The State of the Kidneys: not so great
Very disappointing lab results:
creatinine: 1.57
eGFR: 40
These are quite significantly worse than they were in August (creatinine 1.33, eGFR 49). The nephrologist is hoping that I was just dehydrated for some reason (I hadn't drunk as much Gatorade as usual in the couple days leading up to the blood draw, maybe hadn't eaten enough salt, maybe hadn't been drinking enough?), so she wants me to binge on salty foods, drink plenty of Gatorade, and drink plenty of water for the next few days, then have another blood draw.
I asked her if I needed to continue drinking the Gatorade on a regular basis, and she actually recommend that I drink as much Gatorade as water, half one and half the other, but I told her that I didn't think I could manage that, because I drink a lot of water. She said just to drink as much as I can.
My blood sugar is fine, so that's a relief. My blood pressure is low. My BUN is low (6), though I'm not sure exactly what that means.
The nephrologist says that the amount of nausea I'm having (like the amount of fatigue I was experiencing) is very unusual for my level of kidney function, so she's referring me to a GI specialist ... the same excellent GI specialist I've seen in the past, actually. I think this has been a long time coming.
So ... disappointing kidney function measurements, but we'll see what they look like after a weekend of binging on Gatorade, canned soups, tortilla chips, salted nuts, and Chinese food.
creatinine: 1.57
eGFR: 40
These are quite significantly worse than they were in August (creatinine 1.33, eGFR 49). The nephrologist is hoping that I was just dehydrated for some reason (I hadn't drunk as much Gatorade as usual in the couple days leading up to the blood draw, maybe hadn't eaten enough salt, maybe hadn't been drinking enough?), so she wants me to binge on salty foods, drink plenty of Gatorade, and drink plenty of water for the next few days, then have another blood draw.
I asked her if I needed to continue drinking the Gatorade on a regular basis, and she actually recommend that I drink as much Gatorade as water, half one and half the other, but I told her that I didn't think I could manage that, because I drink a lot of water. She said just to drink as much as I can.
My blood sugar is fine, so that's a relief. My blood pressure is low. My BUN is low (6), though I'm not sure exactly what that means.
The nephrologist says that the amount of nausea I'm having (like the amount of fatigue I was experiencing) is very unusual for my level of kidney function, so she's referring me to a GI specialist ... the same excellent GI specialist I've seen in the past, actually. I think this has been a long time coming.
So ... disappointing kidney function measurements, but we'll see what they look like after a weekend of binging on Gatorade, canned soups, tortilla chips, salted nuts, and Chinese food.