High Creatinine, lower eGFR, kidney issue? thoughts?

[Fly_boy]

Hey guys. I just got some blood work back with some of the highest creatinine levels I’ve ever had at 1.44, GFR 56. Historically I’ve had fairly high numbers 1.2-1.34. I am 36 yo, 5’11” 177 lb 15% bf (dexa scan). Lifting for 20 years. I’ve seen a kidney specialist over the past couple years and was cleared of any renal failure but now my GP is concerned again and wants follow up bloodwork. I take creatine supps and eat 175-200 gm protein per day. Also, this bloodwork was the day after a heavy upper body workout, which I’ve heard can skew the results. I requested a cystatin c egfr thanks to info from Derek at @MPMD and will get that bloodwork in a couple weeks. I will discontinue creatine and all preworkout supps for the time being. I’m curious on y’all’s thoughts/experience.

 

[barische]

yes get cystatin C - i know cordyceps is great for kidney health.
if he doenst want to do that then next option is 24hr creatinine clearance. carry around 24 hours of urine.

plan is correct with creatine and caffeine/.

 

[Fly_boy]

yes get cystatin C - i know cordyceps is great for kidney health.
if he doenst want to do that then next option is 24hr creatinine clearance. carry around 24 hours of urine.

plan is correct with creatine and caffeine/.

Are you saying don’t pee for 24hrs?

 

[barische]

no you would collect the pee in a bottle for testing amount of creatinine, soluble proteins in solute to determine kidney function. there shouldnt be any appreciable amount of protein as this is sign of glomerular dysfunction. As proteins / albumin gets past the filtration system which is not good. this is as gold standard as it gets. if you are concerned then I would do both tests as it is not invasive.

 

[Fly_boy]

no you would collect the pee in a bottle for testing amount of creatinine, soluble proteins in solute to determine kidney function. there shouldnt be any appreciable amount of protein as this is sign of glomerular dysfunction. As proteins / albumin gets past the filtration system which is not good. this is as gold standard as it gets. if you are concerned then I would do both tests as it is not invasive.

Gotcha. Yes I had protein and creatinine tested in urine. Both were in range.

 

[NoAddedHmones]

While for peace of mind this additional test is a much better indicator of kidney function then solely looking at creatinine.

However, it is pretty normal for creatinine levels to progressively increase as your overall muscle mass does.

You would need to completely cease any training for 4-5 days for a true baseline. Ensure you are plenty hydrated prior to getting bloods as well..

 

[Jackedzombie]

As it sounds like you are well aware already, creatinine levels alone are not a good marker for kidney health, especially if you train, eat a lot of protein, and supplement creatine. There are also well established gender and ethnic differences in creatinine measurements although that’s probably not a confounder here. GFR much better.

Cystatin C is a valuable test to get too although be aware that poor insulin sensitivity and/or very high carb feeds closely before giving a sample can potentially falsely elevate this test result too. Ideally, as suggested above, a moderate protein, low GI diet, non training, no supplemental creatine wash out for a few days before these kinds of tests will give the best possible baseline.

 

[Fly_boy]

As it sounds like you are well aware already, creatinine levels alone are not a good marker for kidney health, especially if you train, eat a lot of protein, and supplement creatine. There are also well established gender and ethnic differences in creatinine measurements although that’s probably not a confounder here. GFR much better.

Cystatin C is a valuable test to get too although be aware that poor insulin sensitivity and/or very high carb feeds closely before giving a sample can potentially falsely elevate this test result too. Ideally, as suggested above, a moderate protein, low GI diet, non training, no supplemental creatine wash out for a few days before these kinds of tests will give the best possible baseline.

Good to know about the insulin sensitivity. I wasn’t aware.
Next week I plan to retest after 4 day break from lifting and 16 days off creatine.

 

[Jackedzombie]

Good to know about the insulin sensitivity. I wasn’t aware.
Next week I plan to retest after 4 day break from lifting and 16 days off creatine.

Yes a mate of mine had his Cystatin checked after a similar line of reasoning to you and the reading came back really off. They did ultrasounds of his kidneys and all kinds of other exams and found nothing.... then, because it was obvious by his physique he used PEDs, they took a closer look at what he was taking and as soon as he fessed up to using mk677 to jack up his GH levels they were like Bingo! Mk’s main side effect is higher blood sugar and reduced insulin sensitivity so that combined with his huge dietary intake of carbs (he eats a huge intake of everything) was deemed a likely cause. So he came off, dropped his food intake and a week later tested normal.

 

[Fly_boy]

I got retested with creatinine egfr and cystatin c.
After cycling off creatine and taking 3 days off lifting my creatinine went down to 1.34; egfr 60 (was 1.44 egfr 56).
Cystatin c 0.71; egfr was 121! Over double.
Dr. made no comments on cystatin c egfr. He just made a comment on my creatinine still being a little high. Makes me think he has no idea what he’s looking at. Not surprising but frustrating.

 

[barische]

Cr

I got retested with creatinine egfr and cystatin c.
After cycling off creatine and taking 3 days off lifting my creatinine went down to 2.34; egfr 60 (was 2.44 egfr 56).
Cystatin c 0.71; egfr was 121! Over double.
Dr. made no comments on cystatin c egfr. He just made a comment on my creatinine still being a little high. Makes me think he has no idea what he’s looking at. Not surprising but frustrating.

Creatinine of 2.3 is high even accounting for high muscle mass. Whats ur ht wt. cycle history, i would def come off any n all AAS, run some “stone breaker” herb + cordyceps. Retest after 4 weeks. Stay hydrated also. How hydrated were u for that lab draw?

 

[Fly_boy]

Cr

Creatinine of 2.3 is high even accounting for high muscle mass. Whats ur ht wt. cycle history, i would def come off any n all AAS, run some “stone breaker” herb + cordyceps. Retest after 4 weeks. Stay hydrated also. How hydrated were u for that lab draw?

*Edit above. I said Creatinine was 2.34, it was actually 1.34 (lab range is 0.6-1.30) so only 0.04 out of range. Sorry I’m an idiot.

5”11 175-180 lb. Always lean, 10-15% bf without even trying. I ran a few halodrol cycles 14 years ago (back before I knew anything about AAS) and a small 6 week Ostarine cycle last year. And that is it. Since I started doing regular bloodwork 5 years ago my creatinine has always been high.
I was extremely hydrated. Drank a gallon of water day before and 48 oz in the morning right before the blood test. My urine looked like straight water it was so clear.
Could the halodrol have messed me up?

 

[barische]

*Edit above. I said Creatinine was 2.34, it was actually 1.34 (lab range is 0.6-1.30) so only 0.04 out of range. Sorry I’m an idiot.

5”11 175-180 lb. Always lean, 10-15% bf without even trying. I ran a few halodrol cycles 14 years ago (back before I knew anything about AAS) and a small 6 week Ostarine cycle last year. And that is it. Since I started doing regular bloodwork 5 years ago my creatinine has always been high.
I was extremely hydrated. Drank a gallon of water day before and 48 oz in the morning right before the blood test. My urine looked like straight water it was so clear.
Could the halodrol have messed me up?

mine tends to run at about same range n i am not concerned. Sounds like you are fine but for caution be very careful about future use. Kidneys do have AR receptors n directly cause em to leak protein via glomerular damage. Good luck