Left hanging...severe anxiety...please help!

I am on the verge of losing everhthing: family and mental health. I am scared beynd belief, my life is spiraling out of control and I feel I have nothing solid to hold onto.

I can't seem to get enough information from my nephrologist that would give me some complete peace of mind. 

If you could help with any encouraging view, God bless you! I have been living in fear and doubt for almost a year now and my family is about to give up on me. 

Briefly, I first became alert to the kidney issue when I noticed a drop in egFR from 98 to 77 in my annual labs. This was right a few months after I got sick with pneumonia (with infection in the left lung) from which I recovered. 

I asked my pcp about the drop - and she said it's still normal kidney functiion and that it can drop with age, could be some dehydration too, etc. Next year I insisted on referral to Nephrology because I felt something was not right with an e-GFR in the 70's at the age of 42-43.

I am now 44 and since then I have had GFR-s in the 70's and 80's. It never went back into the 90's where I was before pneumonia.

Nephrology found some very low-grade proteinuria right around 200 mg/24h (barely outside of normal). Everything else normal, including ultrasound. No HBP or diabetes, grerat cholesterol.

A recent test when I ate less protein and lyed down during the day quite a lot came back at < 110 mg/24 h (normal); so I am suspecting some postural/orthostatic protein drop too out of those 200 mg I seem to normally have. 

These are eGFR numbers since 2014:

July 2014: 98

July 2015: 77

Nov 2015: 86

Aug 2016: 75

Septeber 2016: 82

October 2016 (repeat): 84

April 2017: 72 (lowest yet)

My nephrologist's conclusion was that "even though my  collection is consistent with some CKd stage 2, he does not think that clinically, I have CKD at this point". 

He told me that the little proteinuria I have is clinically insignificant, that there can be many benign reasons for a little proteinuria and that my kidneys, while not perfect, will last me "another 90 years".

I had a 6 months follow-up recently, and despite about the same level of protein and a drop from 84 to 72, he says it's just normal variation, nothibg eslle to talk about. He tried to reassure me seeral times that I don't hace CKD.

My fears come from reading all the info online. Technically speaking, I do qualify. And if right now I don't' have a diagnosis, I am terrified that soon I wll - inevitably.

Please tell me:

1) Is it possible my dr. is right and I don't have it?

2) Is it possible this is just variation and it won't progress?

3) If it does...how long do people stage in earlier stages 2 and 3?

4) Is there any chance I could see an impprvement in serum creatinine and implicitly e-GFR with serious lifestyle changes? I spoke with a naturopath and she presscribes some lifestyle changes and some anti-inflammaroy supplements.

Please help with some reassurance as I am hanging between only a faint hope of returning to the world and irreverisible break down.

0 likes, 36 replies