How does GFR move up and down so dramatically?

@nycmusic I had also increased protein for rebuilding muscle as I increase exercise…might not have kept up with hydrating…. I can adjust these things to help kidneys….these tests are sensitive to the moment- did you eat just before the test, were you stressed…..?

I am 89. Three years ago during normal annual physical, I complained that I felt weak. I took the normal blood tests and found my GFR registered 27. My kidney doctor tried three medicines, none helped. The following year at my suggestion, I spent the next three months on the Ponticelli regimen. The month after completion, my GFR was 61. Over the next year, it stayed in the 50s while weaning off prednisone. This past year it has been mostly in the 60s. My latest GFR was 77. I try to use less salt in my diet and register a little low on protein but otherwise, no major life style changes.

Let us know what the docs have to say…so many people doing the healthy life and these numbers can still go down. Wishing you the best !

My Dr. has put me at a limit of water at 55 oz per day. It seems as though different amounts of water on different days would have an effect on what our blood-draw numbers say.
What do you think?

@htenaj good question… like , if they make you drink a whole bottle of water - to get a full urine sample—and then do the blood tests. Does the extra water skew the kidney numbers ?

@htenaj
Hello all; I frequently have abnormal renal function tests. It’s usually due to dehydration. I’m not good at drinking water and my doctor will repeat the test in a week or so to see if it’s come back to normal. That’s what’s happened so far so I try very hard to stay hydrated in fact over hydrated sometimes that seems to work for me. I’m new to all of this. My surgery was just in October for bladder cancer.
Karen

Hello, I'm the OP of the thread and lost touch. It turns out I did see Dr. Dahl and she confirmed I do not have ADPKD based on a genetic test but my eGFR is 19 and I am officially on a kidney transplant list at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and have a living donor, but she has not completed her testing. My blood type is B- which is rare. I'm also in the process of getting on the Mayo Clinic/Rochester kidney transplant list.

My concern is the anti rejection medications I'll have to take for the rest of my life, although NW reached out about a stem cell research program they have at Stanford U in CA. I realize this is the kidney disease forum and I don't want to scare anyone. Just saying my kidney function fell to where it is from infections, Covid, and Sepsis (not sepsis shock). We caught before that. It still hurt my kidneys.

@mrainne it is good that you are approved/ accepted on the transplant list at a transplant center of a major University Hospital (Northwestern Memorial Hospital - as in Illinois?) Mayo Clinic / Rochester, MN of course is excellent too. It is even better that you have a living donor. My father in law was type B (I don’t recall if it was + or —, sorry) and my daughter was his living kidney donor. She is O+. It all worked out great. Anti rejection meds have come a LONG way in the years that transplantation has been possible. Yes, they do all have side effects (most meds do), but there are more options than ever before. I myself had a pancreas transplant 21 years ago and have had very little problems with the anti rejection meds / immune suppression meds that I was put on. As you prepare for upcoming transplantation you should visit that Transplant Group and many discussions available there in Mayo Clinic Connect. I’m sure you will find helpful information, hope and encouragement. Three of the other Volunteer Mentors have had transplants: 1 bone marrow transplant, 1 heart transplant and 1 who had a double kidney & liver transplant! Plus there are many members sharing their transplant journeys as well.

@cehunt57
Thank you for that response! I was contacted my a NW nurse, yes Chicago, regarding a stem cell replacement research program at Stanford. I expressed interest. My donor did as well. Over time I would possibly get off the anti rejection drugs. I have a phone appointment with a Mayo transplant nurse this Monday. I think she will be able to answer many questions.

I guess one of my concerns is I’m 68 years old. Big surgery, long recovery but that’s what we’ll discuss in my phone appointment.

@mrainne One big thing going into a major surgery like this, is that you have advance notice! Always a good thing, and it allows you to get yourself in the best physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual states that you can. Take advantage of any services your transplant team may be able to offer, like their social worker. If you have a faith community, check with your fellow members or leaders there.

Please let me know how your appointment goes!
Ginger