A1C decent with CKD 3A/B

[Alexie90]

went in for my quarterly 3 month appt last week. I requested the labs be drawn prior to the visit, eGFR came back as 38 with an A1C of 6.4 (down from 6.8 3 months ago). eGFR was down from 55 3 months ago. Dr had me retest and eGFR came back as 49. due to my potassium results 5.7 they had to take me off my blood pressure medicine. prior to appt I was taking 1000mg metformin ER twice a day, Lisinopril 20mg once a day and Lipitor. after the appt I was taken off the blood pressure pill and they added Jardiance. then 5 days later retested my labs again. potassium was back to normal. eGFR is at 48 now. BUN is elevated at 27 and creatinine is 1.35 (lower than the 1.64 a week ago). was put back on blood pressure RX Lisinopril but at 5mg only. now I have to retest again on Monday.

I asked my Dr if I need to be concerned about any of my other elevated labs. she said even though they show as "abnormal" she's not concerned about them. she also said my eGFR has "stabilized" back to my prior levels. however back my eGFR is down from 56 back in early January and 2 years ago it was 76. so I'm concerned it maybe dropping quicker than expected despite the A1C levels being okay

[Bassetmommer NKF Ambassador]

Getting off metformin is a good thing. Getting BP meds to work and not give side effects is very tricky. It takes trial and error. The doctor is probably waiting for the Jardiance to kick in and then retest. Try to be patient and not worry about the drop. Seems your doctor thinks you will stabilize.

[Alexie90 in reply to Bassetmommer]

unfortunately I'm still on the metformin too. I was reading the metformin wasnt necessarily good for you if your CKD is getting worse. so right now I still take 1000mg metformin ER twice a day, jardiance once a day, lipitor once a day and lisiniopril (low dose) once a day.

[Mountaintrue]

From everything I read, staying off Metformin is critical. It may take time for the newly adjusted meds to work in your favour

[darkstar1974]

The A1C is still elevated. The best thing you can do is figure out what foods are spiking your BG.

If you do not have one already, I'd highly recommend getting a blood glucose test kit. Test when you wake in the morning, before eating and then 1 and 2 hours after eating and again before bed.

Wit h some insight into where you're BG fluctuations are coming from you can make adjustments and bring down the A1C which will in turn help slow any CKD progression.

[mybirdbuddie]

Hi Alexie90,Ì was on lisinopril and +- 4 years ago, was taken off due to the reaction it was having on my kidneys. Unfortunately, my heart failure has worsened so was put back on to lisinopril 9 months ago ...2.5mg...had blood tests 2 or 3 times and as the medication was no longer affecting my kidneys have now been on 10mg for the past 4 months and whilst I still have AKD seems to be reasonably under fair control...hope this information assists you.

[Darlenia]

Darkstar1974 has wonderful advice. My hubby, a T2D, has gone through kidney disease, then dialysis and now has a transplant. You're in an early stage of the disease and you can do a lot to stave off issues and live a good long life. If you know the mechanics of how your body operates, half the battle is won. I assume you have diabetes as the underlying cause. If so, that's a disorder that produces high glucose and the high glucose, in turn, coats the blood vessels with fatty deposits and narrowing them. This produces high blood pressure that damages (blows out) the body organs, including one's heart, kidneys, etc. With regard to the kidneys, once the filtration vessels are gone, they can not regenerate. My husband's journey involved a series of steps including metformin, then insulin. As time progressed, his cardiac regimen expanded to become a boatload of blood pressure drugs and more. When his blood pressure soared to incredible levels and nothing worked, dialysis was brought in to bring it down. Please note that with BP drugs, some people may take one type, others may take a combination of 1 or 2 or more, and so on - it often varies by person and the extent to which the diabetes has made inroads. It's simply highly important that blood pressure is kept in normal ranges. This said, it's even better for diabetics to tackle the glucose problem at the ground level - by eliminating sugars and carbs from one's diet. My hubby's mom did that - she adjusted her lifestyle and lived well into her 80s. Looking back, we just wish someone had sat us down and told us about the interplay of all of this earlier in our lives; I think we would have made better choices. However, you still have a wonderful opportunity to take great care of your health. Keep a good eye on your labs, in addition to eGFr, your creatinine and BUN are also indicators of kidney function. This you're already doing. When anyone takes an interest in his/her own health, great outcomes are very possible. I think a great future lies ahead of you.