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Profile picture for joefriday49 @joefriday49

Regarding your EGFR swings, you haven't by chance had CAT Scans with contrast dye have you?... After a couple of Cat scans several years ago I had a result of 28!... Panic time... Laid off the contrast dye and my most recent test just last week was 36. I have little hope it will ever get much above that, but going up is a lot better than going down. I am a former smoker, well controlled Diabetic, well controlled HBP, social drinker and cancer survivor that took a lot of Chemo. Everything pointing against me, but as long as I stay away from the dye it seems stable. Low, but stable...

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Replies to "Regarding your EGFR swings, you haven't by chance had CAT Scans with contrast dye have you?......"

@joefriday49 Thanks very, very much for your response. I pray you do well on your personal health journey. Yes! I did have one CAT scan with contrast of my kidneys done in April, 2025 and then I did have a drop in eGFR! I had feared that would happen. I was very hydrated prior to the scan and I discussed the contrast scan thoroughly with my doctors, both Urologist and General Practitioner. They used low osmolarity contrast, supposed to be gentler on the kidneys. I don’t know? Prior to that I had not a CAT scan or any scan at all with any contrast for over 30 years, but yet in January 2023 and April 2024, my eGFR was very low, and then it moved up.

It’s a tough place to be in and I’m certain we all feel this - non contrast CAT scans are like looking at shadows and hard to rely on, but I do not want any more contrast dye in my body. I am having a Comprehensive Metabolic Panel done in 2 weeks, so I will see what my eGFR is then. I pray that it moves up. I also have my first appointment with a Nephrologist in about a month. I will see what type of “workup” he recommends.

To be honest, last week during a visit, my General Practitioner, who has been my doctor for 35 years and also my personal friend , told me that in his opinion “healthcare has become dehumanized, you are just a number now”. He verbalized what I have been feeling the past few years; it’s a strange place to be in.