Is this age-related decline in GFR or kidney disease?

@mimi1234 I’m sorry I’m not good with acronyms. What is NLM?

@mimi1234 Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! You’ve come to the right place. Folks here are caring and sharing. Most have a lot of knowledge and experience to share.
Here’s my 2 cents worth.
Regardless of the lab tests used it is the trend over time that is important.
Lots of things affect kidney function (hydration, diet, other conditions, fitness level, exercise…..). It sounds like you are aware of these things and are doing the best you can.
eGFR does lower as one ages. I guess this is normal.
A nephrologist is the best specialist to shed more light on this if you continue to be concerned. I would be concerned that your GP says one thing and his physician’s assistant said something else contradicting the doc. That alone makes a worthwhile case to see a nephrologist!
Many of us here would be happy to have your numbers. I am nearly 68 years old and my eGFR is currently in the low 30’s. It has bounced between 14 - 42 since 2016 when my nephrologist diagnosed me with stage 4 CKD.
Will you let us know what you decide to do? My hope for you is the best provider and treatment possible.

Gfr declines with age. If this is an egfr (estimated from creatnine) is might be reflecting high protein intake or low hydration. Muscle loss (temporary or not and sometime medication related) is another factor that can increase creatnine levels. Collage supplementation and creatine supplementation can affect the blood levels of creatnine. Biotin can affect the assays used to measure creatnine.
You might request the cystatin test said to be more reliable, or request a second creatinine test. I suspect that the CKD of your diagnosis is a numbers game rather than kidney disease.

Just a thought. There is great controvery in the medical field reflected in medical journals whether it is correct to automatically dump people over 70 into stage 3 ckd based on the gfr threshold of 60. I will go back in January and get retested with blood and urine tests.

I have an appointment with my regular doctor at the end of January to get retested. I will go from there.
You dont say whether you have blood pressure or diabetes or what treatment you are on.
The medical literature reflects the discrepancy between the PA and my doctojr's interpretation. It is controversial, and I guess it doesn'treally matter if one has ckd or not if things are not working properly.
I don't know what treatment there is since i do not have bp or diabetes issues and i am not overweight.

@mimi1234 We also need to consider other factors. We might start new to us medications for varying concerns, that "don't play well together", and could cause kidney complications. Or we start to have some differing lifestyle changes. Poorer nutrition, less exercise, poorer sleep, more stress, etc. All could be factors in declining eGFR.

I would certainly check with your insurance to see if you can self-refer to a nephrologist. Just a thought!
Ginger

Just a thought. There is great controvery in the medical field reflected in medical journals whether it is correct to automatically dump people over 70 into stage 3 ckd based on the gfr threshold of 60. I will go back in January and get retested with blood and urine tests.

Thank you. I only have one more month until my appointment since the protocol is to wait 3 months to retest to see if there is any change. Of course, I am freaking out, but I understand the differing opinions between the physicians assistant and my doctor.
It is quite stressful. I already have myself dead and buried.....