Is this just a fluke or can my GFR actually improve from stage 4 to stage 3? Every thing I have read states the diease cannot be reversed.
I have CKD. My GFR was 28 and it is 35 now. How can that be if you can't improve kidney function?
Question posted by BonnieButch on 4 April 2018
Last updated on 31 March 2024 by CKDpatient
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3 Answers
It's obvious your kidneys weren't as severely scarred as first though- and had improved with medication to possibly treat the root cause of the problem
For example, if you had high blood pressure causing CKD- then hypertensive medications had cause the kidneys to start to function a bit better over time as the medication would control the high blood pressure issue.
I have CKD stage 4.I have been as low as 15 and at one point popped back to stage 3. In Feb 2020 I was back to 26. Why the changes? It's rare, but I think I have a problem with statins. The first time I was on Crestor I had fallen to stage 4 while waiting to see a specialist and the last thing I tried was stopping the statin. I had been complaining about a strange pain in the Middle of my upper right arm for about a year. I started to wonder about a brief item I had read years before about the San Francisco earthquake and that it was the first time they had studied a condition where crushed muscles died and released toxins that destroyed the kidneys. There was this one sentence that said they had recently seen it on very rare occasions with stations. No way right? I stop the statin and with in a couple of months I'm stage 3. I am thinking it's a fluke and since my cholesterol is still high we switch to very low dose of Lipitor.
I am at Stage 3 and my GFR also varies.The explanation I was given is the GFR can be affected by other things (ie GFR is determined by Creatinine level and Creatinine level can be dependent on diet, hydration etc. Also some meds can affect GFR.
A personal observation... a couple years ago I received a pacemaker and my GFR has improved since then. I guess increased kidney perfusion has had a positive effect on kidneys (I had had a very slow heart rate before the Pacemaker).
So, from my experiences, GFR can vary. What may be more important is how much protein and creatinine you are spilling in your urine.
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chronic kidney disease, kidney
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