New egfr after no heavy lifting

[Inhuman2019]

Well havent been able to hit the gym in awhile. Too busy working just had my bloodwork done my egfr went from 60 to 89. Im still under the impression that using creatinine as an indicator messes numbers up. No clue. Either way when I do get back to the gym my workouts will be more geared for my age now 49. Not all powerlifting. Alot more cardio.

[Sarah_402]

Inhuman2019, Can I ask how long you stopped lifting for? Did you ever get a cystatin C done? I lift (not too heavy) but I wonder if it just messes with the test results or it really hurts the kidneys? Anyways thanks for sharing

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador in reply to Sarah_402]

Here is link to article on NIH about exercise and creatinine. I wonder if heavy walking can do the same. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Sarah_402 in reply to orangecity41]

Thanks for the article orangecity41 Maybe it just depends how strenuous the exercise is to the person. 🤷 I don’t know but my doctor said I could keep exercising as long as my protein intake is within limits. But it seems like intense exercise could still be a potential problem.

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador in reply to Sarah_402]

I too keep exercising as it has many health benefits for me.

[spencerk]

But doesn't that indicate that the only reason your Creatinine levels were high, thus eGFR low, was because of excess Muscle wastage due to weight training. Which means your kidneys are fine so you can lift heavy.

I'm still waiting for a proper diagnosis, after 6 months. Got bloods to give today. I've seen, spoke, to two doctors who have said it's most likely my muscle mass (even though I'm not big, at all!) That's the problem.

They don't seem too interested in doing a Cyst C test either.

[Sarah_402 in reply to spencerk]

Hi spencerk, how are you suppose to know if your kidneys are okay or not if they won’t do a cystatin C test? I know my kidneys are messed up cause the kidney biopsy diagnosed it. But I want a cystatin C test too cause I have lean muscle mass and kidda hoping my eGFR is not quite as bad as it is.

[spencerk in reply to Sarah_402]

Hello Sarah, I had an appointment today, I- apparently - has the test done, but for the life of me getting a specialist to actually comment on the test is hard. I asked today about it and got no reply, even though it was on the blood sheet to get done. I did have about 10 different tests done though and they found something. I've made a new post about it.

[FThomp in reply to spencerk]

Even if you are not “big” but have more muscle then the average person, it can skew your results. The avg person for men is like 5 foot 9 145-150lbs and not all of that is muscle so if you are way taller or even slightly more muscular you fall outside the control group. Sadly, the medical community is not really up to date on cystatin at the moment so most docs won’t order it.

My neph looked at my results over time, saw an increase in creatinine when I gained a lot of muscle and ever since I had maintained that much muscle it’s been steady at the creatinine level over time give or take a minor fluctuation here or there. When I stopped lifting for a week my creatinine was still the same. A doctor I follow on YouTube said it may take 3-4 weeks off lifting completely to get a true baseline. Couple that with no urine protein or other urine abnormalities and they usually find no reason to investigate further from there.

[FThomp]

Heavy exercise and increased muscle mass can increase creatinine

[RoxanneKidney]

I experienced the same thing when I stopped lifting heavy.

[Sarah_402 in reply to RoxanneKidney]

How long did you have to stop lifting to see a change in the eGFR? Do you still lift lighter weights? My nephro said I could continue as long as protein intake is limited, I wonder if he is right...

[RoxanneKidney]

I have lifted most of my life. But a couple years ago, I crashed. And at the time I was lifting heavy and jogging. This was before I got put on lisinopril, and I was in denial about my bp, which was caused by my kidneys, not the other way around. So I was spilling protein and didn't know it. And I ended up in the ER with the most horrible upper stomach pain imaginable. Of course, all the dye and shit they gave me for the CatScan was even harder on my kidneys, but like I said, no one had check for protein in my urine and that was major was a couple months later it was discovered at Mayo. Anyway, As long as you are being treated and not overdoing, you will be fine. In fact, lifting promotes a lot of good things. I try to jog 30 minutes a day and I haven't lifted lately, but I do look at the weight (does that count)...I have a squat rack, I need to get my ass in shape before summer, I suppose. Anyway. Thanks for the inspiration. I will lift tomorrow. Practice what I preach.