Proteinuria

[FittoniaPlant]

Heya, I'm 22, female, live a pretty healthy lifestyle but dr noticed consistent protien in urine over the last 3 months. He said they need to check for CKD (maybe he shouldnt have told me that idk if thats bad form) and I'm getting blood tests done later this week. Needless to say I'm feeling a little freaked out but trying to just stay neutral until i get tests back. Is CKD normal in someone my age? Could it be something else? Should I be worried about the protein in urine? Any insight or advice is appreciated

[Michael__S]

Hi FittoniaPlant and welcome. I think the best thing you can do is to let the specialists do their work and don't be afraid to ask question to better understand the test being done. CKD can be caused by many things (from mechanical obstruction to diabetes to auto-immune disorder) and may be acute or chronic. The most important thing you can do right now is to make sure your medical team find the cause of this. It may or may not involve more than 1 type of specialist.

It might be caused by something as benign as a virus or by an uncontrolled diabetes for example. Getting that under control would prevent you from going straight to kidney failure.

Best of luck.

[shaun8]

I had the same since I was 16. See what gfr says but gotta change diet and be thankful found it early

[shaun8 in reply to shaun8]

Do you have any other ailments, diabetes, over weight ect?

[FittoniaPlant in reply to shaun8]

Not really, Ive got CFS/ME but i dont think that has any kidney affects. A little underweight but no diabeties (was tested a few months ago)

[ICE187]

Ckd can hit at any age. I'm 48 with overt hypothyroidism that triggered ckd. I have protein in my urine everytime I urinate. I made it a habit to drink all water as well as pedialyte for electrolytes. My eGFR went from 97 to 74 within a few weeks. Some other causes can be pregnancy, Nephrotic Syndrom, Type 2 Diabetes. Do you have high blood pressure?

[FittoniaPlant in reply to ICE187]

Low blood pressure generally! Thanks for your reply, yeah ive been trying to stay hydrated on water

[Sparker88]

Iga nephropathy can present itself at very young ages. I was diagnosed at 33 but there are many folks who get it as kids. Iga Nephropathy is an autoimmune kidney disease. If you have it (fingers crossed you don’t!) I recommend iga Nephropathy Facebook group. Good luck!

[tas1kubra]

Hello

I think depending on your blood results you may not need to be worried that much. Every kidney disease starts with proteinuria, but if not treated then it becomes chronically. This is the dangerous case.

So be relaxed, you may take some medications in order to lower the leakage. But never ever ignore regular checkups. That was what I did when I was in your age. Now I am 29, and have CKD with level 3b. My doctor never told me that if the leakage continued, it would cause a kidney disease. So its great that you are here and now possible outcomes.

No worries, as in every disease, early diagnose saves life. But in this case you can prevent it to turn into a disease.

[Reese4 in reply to tas1kubra]

Not all kidney disease starts with proteinuria. I have CKD 3a but all kidney related tests other than eGFR and creatnine which goes between normal and a tad over are within normal range.

[tas1kubra in reply to Reese4]

Sure, there are lots of different reasons of kidney disease such as diabetes, high blood pressure, lupus and so on. But outcome of untreated proteinuria is ckd. And I think the problem that FittoniaPlant is that she has proteinuria in her urine. It’s treatable I think as long as its not chronic.

[Turtlepad513]

I was 20 when diagnosed with FSGS CKD stage 3, not sure if it was a or b.

But high blood pressure was what alerted my doctor. I do have Proteinuria though.

With diet changes and exercise I have slowed down the progression for over 10 years.

[horsie63]

if you haven’t had children yet get a free genetic test to rule out a genetic cause.