Kidney disease ceratin in the future?

[negative101]

HI all, 26 year old male from Canada here... No medications or previous history of disease or illness.

My recent blood test showed the following with regards to kidney function:

Creatinine: 100 (1.13 in the U.S)
eGFR: 78
No abnormalities in urine or ultrasound imagery

My doctor didnt mention a thing, however, my research prompted this question from those of you more knowledgeable.It appears that many sites state that a GFR over 90 is "normal," and in fact, some sites state a healthy young individuals GFR should be more along the lines of 110!

Now, from what I understand, GFR begins to decline at about age 20 at the rate of 1 ml/min.... is this correct?
If yes, would it not be safe to assume that my GFR, which is 78, will be at 60 in 18 years (when Im 44)?

This would put me at stage 3 kidney disease at age 44.
Should I speak to my doctor about this.... would it not be wise to take precautions now rather than later?

Thanks in advance!

[lindahand]

To Dottie,

At 25% function he needs to eat a lot better than PB&J. There are websites that can help you with how to cook. Davita is a good site to check out. You'll have to google as if I put the www. in the spam filter blots it out. The tiredness is part of the kidney disease thing. Taste can also be affected with kidney disease so he may not like the taste of food. Peanuts are one of the foods that people with kidney disease are supposed to avoid (it was on the list my doctor gave me).

Biggest thing is though he must want to make the changes. You love him, but that will only take this so far. He must fight for it too.

I am so sorry you are having to endure this.

[villandra]

My doctor said to come in well hydrated and repeat the test.    It's the middle of summer.

Dora

[dottie323]

my husband has many problems that just all culminated at once...these are things he had for 11 years since heart failure....he was doing pretty well till the past month. he has high b.p. that is under control for 11 years with meds...his primary told him to watch it all the time...because his kidneys were always "a bit off"....he doesn't tell me ALL of what she says because he knows i'll be on his case to do whatever she says and i'll be a nag....well, his toes turned VERY DARK blue...he didnt take his socks off for a couple of weeks and complained ( not like him ) about pain...finally i saw them and got soooo scared i called his primary....who said "take him to the E.R. " ....the doc their said smoking is what did it ( over 50 years of smoking ) he cut down to 8 of those damn things from 30 a day in the last 7 years...anyway, he told him to go to his vascular doc within a week...he can hardly walk on the one foot especially...our son took him to the E.R, and vascular and primary....now he is set up with the first cardio dr he has ever seen...primary always felt he didn't need one AND a hypertention nephrologist ( primary is very concerned and referred them ) his kidneys have me more concerned than anything else...he sleeps most of the day doesn't eat..except p and b sandwiches and ice cream...he's lost weight and looks worn out....he has a AAA if you are familiar with that and bad circulation ( once again---smoking they say ) i'm so scared...i don't know what is killing him with all this going on. help me please with the kidney part at least...last march they were functioninf at 25%...now they are worse but i don't know the numbers. he's hardly drinking anything..and goes in the bathroom MAYBE 2x a day but i don't know if that's to shut me up or if he pees.

[Azwoman]

your kidney function is not bad believe me. My GFR is lower than yours and I am only 38. My condition was caused by abusing anti inflammatories, but my nbrs are slowly improving and my nephrologist doesn't see my conditon worsening as I age. You've caught this at a good time and try and find out what caused these numbers. It could be meds, diet, diabetes, high blood pressure etc. Ur young..take care of yourself and you wil be fine.

[keti_b]

Thanks for sharing this information .

[lindahand]

Wouldn't hurt to ask the question. I've been told and seen research that says diet plays a huge role in helping reverse or have the numbers stay the same. It is also possible that your kidneys have always just functioned a bit under the normal levels due to a birth defect or an unknown injury. It is possible this isn't progressive. The best way to tell is to have your number run in a year and see if they still decline.

I have to challenge the statistics that say it is 1ml/minute as that would leave everyone in their 70's with chronic kidney failure and that just isn't the case. My Grandma is 83 and her kidney's functions just fine. I have seen that number though and wonder where it comes from. If it is the case I am screwed as I have 50% function at age 37. But I may be screwed anyway as 8 years ago my function was just fine so it has gone down 50% in 8 years. That leaves me about another 6 -7 years before function falls below 20%. But I am changing my diet so that should help a lot.

I'd go back to the doctor and ask some questions. It can't hurt. They'll let you know what they think. Ask about avoiding high potassium foods and reduce your protein and salt. Potassium hides in a lot of processed food and those claiming to be 'low salt'. It is also in a lot of salt subsitutes. Those are things that can help your function. You are young though so check about limiting high potassium foods and protein. You may need those at your age. Although for everyone without kidney disease the amount of protein you need is the size of your fist. Most people eat way more protein than they need to. The salt thing though is something you can do more easily. It takes a while but eventually you don't miss it and I find it rather revolting now if vegetables are salted. It tastes wrong to me.