Kidney questions

Anonymous

My kidney fuction is now around the low 50's.  It had been hanging in the low 60's for years but chemo changed that.  It also did a sudden drop from the 80's to the 60's in 2003. The only thing I can figure out that might explain the sudden drop in '03 is that I broke my shoulder & arm then...could that have caused the drop?  Does anyone have some kidney issues, and what are you doing about it? I do not want to be on dialysis next.  Why even though I drink fluids, don't drink alcohol or smoke, are my kidneys doing this?  It is a downward trend and I am scared.

tuckertwo 

leaf

Hi there.  I assume your numbers mean your creatinine clearance. 

To very accurately measure your creatinine clearance, they would need to do a 24 hour collection of your urine.  This is rarely done.  They normally use an equation to estimate your creatinine clearance.  

It is a function of age, so as you age your clearance goes down.

Many medications can cause kidney insults, including SOME chemotherapy.  Do you have hypertension or diabetes? I knew one young women who had kidney failure at age 22, and had hypertension..

During major physical stress, like in the intensive care unit, probably the 2 organs that are the most sensitive are the lungs and the kidneys.  

The person who knows the most about kidneys and how to preserve as much kidney function as possible is the nephrologist.?Maybe you would like a specilialist review your diseases/medications to see if there is anything that could be improved?

Here's more about chronic kidney failure from the Mayo. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/kidney-failure/DS00682