Hi, I’m trying to find out what CKD is all about as my mum has just been admitted to hospital with ‘kidney injury’. I’m a bit clueless about what questions to ask and how to interpret answers. Mum’s been under the doctor for several years with bladder problems. She’s had cystoscopies and had cancerous growths removed, she is often incontinent, has trouble every night with pain in bladder and back. She’s had many many tests and at last she’s been admitted in a UK hospital. The only thing I’ve heard from hospital is that her Creatinine level is over 200. I don’t know what that means.
Hi Allan
Sorry to hear about your mum but this is all dependent on what has caused her kidneys to be injured. AKI = Acute Kidney Injury, CKD = chronic kidney disease.
Usually a sudden illness can cause AKI, like heart failure, severe episode of diarrhoea and sickness, etc
Often an acute injury will recover once the illness is tackle, sometimes it can trigger a chronic disease of the kidneys.
So bit hard to say what your mums case is. I would ask the Drs outright, just say you would like to know exactly what the problems are.
Hope you get some answers, high creatinine on its own wont give ALL the answers it will only explain the kidneys are not as good as they could be but not what the cause is.
Good luck
Hi Allan,
Kidney "damage" can be different from kidney failure / chronic kidney disease. I don't want to alarm you, but createnine of 200 could indicate CKD. Createnine is a waste product the body usually disposes of by being filtered through the kidney. Its normally nice to be under 60-80, but that also depends on age as well, as our kidneys deteriorate naturally. Some of us get lucky and they go slowly over time, but sometimes it drops (functionality) quickly. Put it this way, I'm 44 and had a kidney transplant but my createnine is still 125ish. You might want to ask what her GFR is (globular filtration rate). It's how quickly the createnine is being cleared, so if createnine is high, then gfr usually is.
However.....that's the bad depressing side. Createnine is also a sign of muscle damage / wastage in the body. Is your mother frail? It may be due to muscle wastage (given her operations). It is probably prudent to give it a say or so and come back with the results.. but check out the gfr. I hope she feels better soon.
Thanks you so much for your full reply, you’ve given me a lot to consider.
Many thanks, Jane. I’ll post after my visit to Mum tomorrow.
Like Matt says muscle wastage can cause this and also dehydration too they usually go together in frail older people,
Hope you get some good news x
Allan, I’m so sorry to hear that your Mum has been hospitalised with ‘kidney injury’. Certainly, a creatinine level of 200 is very high and means that her kidneys aren’t doing their job of filtering the toxins out of her blood as they should. This, no doubt, means that her eGFR (estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate) has reduced considerably and put her in a stage of CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease). The stages range from 1 to 5 with the latter being end- stage. If you were able to tell us what her eGFR is we could tell you the relevant stage. No doubt all the bladder problems have taken their toll on her kidneys. But she is in the best place and hopefully under good renal consultants and urologists who will be able to properly diagnose and treat her, possibly with some temporary dialysis. I do hope we have been able to help you to understand a little more about what your Mum is facing, but do ask those treating her to answer all the questions that come into your head - they are the experts. My very best wishes to your Mum....and to you - she is blessed to have you looking out for her.
Btw everyone Mum is 92