GFR home self test

@ronjon27 Good morning to you! All of the tests that I was able to find online, have the sample or specimen sent off to a lab for analysis. I am curious why you might be pursuing an at-home test?
Ginger

Same here, I have not been able to find one online that you don't need to send off. My husband has stage 4 kidney disease. His GFR has been at around 18 and the Dr is concerned about that. Sometimes my husband gets concerned when he is waiting between appointments and would like to be able to test his numbers at home instead of waiting for his appointment or requesting lab test ahead of his appointment. It would make him feel more at ease to check it himself at home off and on.

I could be wrong but I always thought the eGFR is something that is calculated from other kidney function tests such as creatinine, BUN …. and factors such as height, weight…. Put into some sort of equation to determine the eGFR. This seems like a daunting thing to attempt at home. Another important thing to consider is consistency in utilizing the same lab. Different labs may use various testing protocols and reference ranges for normal. That could make it difficult to find comparable trends between labs. I sometimes find it challenging to schedule my labs to be sure the results are available to me and my doctor for my office appointments but it is worth it. I also really have difficulty with blood draws so if I take care in scheduling I can have the kidney function labs plus tests that my other specialists order and urine tests too, all done at one time. One blood stick yields a bunch of test results. It is my version of “one and done”.

There is an on-line eGFR calculator that only requires you to enter your Creatinine test result along with your sex and age:
https://www.mdcalc.com/calc/3939/ckd-epi-equations-glomerular-filtration-rate-gfr
If there was an at home creatinine test it would be easy to calculate your eGFR using this equation. I wear a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) to help me control my blood sugar - I would love to have a continuous creatinine monitor (CCM) to help me monitor my eGFR
more frequently than going to the lab to have my blood drawn. You would be able to see quickly how the foods you eat, and the stress you feel and your levels of hydration affect your kidneys with a CCM.

In Arizona, you can order your own lab tests, and have the results delivered to your email. This is a great way to keep up with all your important numbers. You have to pay cash, but the tests are not that expensive . I check mine every month at Sonora Quest, or Health Waves .