Blood test results are confusing

[Cazzy41]

So I’m two years post transplant and I have BK virus. I received blood results yesterday and was told my creatinine has risen from 1.94 to 2.04. The only thing the told me to do was check my BP throughout the rest of yesterday and two hours after my medication this morning. We all know that BP is a good indicator of your kidney’s happiness so to speak. So I have done what was asked and my BP seems to be really good especially for next. On average it’s about 150/80 and pulse of 81. I don’t know what to think, this is my first transplant and all this is new to me. Any advice would be appreciated and gratefully received ❤️

[LisaSnow]

The increase in creatinine is small and within margin of error so unless it keeps going up I wouldn't worry too much. The BP control is indeed important as normal BP (less than 140:80) protects kidney function. Your doctor is likely checking to see if your BP medicine is working well. If not there are many medicines you can use for BP management.

Stay well.

[Cazzy41 in reply to LisaSnow]

Thank you Lisa. I had a telephone consultation yesterday with my nephrologist. He has decided to reduce my Tacrolimus (Adoport) by 0.5mg as my blood tests showed the level to be at 7.3 which is quite high for me. Hopefully giving me a chance to fight the BK virus a bit better. The viral load has reduced slightly so that’s a good sign. And he is going to add Amlodipine in with my Bisoprolol to help get better management on my BP. Then I have to have bloods run again next Tuesday just to check the levels of Tacro re not to low.

Hopefully things will slowly start to level back out again.

[LisaSnow in reply to Cazzy41]

So glad they are actively managing you based on trough level. Are you on any other immunosuppressant?

[Cazzy41 in reply to LisaSnow]

Prednisone hunny. I was taking Cellcept but when the BK virus was detected they changed it to Prednisone and I have been in that since x

[Bob2018]

Hi Cazzy

Soon after my transplant after 6 months I ended up with rise in Cr levels around 1.3 to 1.5. My Tx dr was closely watching my levels and repeating tests frequently. Bk virus was the culprit. Dr ordered two biopsies in duration of two months. Soon he confirmed some borderline rejection I was given IV therapy (sodumedrol) three days in a row. Even dr stopped my tacro at one point for couple of months completely. Was only taking prednisone and myfortic. My Bk load went upto Levels of 40,000 And thereafter reduced slowly but took 3-5 months time. Last time I checked my Bk virus was in Jan 2020 and was less then 500 (which is ok). It may be not that much harmful at that level. So far my levels stagger between 1.1 to 1.3. Which seems to be my baseline. Hope you feel better and stay positive. I also used to be very nervous during those times but trust your dr follow up with the results. I am 39 yrs old and long way to go with my exchange gift from my dad few years back. Hope your levels return to normal levels sooner. Feel better.

[Cazzy41 in reply to Bob2018]

Hey Bob thank you so much for your words of encouragement. I really needed to read this today. My mood has been so low recently and I can’t seem to shake it off no matter what I do. I’m 43 just turned in May I received a cadaver kidney which was an absolutely amazing match I can tell you. Apparently my BK loaf has dropped slightly but I am just awaiting another panel of bloods so I’m trying to be optimistic on these. They have reduced my Tacro from 3.5 to 3.0mg and I’m on prednisone 5mg daily. I’m just so tired and lethargic. But again thank you so much for giving me a better way to look at my situation much appreciated x

[Falkenhayn in reply to Bob2018]

Rejection sounds scary and is greatly feared by transplant patients, but at least with rejection there are a lot of things they can do to correct the problem by way of increasing the immunosuppression. What you don't want is what I have, which is a chronic decline in the health of the transplanted organ, for which they admit there is absolutely nothing they can do but watch and calculate how long it will take until you have to return to dialysis. You'd think in the almost 70 years since the first kidney transplant in 1954 they would have come up with some better fate for patients than this.