My gfr is down from 83 to 45 in six months

I have an appointment with my GP in two days. Two weeks ago my GFR was 52 and now it is 45. He took me off one of the blood pressure meds hoping that would help it rebound up but that did not work. I will ask him about a referral then.

Thanks for your comment.

I agree with mikewordman, the results/ratios seems unusual. GFR will depnd on your creatinine level and age. By the way waht is your age? Do you have high Urine Protein? If so how muach. You must see a good nephrologist and make renal anaysis having the following tests as min:

For Blood: Creatinine, Uric Acid, Electrolytes (K, Cl, Na, Mg etc.). BUN

For Urine: Protein, Urine creatinine, Urine microalbumin, Urine Microalbumin creatinine ratio.

Also you have to do Ultra Sound to see the Kidney size.

Hi Mohammed

To answer your question, I am a 57 year old female. I have not yet had my urine tested for protein but will ask my GP about that on Wednesday this week when I see him. I will mention the tests you have talked about and see what he says.

cjlion, Lyn may have hit the nail on the head with her mention of BP medication  if my experience some time ago is anything to go by.  You have said that one blood pressure pill has been removed and this hasn't helped.  I am interested in which pill has been removed and which pill or pills you are still taking.  I have a sole kidney with a present eGFR of 37%, creatinine 122, CKD Stage 3, and also have high blood pressure.  Both Bisoprolol and Indapamide caused fast plummets in my kidney function and were stopped as a result.  Other BP meds caused different problems - my body is intolerant of loads of meds.  Ramipril is supposed to be kidney-protective but it just made me feel sick and heady!  The best medication for me thus far has been Losartan Potassium, although I have had a few health concerns since doubling the dose in late 2016 when trials at adding other BP meds to a small Losartan dose cause problems.  Losartan is known to slightly increase creatinine levels but not to a stage that causes my renal consultant concern.  I have recently also discovered that medications for UTIs (Trimethoprim) can cause kidney function to plummet....but only whilst taking the medication and shortly afterwards.  It caused alarm for me and other medics recently during blood tests results but my renal consultant explained that it does not actually cause kidney injury and in absolutely all cases he has come across the function returns to normal after stopping that medication.  That has certainly just proved the case for me although was alarming at the time, especially when on the latest usual adult dose for a slightly longer period when the function dropped so low that I started to feel nauseous - a sure sign that my CKD had probably ventured into Stage 4.  However, all is now well with my function back up to 37%. 

So your creatinine at 116 is not anything to be unduly concerned about but what is concerning is the rapid rate that it has risen and the eGFR has dropped.  I agree with Lyn, do ask your GP for urgent referral to a renal consultant.  Whereabouts are you, just in case I can recommend mine!  do come back and let us know how you get on, and good luck.

Hi Lyn

I am 57 year old female. I am on some other medications. Lyrica and Noritriptyline for undiagnosed night pain in my legs. No direct cause can be found and many things have been ruled out. Synthroid for my under active thyroid. Amiodipine for high blood pressure and he just took me off Ramipril for high blood pressure. Nexium for my stomache and ciprolex for anxiety and depression. I only take ibuprofen very occasionally. My blood pressure is not yet under control. It is usually around 133 to 137 over 88 to 94. I take it every day in the evening. I am not happy with all the medications I am on and I have asked the doctor about this. With some time he hopes to cut them down but some of them are necessary.

Thanks for your comments. Please see my response to Lyn which lists all the meds that I am on. I live in Canada and am thinking you are in Britain. Is this correct? If so I don't think getting a referral to your specialist would be an option. I live in Burnaby Briatish Columbia and if anyone knows of a good specialist please let me

know.

Hi cjlion,

I live not far from you.  Contact me privately if you want and I can send you some info.  However, it may not be necessary as I'm sure your GP will refer you to a nephrologist.

Hi cjlion,

It might take a "cocktail" of drugs to get your BP under control but it is important.  I take Losartan as Mrs O does as my consultant says it protects kidneys, but to keep my BP under 130/80, I also take bendroflumiazide and moxonidine.  I don't have any sude effects from these, but we are all different.  I also get lreg pain (cramps) at night for which I have been prescribed quinine sulphate.  UK doctors are happy to precribe this if you have CKD but if you are in the US, they won't.  However, it works a treat for me and thee are no side effects though I believe it can sometimes produce bad side effects.

Hi Mike

Had my blood work repeated yesterday along with giving a urine sample. My gfr is up to 60 from 45 five days ago. I have an ultrasound scheduled for the end of July. Doctor told me he wanted to wait for blood work to come back before referring to a nephrologist. I won't see my GP again until the 18th of July. Is it normal for gfr to bounce around so much? I know being dehydrated can affect it but I was definitely not dehydrated at the time I have had any of my blood work done.

Hi cjlion,

Re:  your 'bouncing GFR' question:  the answer is "not really", but it's not impossible.  One thing I've learned is that different labs may test blood samples using slightly varying methods (eg. using different equipment?) and this can account for some of the variance.  So you should always go to the same lab for your bloodwork to ensure consistency.  Apart from that, I'm not aware of anything else that could account for that much variance.  The good news is obviously that you got a much better result this time, so I'm sure your GP is right - wait a bit and test your bloodwork again and if you get consistently good results from here on out, you can probably throw out the 45 result.

Hope that helps.

Blood labs occasionally make errors too, maybe typos when resuls are entered.  I once had an HB of 15.2 recorded when it was subsequetly, a day later 9.5.

 

I always have to get up 3-4 times to pee at night too