Creatinine increase

[kimosabi1961]

Went for my monthly labs last Tuesday, and got the results today. My baseline is 1.8, and it has been at that the last 3 checks, but this time it is up to 2.1. I don't think it's a rejection, I have gained a lot of weight the last 2 months, and I don't think I've been drinking enough because most days I don't get very thirsty. Needless to say I am upset with the increase and will worry for the next month.

[OperationKidney]

I wouldn't be surprised if it's your water intake being less than what kidney transplant recipients need. I haven't been doing well with water intake either so you're not alone in that struggle!

[Dna4christ]

Lack of water can make a huge difference in creatinine levels. Try drinking st least 2liters

[JEanes55 in reply to Dna4christ]

I drank a lot of water before my labs and didn’t see a difference. What happened?

[Dna4christ in reply to JEanes55]

Hey there,

How much water do you usually drink??? I have noticed several things throughout my transplant journey. You have to be drinking a lot of water consistently. Drinking a day or 2 before labs didnt make a difference for me but had to be like 3 or more days. Honestly, 2liters wont make a much difference for me and I have to drink at least 3 liters. Cant speak for everyone. Each transplant experience is unique. But, also need to be careful because drinking too much can make you sick. I drank 6 liters of water and thought I was dying.

In my beginning years (9years now), I would drink 4-5 liters a day which kept my creatinine under 1. But then, even with a lot of water, my creatinine slowly increased over time. Tacrolimus also played a factor in my creatinine increase. More tacro, higher creatinine went up. Slowly over the course of the first 3 years of my transplant, my creatinine went from .86 to 1.5. It stayed around there. My new baseline became 1.4-1.6. Then, suddenly in a course of 2 months, it went up to 1.77. Then, 1.97. My transplant team didnt know what to do and tried to change around my medication. They thought I was having a rejection. Got a biopsy, nothing showed up. Then, it went down just like that back to my baseline 1.4-1.8 (avg. 1.5). Currently, my creatinine is on the rise again and I'm worried lol.. been drinking a lot of water and staying away from red meat

Hopefully, your new kidney is trying to settle down and everything will be alright! Once a doctor told me, it doesn't matter if you have a creatinine under 1 or 2. It can be 2 for the next 20 years and will keep you off of dialysis. Hope that helps. Best wishes and God bless!

Sorry for the long reply..

[kimosabi1961 in reply to Dna4christ]

Thank you!

[Kingmoha in reply to Dna4christ]

hi there can i drink 4 to 5 liter water a day

[Dna4christ in reply to Kingmoha]

I drank up to 6liters once and it made me super sick..i felt bloated and nauseous. I think I was close to water poisoning .. so I drink 3 liters the most now but it also depends on your body size. Im pretty petite- 100lbs at 5'3". If my husband drank more (6ft 200lbs) then I'm sure he would have been fine. I drank 4 liters and 5 rarely before. Depends ^^

[rabbit01]

Don't worry about one test in isolation. Keep yourself well hydrated and see what happens on your next test. Good luck 👍

[Donaldson0007]

Water/hydration plays a big role in this. I drink a min of 64 oz per day. On test days, I drink a full 16 oz before heading out and take another bottle along to drink while I wait for the lab tech. It takes about 30 mins for the body to process water. My first post creatinine was a .86 and it rose steadily each month thereafter. I now test around a 1.14 to a 1.21 every month.

I also gained about 30lbs in the first year post transplant. There can be several factors going on here1) I was terribly underweight when I got the kidney at 107lbs., and docs said it was because I was finally 'healthy' and able to hold weight on 2) the meds can be notorious for causing weight gain 3) some of them meds can cause you to eat a lot - steroids in particular 4) I was sedentary for a while during recovery so getting active might be key. I now walk daily and have started taking pilates and if I cant get to classes I practice at home with free online videos, from youtube or whatever I can find.

Contact your transplant team to discuss the results if they have not already contacted you about them, as well as what exercise and food may be right to help you manage. Everyone is different. Good luck and try to not panic, stress likely makes everything worse.

[Tarzan5]

Same happened to me. Baseline was staying at 2.0 for one year. Got labs done creatinine was 2.7. They did a biopsy to rule out rejection found out it was the BK virus. Been fighting it for a year now. Creatinine is at 4.0 now so I don’t know. The damaged was all ready done to my transplant kidney.

[WYOAnne NKF Ambassador]

Don't worry about just one test. You have to look at the trend. The first couple of years mine jumped around also. All kinds of things can make a difference I have found. If I exercised a lot the day before, ate a heavy meal the night before, didn't drink enough water the day before all can effect my creatinine.

You mentioned you have gained weight, we all have done that following transplant, but that too could have an effect.

You should call your transplant coordinator and discuss your worry with her/him. They may have you repeat the test in 2 weeks and see if it went back down or not.

Take care.

[March-31-09]

Drinking enough water is key. I don’t always drink water as I should. Don’t beat yourself up. Keep trying

[Gardner-NY]

Hello kimosabi1961, My spouse had his transplant over 16 mos ago and his normal creatinine is 1.8 to 2.1, occasionally 1.7. Sounds like you know your body well and know what you need to do so you can get your number down. Take care of yourself. hugs

[Crapgame]

If you look at many of your other labs, you’ll probably find up and down variations from draw to draw. In 2-1/2 years, my creatinine has varied from just over 1 to 1.33, with many stops in between. By all means, discuss your concerns with your team, but as others have mentioned, it may we’ll be “normal “ for you.

[Ish123]

Dehydration is the main cause..if rejection is there then creatinine start to jump 3 -4 point per week or more..so check it regularly..