Creatine

Just wondering if anyone had had their levels checked and the results in people with RA

[Hidden]

Hi Minty. I've had RA for 31 years. My last Creatine results were in April and were 63. It varies with age, and can be between 60 - 125

[helixhelix]

I have it tested every 3 months, and has been completely normal for the last 8 years....

[Hidden in reply to helixhelix]

I was wondering if RA increases or decreases the levels

[helixhelix in reply to Hidden]

Sure. RA is just such a fun disease that it can attack just about anything; heart, lungs, liver, kidneys..... (I think brain is generally the one thing it leaves alone). So you can get chronic kidney disease if your RA is left uncontrolled, but rarely in early years of disease I believe. The drugs we take are also hard on the kidneys and can cause non-permanent changes. So as usual devil & deep blue sea...

Anyway that's why creatine levels are normally checked from time to time

[Hidden in reply to helixhelix]

But are creatine levels decreased?

[helixhelix in reply to Hidden]

I don't think there's a single answer to that question. The disease/drugs can do different things that could result in high or low levels. Equally , completely innocuous things like being dehydrated can affect readings. If you are concerned about your levels go talk to your GP.

[Hidden in reply to helixhelix]

I was just curious as I know in my own case that they were off the scale but that could have been due to other things

[BoneyC]

I've had RA for 47 years and have U&E's checked monthly with the other usual tests. My most recent creatinine result was 41, just below the reference limit (44-97), but GP marked as "satisfactory" rather than "normal".