[patticake]

hi everyone! can anyone help me with this? I had to see my gp last friday and he said some of my bloodwork on my kidneys came back elevated but for the life of me i can not remember what it was.anyhow he had me to collect a 24hr. urine sample. has anyone here had to do this? what might this mean? thanks

 

[2X'sNana]

Hi Patticake,

I don't know how much help I can be but this is what I had to have done. When I had my blood work taken about 6 months ago he also had me do a urine test. My blood work was okay but the urine test came back with a higher level of protein. I am not sure what the number came back as but it was I guess enough to have my dr. want the 24 hr. urine test done.

I had to go pick up a kit they give you and they explain it all to you. You collect your urine for a 24 hr. period and then the lab will test your urine to see how much protein your body is spilling, as they call it, in a total 24 hr. period. Mine came back okay and with in a normal range when I did the 24 hr. test.

There are a number of things that can cause protein to show up in a urine test and that is why they want the 24 hr. collection to make sure it is normal. I know there have been a lot of people here that have also had the 24 hr. test done and theirs came back okay also.

Hang in there and let us know how you are doing.
Janice

 

[rwb200]

Hello
My wife has had 24 hrs Urine tests several times but always while in the hospital.
From what they told us at that time they did the 24 hr test to see what amount the body was processing in a days time.
Not sure what normal is but they knew what amount they were looking for.
They would also run tests to see what levels of blood was being passed and would test other levels as well.

They used all of the information to help regulate her medications and also to get her system working properly.
Just the color of what was being passed was important and was always recorded.

Th ebest thing to do is either talk to the doctor that had the test ran and see what he has to say about the test.
You may also be able to get a few answers by talking to the lab people you turn the stuff in for and find out what the name of the test is and if they will tell you what it does.

Alot of times they can not give you your results but they can tell you what a test is for.

Even if all you can do is get a test name alot of labs have websites that expalin what a test does and what a doctor uses it for.

 

[Joandublin]

Hi Patti

First of all its good that your GP is on top of things. What seems to have been picked up by your blood tests is the fact that your kidneys may not be functioning optimally and in order to evaluate the cause, the next step is to do the 24 hour urine catch so that a better idea can be had as to the extent of how much protein your kidneys are leaking over a daily basis.

The kidneys are a favoured organ of Lupus with about one in three people having some sort of problems over the course of their disease. This can range from very mild to more serious problems. Many times there will be 'one off' abnormal readings and the next time things will have settled back again. In this case the only 'treatment' is close monitoring and a wait and see approach. However the 24hour urine test should help your doctor to get a better idea of whats going on.

Here is a link to kidney disease in Lupus (called Lupus Nephritis) which is useful and gives you some signs to look out for. There is no pain associated with Lupus Nephritis and its usually only picked up through regular bloodwork or urine testing. Do you have any edema (swelling of the feet, ankles or legs?). This can also be an indicator of kidney problems.

http://www.lupus.org/webmodules/web...w_aboutdiagnosis.aspx?articleid=100&zoneid=15

Try not to worry too much until you know whats going on. Even if your kidneys are being affected there are treatments which you can undergo that have an excellent result rate and will control any damage to your kidneys.

The very best of luck and please let us know how you get on

Luv n stuff
Joan:rose:

 

[SoCalEric]

Good to hear your GP is on top of it. Of course I'd also make sure your Rumy knows about it.
I've done more 24hrs than I can count, and others have pretty much said what needs to be said about them. My first was when I was showing some blood and protien in my urine tests (I had not been diagnosed with Lupus yet). If you're showing some protien it's not a reason to panic, but it is something to keep a close eye on. In my case I did develop nephritis (and it's how I FINALLY got a diagnosis). Other things to watch for in nephritis is retaining water (as Joan mentioned) and raising blood press. When my nephritis is at it's wost my BP will go VERY high and I turn into a big water balloon (I know I'm in trouble when my feet swell up!).
I don't want to scare ya with the treatment for nephritis, hopefully you just have a small spike and it'll go away, that even happens with me on occasion. But my first bout of nephritis was 15 years ago and I had a second problem with it a couple of years ago. Both times I responded very well to treatment. But it is important to keep a close eye on it. When my Kindeys get involved I can go downhill very fast. First time it took too long to figure out what was happening and my condition was horrible. Second time we knew what was going on and caught it before I even really had noticed things were getting bad, although my Doc. still says my second infection was worse than my first.
Feel free to contact me in the future if you end up with any questions on nephritis, it's a beast I know well. Hopefully your 24 will come out clean, odds are it will.

Best Wishes,
Eric

 

[patticake]

Thanks eveyone for the qiuck responses and very helpfull information.I feel very lucky to have found this website.Everybody is so nice and willing to share their stories and expieriances.Thanks again and I will let you guys know how it turns out.

 

[nicky00]

Hi Patticake

Ive skimmed over the responses so if Im repeating info already given then please forgive me

I had a worrisome letter a while ago which lead me to ask a few questions about the elevations that you are probably referring to. These are your blood creatinine levels which have been investigated.. Mine went up for a brief period over 8 weeks. The creatinine is protein levels in your body.
The creatinine levels can be an indicator of how your kidneys are doing their job of filtering.

It is quite normal for our reading to fluctuate. There are ranges that labs have which stipulate what is an optimin level and are a standard a ref range for that lab which tested your blood.

Although mine are sometimes out of a lab ref range that dosnt mean my kidneys are malfunctioning. My range is actually below the lab ref range but there is not much of a fluctuation. ie they stay roughly around the same level as readings are concerned.
What in general is being looked for and is most important to understand are trends. By this I mean a constant elevation or decline in creatine readings steadyly over time which would mean there may be some damage going on as the kidneys if lupus wise are being attacked are not able to function. Hence the level of creatinine in blood can be an indicator

It is also important to understand that a urine test can also indicate if protein is found in the urine as to how your kidneys may be functioning.
Urine with any protein in , although an indicator (as well as frothy pee) that your kidneys need looking at.

There was protein found in my urine but there are other things that could cause this like if I had done a lot of excercise the night before or if I had a bacteria infection like a Urine Tract Infection (UTI).

As for the 24 hour collection. I am about to do one, it should be far more accurate than a one off sample of urine as it tests your overall protein excretion during a full day. Generally there should be none but as I said there can be lots of reasons.

What is good (I was a bit freaked at first as to why they needed to worry) is that they are making sure things are ok.

Nicky

 

[Lily]

Hi Patticake,

Try not to worry too much :hug: sometimes we have some odd things show up in blood tests and they will check further as they are with you.

The 24hr urinalysis is good for checking how much protein your kidneys are losing over a 24hr period, anything under 150 is considered ok over 24hrs I think. I often show red cell casts and protein spillage on a one off urine dipstick test but a 24hr testing often shows now problem esp with the protein and much less alarming readings with the red cell casts.

Let us know how your test turns out. Your doctor will check a trend with you as Nikki said, thats often important as an overall guage rather than a one off result. But it's good it was discovered and led to further investigation. It's when it isnt discovered and left untreated for a long period of time that problems (and damage) can occur. It's very treatable though as long as the need for treatment is realised.

It may not have been just creatinine that was checked for in your blood. Possibly also the Urea Electrolytes which they always check with me, along with Creatinine. From the creatinine reading they then work out what the GFR (glomular filtration rate) of your kidneys is. The other two also help work out how your kidneys are functioning.

Creatinine (as far as I know) is not a protein. It's a molecule that comes from creatine phosphate which forms during muscle breakdown, a normal process in our body. The kidneys normally excrete most of it but if it builds up in blood it may mean kidneys are not working properly. There are other explanations for it though especially if it isnt a very high level and its not consistently raised.

I'm glad your doc is being thorough.

love
Lily