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Permalink Reply by Gina on January 25, 2012 at 2:20pm

Not sure if this is helpful, but I recently had a test result of high creatinine at the OBGYN. My endo asked "were you dehydrated" and in fact I was. She said, hydrate and re-test, and my levels were normal. You may already know this, but I had no idea--though the nurse drawing the blood and I had a FULL ON CONVO about my being dehydrated, but that is another story! :)

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Permalink Reply by Markiss on January 26, 2012 at 10:00am

that could be a good point Gina, most of us are under hydrated...

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Permalink Reply by Judith on January 26, 2012 at 7:09pm

Gina--not sure I understand the abbreviations, old lady that I am, but for years I have had the Greatest, meaningful conversations over blood draws----from The D to hot flashes to dead feet!....I know that the 1.5 quarts of water and liter of tea I driink daily help me feel better overall.......

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Permalink Reply by trinsmum on January 27, 2012 at 12:34pm

Ive got to say, Ive really been making an effort to drink more water throughout the day and I do feel better..although many more trips to the washroom...I guess thats a good sign of kidney function. lol

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Permalink Reply by hfw on January 25, 2012 at 2:39pm

I think Gina's suggestion is right on. Dehydration messes up lots of labs because they're measuring substances as a percentage of blood volume. I don't think I'd take any supplements without your doc's ok. It's hard to be sure what the side effects or interactions might be.

Wish you good luck!

--Heidi

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Permalink Reply by FHS on January 26, 2012 at 12:34pm

If you work out, in general, your blood creatinine levels will be a bit higher in the normal range.

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Permalink Reply by trinsmum on January 26, 2012 at 12:58pm

Thanks for the suggestions. I have never thought about the dehydration thing..but I have been dehydreated (for awhile Im sure, I know I dont take in enough liquids throughout the day)
Today I have been drinking like a fish...and using the washroom twice as much. ;)

I have noticed the urine colour is much lighter which I know means Im not as dehydrated as I was previously. Im going to continue with the OD'ing on water and then get some repeat blood work done to compare results..Hopefully that will show a difference.

I have my fingers crossed. If not, I may speak to a nephrologist as I want to nip any kidney damage in the bud.

I got my doctor to fax over the results of the previous and my levels were 123 which were up from 107 on Jan 17.
That result was down from 125 in October..so even though there is some movement in the numbers, they are all still way too high.

It even says on the report that eGFR values from 30-59 mL/min 1.73 m2 are consistent with moderate chronic kidney disease if result confirmed by repeat with persistence for 3 months or more.
The original one was done in October and the most recent Jan 20..this puts me right in this category for kidney disease and Im freaking out now...

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Permalink Reply by Gina on January 26, 2012 at 3:45pm

Sorry to hear you are scared! I know it's scary, for sure. Will keep fingers (and toes crossed) that after hydration the numbers look better!!! :)

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Permalink Reply by trinsmum on January 27, 2012 at 12:35pm

thanks Gina. I appreciate it. :)

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Permalink Reply by FHS on January 26, 2012 at 7:00pm

Hi again trinsmum.

Relax and breath. These numbers can be very confusing.

There are two sources to measure creatinine from, your blood, and from your urine. It sounds like the numbers you are seeing are urine creatinine levels from a spot, one time, urine sample.

Random sample spot urine sampls have absolutely no standard reference level to tell you if the levels are normal or not. Over 24 hours, you can normally clear as little as 500mg, up to 2000 mg of creatinine, so spot urine samples normally will vary from sample to sample and don't tell you much by themselves.

A number you need to check is your blood creatinine level as well. Again, blood creatinine levels can be affected by the things mentioned in this thread, but a normal level for women is somewhere between 0.4 - 1.0 mg/dl.

The GFR you see is is an estimate based on how much creatinine is in your blood versus how much is found in your urine, and not very conclusive. They actually have to determine that you have kidney damage before you can use and estimated GFR to determine the level of damage. There are more conclusive ways to determine GFR.

A test they can do to check for early kidney damage is the microalbumin/creatinine ratio in your randome urine sample. Again, either number alone doesn't tell you much, but a ratio of the two that is higher than normal can indicate kidney damage.

I'd check with my doctor and ask him to do more conclusive tests like the microalbumin/creatinine ratio test from your spot urine sample, along with blood creatinine and BUN. They take no more effort than the tests you already have done routinely and really should be a part of a diabetics normal battery of tests.

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Permalink Reply by Gerri on January 27, 2012 at 2:19am

Your doctor should order a 24-hour urine collection. When you get your results, if this was part of blood labs, look at your potassium level.

Hoping all is fine!

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Permalink Reply by Holger Schmeken on January 27, 2012 at 4:16am

What is the connection between creatinine and potassium levels? Is it like high potassium => high creatinine?

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