hope I'm in right place. Couple hours ago posted but it wound up in pmr/gca site!After Covid had declining gfr into 40s...now trending back up to 60. Have proteinuria for which I take losartan 50 mg. Renal ultrasound and biopsy did not reveal cause or damage. Nephrologist says I'm bit of a puzzlement. Anyone else develop kidney problems after covid?
I don't really know if I have ckd or if its " kidney problems other"! Any input will be helpful. I'm in the pmr/gca support so I know how health unlocked groups are wonderful people! Thank you!
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For me, my Covid mild: 14 days, sore throat fever etc and shortness of breath. Interestingly gp not give plaxovd though rheumatologist thought I should have it as I'm immunecompromised from long term prednisone use. The study in the Journal of Nephrology noted unfortunately that even mild cases of Covid, no hospitalization, could result in declining GFR and AKI. Don't know for sure if this was my cause but nephrologist says its a "possibility that can not be ruled out". Good health to you and good day.
i had covid back in dec 2022. it was not a serious case but had sore throat, fatigue but no cough or fever etc. had previously had all vaccines and booster which were available i took renal dose of paxlovid for 5 days and felt better but still fatigued. long story short, my egfr dropped from 55 to 27. neph said it well could have been the covid since egfr dropping had been happening even w/ people w/ no history of ckd. luckily since then egfr has climbed into the mid 40s as of 4/1/23. will be having new labs in 2 weeks. hope trend has continued.
i believe my drop in egfr was either caused by covid or the paxlovid. that was some vile medication. i could not wait for the 5 days of that med to be over. my kidney function remained stable throughout covid vaccines and booster. i really think that they protected me against getting a much more serious case of covid.
Hi bubbles53. I'm with you on that: think vaccines and boosters protected me from serious bout of covid. Didn't realize that paxlovid so vile! Glad you made it through. Take good care.
Hi, I was diagnosed with NS late last year and had a biopsy in January. Since then my diagnosis has been 'Minimal Change Disease following Covid vaccination'. They were going to start me on Pred but as the proteinuria levels were going down slowly we're waiting to see if it resolves without the need for that. My eGFR has always been within acceptable limits but my BP has been high so I'm prescribed Rampril. I have an appointment and further test results next week so looking forward to finding out what MCD means for me and whether if it resolved without Pred, I can assume there has been no lasting damage. Its very confusing!
Hi thank you for your response. Wasn't familiar with MCD and don't know what NS is. Sorry to be so ignorant! Does prednisone help proteinuria? I'm on it for something else. Down from 80 mg to 4 mg. My proteinuria is mild now. Thankfully you'll have no lasting damage...hopefully. Indeed confusing. Be well. Best wishes.
Hi NS is Nephrotic Syndrome - basically I gained a lot of fluid due to proteinuria and Pred can help to reduce that. I've been reluctant to go on it though in case it causes weight gain but obviously if I need to, I will. Thanks for your reply and best wishes to you too.
Thank you. I didn't know prednisone helped proteinuria. I developed proteinuria while on it but when I had tapered down from 80 to 5 ( on it for something else). Prednisone can be a hard drug to take with all its side effects but it is a miraculous drug too!! I wish you all the best.
I have long suspected Covid or Covid vaccine is responsible for my kidney disease. I don’t fit into any of the criteria for my Stage 3A which was diagnosed last year. Started with a gfr of 34 was 50 last time tested. A year earlier it had been 98 the only things that had happened to me last year was Covid and the vaccines
I can’t find any research that is being done on this. Hope there is some going on somewhere.
Did find some articles medical news today and other with strong links to covid. Particularly serious cases and long haulers. Covid seems to wreck havoc everywhere. Hope griddle improving. Be well.
sorry you had some problems after Covid the good news that you are heading back up on your efgr is 60 instead of 40 I know there many study’s out there about this I know that I have polycystic kidney and was told to be careful during Covid cause I know of us with kidney disease and those who had a transplant had to be really cautious cause we were all told if we get Covid it wouldn’t be very hard on us so we know it can damage the kidneys.
Covid is a nasty virus, that's for sure and can impact many organs. Those cases involving the kidneys often fall into the AKI (acute kidney injury) category in that they self heal and improve over time. A great article explaining outcomes is below. On the other hand, you mention you're in the PMR/GCA group. Of those two autoimmune conditions, GCA is most likely to pose issues for kidneys. As you probably know all too well, it's an inflammatory disease involving the blood vessels that can lead to glomerulonephritis, membranous glomerulopathy, etc. Autoimmune conditions can be very sneaky, so keep an eye on it. Thankfully, you've had a biopsy which apparently came up fine. The good news is that an eGFR of 60 is considered to be good! So I hope you continue to make great progress!
Hi thanks for response and informative article. Yes, because of my GCA they suspected fasciitis in kidneys but it turned out not to be that. They did say AKI and yes, thankfully numbers seem to be getting better. Does that mean I don't have CKD? I guess I have to ask nephrologist I see him beginning of july. Thanks again and all the best to you. Peace
Generally speaking, an eGFR below 60 for three months or more, or an eGFR above 60 with kidney damage (marked by high levels of albumin in your urine) means chronic kidney disease. But your nephrologist is the best one to consult on the matter of your kidney status and outcomes. Kidneys rarely decline on their own - usually there's something driving it. You apparently have a good team watching over you, including not only a nephrologist but also a rheumatologist. That's a great combination. I hope you continue to see both. It's beautiful, though, that your eGFR is trending in a positive direction. Keep on, keeping on!
Thanks for responding. Yeah I had some 6 months of readings below 60 then 3 above 60. Today close but below ( 57.7). Yes, I feel I have a good team and am lucky. Know how hard that can be to have so don't take it for granted. I will keep keeping on and you do same! All the best to you.
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