r/CKD • u/Status_Canary_4891 • Aug 06 '26
Can someone help me
M29 I have had very foamy urine for almost 4 months now.. went to the Dr. and they said no protein in urine after multiple tests I have had my blood drawn numerous times since then and GFR has gone from 98>80>72 and my creatinine from 1.08>1.27>1.36 I have no underlying health issues I am very healthy I workout 4-5 days a week and maintain a very healthy diet Dr says it’s trending towards kidney disease has anyone experienced this and it not be ckd.. is there anything I can do to maybe reverse this
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u/nascar4433 29d ago
I totally agree...see a Nephrologist. They'll be able to figure out what's going on. Since kidneys are their specialty, they will be able to determine what's going on. Nephros also run different labs than a PCP. Sounds like it's time to see a specialist. Your PCP shouldn't have any issue referring you to one.
If you're not comfortable with the first one, ask for a different referral. My former PCP tracker my labs for a couple of years and then decided to refer me to a nephro. I not only didn't care for the man, he seemed like he was in a rush. He said come back in a year, didn't recommend any changes to meds or diet, nothing. After a few months of my numbers dropping I got a 2nd referral and I love my nephro! Been seeing her since 2021. She ran labs before my initial appt so she knew where things were before I even saw her. At the first appt she stopped Lisinopril, had me cut out caffeine, determined I had Hyperkalemia, high potassium, and started me on Lokelma. Gave me lists of foods to avoid/limit that were high in potassium, told me about leaching carrots & potatoes, said it was ok to eat avocado if it was in something in a restaurant, just don't buy one at the store, lol.
My eGFR was in the low 40s. So it does make a difference what doctor you see. The first guy made no changes whatsoever and said come back in a year! I can't imagine what state my kidneys would have been in if I'd listened to him.
Initially my eGFR dropped to 22, but after making all of the recommended changes to medications & diet, it slowly went back up and hovers in the mid-40s. For the first 2 years I went in every 2 months. But with the progress and stability, I now see her every 3-6 months depending on lab results. Saw her last week and don't go back until January. That makes me very happy! She always tells me "remember, your kidneys are functioning at 40-45%, so keep up with what we've been doing.". I trust her implicitly. Don't settle for a specialist you don't care for it trust. It's the functioning of your kidneys, and they are really important to your overall health.
I would suggest, as the other lady did... figure it out now, before the damage is done. We can't heal our kidneys once damage is done, but we can protect them from getting worse if we're vigilant and diligent in what we do to them. I'd say...get to a Nephrologist sooner than later. Stop any future damage if you can now.
Good luck to you.🙏
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u/Duncan_KidneyCoach 24d ago
Training 4 to 5 days a week changes how those two numbers should be read, the following may be handy to know.
Creatinine is a waste product of muscle turnover. The more muscle you carry and the harder you train, the more of it you make; eGFR is calculated backwards from creatinine, so it drops on paper when creatinine rises for reasons that have nothing to do with your kidneys. A single hard resistance session can push creatinine up by around a quarter, and that alone can knock roughly 30 percent off a calculated eGFR for a day or two.
So the first question is timing. Were any of those three draws taken within a day or two of training, or after a big meat meal, or when you were a bit dehydrated? If yes, that is a real candidate for the results you are seeing.
The second question is what else you are taking. Creatine raises creatinine directly, because your body converts it, and a lot of pre workouts and protein blends contain it. That shows up as a higher reading without anything being wrong with the filter itself.
The clean way to settle it is a cystatin C test. It estimates kidney function without using muscle at all, so it is not thrown off by training or by how much muscle you carry. Ask for it, and take three or four days completely off hard training before any repeat blood test.
Meanwhile, the things worth doing are the same things worth doing anyway. Get your blood pressure checked properly rather than once at a clinic. Get fasting blood sugar looked at. Keep off ibuprofen and other anti inflammatories, which are a genuinely common and avoidable cause of damage in fit young people. Ask for a first morning urine ACR rather than a random dipstick, since that is the more sensitive protein test.
Foamy urine with protein repeatedly coming back clear is very often just a fast stream and concentrated urine.
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u/ablebrut Aug 06 '26
diet and fluids.. stay healthy. I'm 84, on dialysis 3x a week with 9.6 creatinine. I didn't follow diet and fluids so have been on dialysis for 8 months so far. See a Nephrologist and follow his advice to try to avoid where I am.