood and protein in my urine. This was apparently then sent off to the lab and the GP has now requested me to do another sample to check ACR.

GP didn't think my blood results indicated infection, and I dont feel as though I have a UTI or anything like that. My creatinine has been 103 at its highest, but my urea and eGFR haven't flagged up as being out of range before.

I'm much more tired than normal and am getting a lot of headaches, but I put that down to the seasonal change.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

[Sophiebun11]

Hi Lizzie,

Your eGFR does indicate Stage 2 CKD. Are you on a plant based diet for CKD? It's very helpful at slowing or stopping progression of CKD. You still have a lot of kidney function so starting early in CKD with a good diet is the best thing to do.

You could ask your PCP to refer you to a dietician for a personalized diet plan. It's hard to get referred to a Nephrologist at Stage 2. I didn't get a referral until I dropped to Stage 4 as happened to many here.

Learn as much as possible. There is great info on this DaVita site: davita.com/education

Good luck =^..^=

[LizzieRb12 in reply to Sophiebun11]

Thank you Sophie I've had a look through the DaVita site this evening and there's lots of interesting stuff on there!

I'm not on a plant based diet at the moment but I don't eat a lot of meat and will be more conscious of my diet based on what I've been reading.

A few of the kidney friendly recipes have caught my eye too!

[Sophiebun11 in reply to LizzieRb12]

Great! This kidney school has a chapter on lab interpretation and also diet. You may enjoy reading the chapters and taking the quizes, I thought it was fun and educational.

kidneyschool.org/mods/

[Skeptix]

Your urea is just out of range. It could be that next time it's back in range.

eGFR is a direct function of creatinine (and age and race). Higher creatinine = lower eGFR. Creatinine can be raised for non-sinster reasons: hydration, exercise, meat consumption. If your eGFR is down because of a 93 umol reading, it must also have been down at 103umol. How long ago was the 103 reading?

Protein in urine is a sign of kidney issue (as is blood) but as with the rest, it's also a question of time and repeated results. Time is involved in the diagnosis of CKD.

It would be unusual to be getting kidney related symptoms at your level of function. I'm at eGFR 33 and have no symptoms as such.

Repeat testing and time will tell. Wishing you the best.

In the meantime you could pivot towards Sophies advice on diet. Easy on protein intake, whether plant or animal (say aim for 0.8gr protein*/kg body weight), cut out red meat, lower meat consumption and eat more plant, sodium 2g a day, hydrate .. that kind of thing. That goes easier on your kidneys. If there's something fundamentally amiss with your kidneys there's avenues open to you to slow or halt CKD, in the event of such a conclusion. Hopefully not the case though.

* weight of protein means weight of protein in the food, not weight of the protein-containing food itself. For instance, meat is about 25% protein so if you're aiming for 20gr animal protein intake, your meat portion will be 80gr.

[Marvin8 in reply to Skeptix]

You would NOT believe the argument I got into with Mr. Kidney (since gone) when he said that the weight of the food was equal to the weight of the protein. Uggh.

[Skeptix in reply to Marvin8]

I'd have thunk a quick Google would have sorted that discussion out pronto??

[Marvin8 in reply to Skeptix]

He was smart and extremely informative (like yourself), but also rather authoritative. Not one who easily admits being wrong. Overall, he provided tons and tons of useful information, but not even sure if his posts still exist here.

[Skeptix in reply to Marvin8]

I recall him alright. He took a rather dim view of Lee Hull, more or less calling him a shyster. Now, I could appreciate initial suspicion based on Lee flogging albutrix. But Mr. Kidney didn't seem open to the evidence supporting Lee's bona fides, not least his coming to the same conclusion on low protein diets as the NKF, before the NKF did!

Pity he's gone though - it takes all sorts to form a community.

Thanks for the compliment, the feeling is mutual!

[Sophiebun11 in reply to Marvin8]

LOL, that's amusing. I could find some lightweight cookies and ice cream!!!

[LizzieRb12 in reply to Skeptix]

I've just remembered that I never responded to you, that's really rude of me sorry!

Looking through my results my creatinine of 103 was exactly a year ago. I can't see an egfr result for this time but I admit I'm not very educated in this and don't know if egfr comes as a result of a blood test or whether it's a calculated estimate

Thanks so much for your support and advice. I'm not a big meat eater but will note what you've said about protein and make adjustments if I find I'm consuming more than I thought.

[Skeptix in reply to LizzieRb12]

Hi.

eGFR is calculated straight from the creatinine value from your blood sample (serum creatinine).

Creatinine, age, race are put into the algorithm and eGFR pops out.

So it's really creatinine that matters (your age and race don't change rapidly!).

That 103 will have produced a lower eGFR than your 93 reading did.

See what the tests show and come back when you know more. All the best