Worrying Lab Results

[Towel]

I had my routine lab examination a few days ago, and I received some worrying results:
Most of the examined values were in the "all right" range (although many values are low, but still within the acceptable interval), with 3 exceptions:

• Serum creatinine - slightly elevated, with a value of 122 (normal range is 62-115)
• eGFR (CKD-EPI) - low, with a value of 69 (it should be a value above 90)
• GPT is 41 (normal range is between 7-40)

I am no expert with the interpretation but I did some googling, and apprently the high Serum creatinine and low eGFR (CKD-EPI) indicate "slight kidney malfunction" while the high GPT is about the liver's functionality not being as good as it should be.

I have no symptoms except for 1 thing, a dull feeling on the right side around my hips that is present most of the time. It is not pain, I am just aware of a certain numb feeling there. And then the standard other things like being lethargic and not having much energy but I just prescribe that to who I am as a person not really to any medical condition, but of course so many things could be causing that.

This is really worrying and I don't know what to do. I guess of course the answer is "go talk to your doctor" but my next appointment is in 4 months, and it feels irresponsbile to wait that long, what if the symptoms get worse until then or I should change something but I don't know what? And also, I assume that when they evaluated these tests, someone at the clinic did look at them, shouldn't they have called me and informed about these concerning values that obviously indicate kidney / liver problems to discuss what to do? But none of that happened so I am just very unsure of what to do next.

I thought of maybe going to a private Liver specialist but that will for sure be expensive, and also when I tell them I have HIV they will probably just send me away telling me to just go and talk to my immunologist about it. So I don't know...Does anyone have ideas?

[Tonny2]

             ojo.             Hi rhere!!…may i know what country are you from?…the ratio of my creatinine is netween 0.73-1.22  no in the hundreds…if you were having problems with your kidneys i think you’d be having pain on your lower back, anyway, what meds are you taking, hiv and what else…i think you can wait thise four months to see your doctor unless you feel worse…your liver seems fine to me, I’m not a doctor just sharing experiences…please keep us posted and good luck.

[kentfrat1783]

What I have learned is Googling things after you look at your labs is never a good idea (but I still do it every time).  One day I'll stop doing that. 

For many of my labs their are other labs they run to verify the rsults of each test.  So one test could be just out of range/positive/reactive but the counter test is normal/negative/non-reactive.   The doctors know how to interpret them as a whole where we look at them individually.

Then again just since a test is out of range by a point or two, my Doctors doesn't care about them as they look at it over time.  I even had a one that a normal range is 0.5-1.0 and I was at 1.1 and I freaked.  My doctor said it isn't anything until it hits 20.0+.   

Just make sure to write down your worries, and when you see your doctor next ask them about it.  If you want to get a quicker response, then call the doctors office and talk to their nurse.  I've found they are helpful especially if I was just in the office.  I'm sure some offices won't do that but I have found them open to questions. 

I do hope things go well for you.

[leatherman]

This is really worrying and I don't know what to do. I guess of course the answer is "go talk to your doctor" but my next appointment is in 4 months, and it feels irresponsbile to wait that long, what if the symptoms get worse until then or I should change something but I don't know what? And also, I assume that when they evaluated these tests, someone at the clinic did look at them, shouldn't they have called me and informed about these concerning values that obviously indicate kidney / liver problems to discuss what to do? But none of that happened so I am just very unsure of what to do next.

I'd like to point out that I think this is a great example of learning to advocate for your own care. By that I mean that really no one is in charge of your health but you.

You can't assume that anyone else actually cares about your lab results. Of course, most medical professionals do, but often, unless you're dying it's hard to get them worked up over some slightly off numbers - that aren't their numbers. It's just how people are, worrying about their own lives. So that means it's up to you to watch out for issues.

If you have questions about your health or health care, there are some options of what to do. Do you have an email contact for your doctor, or the office? How about a message portal? If not, there's always the phone. Call and leave a request for the doctor to contact you at their convenience so you can ask some questions about your recent results. That way you're not putting it off until the next appointment and you're giving your doctor time to respond to you when it's at their convenience. 

[CircularNatural]

Hey there Towel, what is your current medication AND VL AND CD4?

[Shazam9cd4]

Have you had any follow-up tests results on your kidney function? Curious what they are.   I had similar results post my hospital event and starting ART.  Creatinine had gone up steadily from normal to a maximum of 126 over a few qtrly testing periods.  My eGFR also went down to a low of 59.  Doctors were not overly worried though  because of my size.  Nevertheless it was enough of an anomaly from my previous results so we are watching closely.  Since then my creatinine has stabalized at The 108-112 range and my eGFR has gone up to 63.  The feeling was the proton pump inhibitors combined with all the other medicines being cleared through the kidneys was having an effect (not ART).  So just need to stay healthy,  be kind to my kidneys and keep monitoring. Not sure how old you are but docs say most people my age would have similar eGFR. They didnt consider either resukt alarming and are happy with my current testing.