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I was just wondering if there was a way to bring creatinine down? I'm 9 years post transplant, and my creatinine is usually around 70-85, depending on how much I've drunk. Two years ago my creatinine was usually in the 50-70 range but since then I've put on weight from 37kg to 44kg. My cyclosporin level is fine, they last changed it a year ago lowering my dose. My cyclosporin dose was reduced as my creatinine was 95 and the level of cyclosporin was on the high side however I was dehydrated at that time but they had to check so had more blood tests. My creatinine has subsequently gone back down to between 70-85 and had no changes since.
However I had put on weight but I do not exercise. I've just finished a university degree and would like to take up exercise but not too much as I am aware that more muscle means a higher creatinine? I have a bit of a stomach which I would like to distribute around the body and just keep active without adversely effecting kidney function or raising creatinine. I was just wondering if creatinine could be brought down again from say the 80's to the high 60's at all?
Either-way I'd like to take up running and was just wondering what the risks/benefits are it would have on creatinine or my eGFR?
I plan to talk about this with my consultants when I see them in September but just wondered if there were any thoughts here
General advice to tx patients is to exercise. I'm not sure it has much effect on creatinine unless you take up serious weights training to build muscle, and there are huge benefits in cardiovascular health. However I assume you're still underweight at 44kg so maybe wait until you've asked the docs for advice.
You could build more walking into your day in the meantime, that's good prep for running.
Alports Syndrome
Dialysis 1986, aged 14
Transplant 1988, still going strong!
Baby boy 2010
AmandaClare wrote:General advice to tx patients is to exercise. I'm not sure it has much effect on creatinine unless you take up serious weights training to build muscle, and there are huge benefits in cardiovascular health. However I assume you're still underweight at 44kg so maybe wait until you've asked the docs for advice.
You could build more walking into your day in the meantime, that's good prep for running.
Thanks. I've checked my weight, height and age and 44kg is not underweight for me, its normal apparently. I'm 4"10, 26 years old and 44kg. If I went down 39.5kg then I'd be underweight again and I don't plan to go down that far, just lose a tiny bit. But I will ask/talk to my doctors.
Is 75/85 not a great level anyway for a TX patient ?, thought normal was 59 to 104 for a person that has no kidney problem ? and maybe just do some fast walking, doubt that will put on muscle.
44kg just sounded so low to me. But I was forgetting that the lower end of my healthy range is a little over 50kg. To get there I'd have to lose 25kg! (Actually aiming at the top end of the range, 68kg).
Good luck with your exercise regime.
Alports Syndrome
Dialysis 1986, aged 14
Transplant 1988, still going strong!
Baby boy 2010
To perhaps put it into some context, I'm male, 6ft tall, and currently 91kg, my creatinine has ranged from 84 to 91 over the past 12 months. NHS PatientView indicates 60-120 as normal.
As for exercise, I like to talk long walks in parks or along the nearby canal or river. I need do to more walking as I've slacked off the past couple of months, and as a consequence have put on a couple of kilos. That said, I weigh 5kg less than when I had my transplant in 2008.
Talking to your doctor, as you've indicated, is always a good idea.
July 2008 - transplant - living related donor
April 2005 - dialysis - tunnelled neckline, then CAPD (15 months), then HD (left wrist AV fistula)
January 2004 - diagnosis - IgA Nephropathy
Chris In Trowbridge wrote:Is 75/85 not a great level anyway for a TX patient ?, thought normal was 59 to 104 for a person that has no kidney problem ? and maybe just do some fast walking, doubt that will put on muscle.
Yeah 75/85 is fine for a TX patient. My consultant, when he saw me a few weeks ago, said in passing a few years ago my level used to be in the 50's/60's. It was something I'd noticed myself. But its gone up slightly since I started to put on weight. I just thought if I lost a bit (but not too much) that it might go down back into the 60's again. I'm happy with my levels, just as long as it doesn't go into the 90's, then I worry! It's done that before, but only when I haven't drunk enough.
Chris In Trowbridge wrote:Heather, how much do you drink a day you think ?
I try to do 1-2 litres a day (I always use bottles to measure how much I drink and refill them from the tap). But then I also drink about 2 cups of tea a day as well so I guess it can be between 2-3 litres a day.
Chris In Trowbridge wrote:Thats fine, i try and drink 1.5/2 L a day, but my doctor did tell me 3l+, but cant manage that.
On a side not, i am not getting email alerts to my replys, anyone else having this problem ?
Ditto. My doctor told me 3L+ too. After the transplant I could do that, for a few years. The only downside to drinking that amount was needing to go to the loo every 10-20 minutes! I think the kidney was working overtime but has since settled down over the years lol. Now, trying to manage 3L is difficult...
There's no problem with creatinine going up if there's a reason for it, like increasing exercise. If your creatinine increases because of something like this, it's got nothing to do with your kidney function. The creatinine level is just an approximate indicator for how your kidney is doing, from one reading to the next.
In the same way, sometimes you can 'reduce' your creatinine level just by drinking loads of water - but that doesn't mean your kidney function has improved, no change there at all.
Is that clear? If you want to exercise - and your body can take it, and your docs agree that it's ok, then that's absolutely fine! It doesn't matter if your creatinine rises - that just gives you a new baseline to measure from.
I manage that easily after being restricted for 18 months, will never get bored of drinking water and I am a tea monster when at work. Creatinine is not a true measure of how the kidney is working, I ilke to see a nice high eGRF when in clinic and a low weight on the scales
Now 35 with Alports and I had my first kidney-versary 18th feb 2013....I hope to have many more.
My living donor and his family are doing all well.
I think I'm fairly near the 1-2 litres. I love water, and I think that definitely comes down to the fluid restriction, the hardest thing I've had to deal with really to the point I was obsessed with what I drank etc.
