Kidney blood/urine work continued. ASTRAGALUS

[Killer.7]

Hey guys so If anyone has been following my posts for a little while you will know I have been trying to figure out the whole protein in urine thing.

So some backstory to recap. Last fall I did bloods and urine after being lazy/reckless staying on a "cruise" which was more like a blast of test n deca for far too long. Creatinine was elevated (134 ummol range is 67-117) and my egfr was in the dumps 62 or 64 cant recall. My urine also showed protein in it. We followed up with a 24 hour urine test which revealed I pissed about 1.4 grams of protein in the time period.

Alarming.

I came off, cleaned up my shit diet, lost 20 lbs and started taking perindopril, an ACE Inhibitor. Started on astragalus and chitosan as well. Increased my water intake and decreased protein intake.

January rolls around and I did more bloods and urine.

Egfr went up to 69 and my creatinine went down to 122. My protein in the urine was zero! Great results. However I was being aided by the ACE inhibitor. I wanted to see if I could maintain good bloods and no protein in urine without the ACE inhibitor.


So last week I did more bloods. Still using astragalus. Came off the chitosan and came off the ACE inhibitor. Creatinine down to 117 and EGFR up to 72. However the protein in the urine came back. I also ordered a Cystatin C test but have not yet gotten the results as they are doing it in America lol (I am in Canada) strange eh ! On the 24 hour urine test I passed .42 grams or 420 mgs. A lot less than the first time when I pissed 1.4 grams but still not zero.

I am going to assume this is due to the fact that I am now off the ACE inhibitor and my BP climbed a tad? I am not entirely sure.

I also started back up on Test as I was severely crashed. I am using 100mgs a week of test C.


Comments or question or anything really would be great.

As a side note, my hemoglobin and hematocrit also spiked up high. The highest I have ever seen it on a blood panel before which is odd considering I am only using 100 mgs. My hema as of last week was .53 and hemglobin was 182G/L

I am donating blood Friday, my first time ever lol. Anyone have any suggestions as to why my hemacrit is so high. It normally chills around .48 .49 even when I used to blast heavy when I was younger.

 

[Smack]

How much astragalus have you been taking?

 

[Killer.7]

4 pills twice a day. I think it works out to 4 grams. looking at dantes IG page. Going to start up IP6 for the hematocrit.

 

[MyNameIsJeff]

Why the heck would you stop with the ACE inhibitor??

 

[Killer.7]

Why the heck would you stop with the ACE inhibitor??

Why the heck would I want to depend on medication for the rest of my life for something that is not yet considered end stage? My nephrologist also told me to come off the ACE inhibitor to get a baseline result. He also thinks it may not be fully necessary.I see him again next week.

 

[nothuman]

I'd get back on the ACE inhibitor if you haven't already and double your astragalus dose to 8 pills (4g daily). It's one of those rare supplements that seems to get better as your use more so don't be afraid to do that.

As for the hematocrit going up, I've given up on trying to make sense of why some of us go on a lower dose but then it increases for some reason.

 

[Killer.7]

I will up the astragalus. I have the ACE inhibitor on hand but will wait to see what the nephro says. It was his idea initially to come off and re-test.

As far as the test goes. I was on zero, then came up to 100mgs a week. I am going to donate then retest and possible reduce the dose if required. My question or observation rather would be why is my hema so high on such a low dose, when in the past, I have blasted and kept hema around .49

 

[thethinker48]

More incidences of people leaking protein with normal labs than previously seen... (or noticed)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Killer.7]

Nephro does not think I have FSGS. I am curious to see what he says next week. Personally I think at some level I may have caused some damage to the kidneys from years of blasting without regard for my BP. Currently without the ACE inhibitor my bp sits at mid 130s over 80. With the ace inhibitor it drops down to 125ish / 75 ish. Depending on the time of day and such.

Another theory is water consumption. The time I pissed zero protein I was drinking water like no tomorrow. I had about 5 liters that day and the days leading up to the test i was doing 4 liters regularly. The time I passed 1.4 grams of protein I was maybe getting in about 1 to 1.5 liters a day.

We shall see.

My ultrasound came back fairly normal. Size, shape and appearance were all good. The technician did note however a super small angiomyolipoma at the bottom of one kidney less than 1cm. Nephro was not concerned about this other than to monitor it for size annually.

 

[thethinker48]

Nephro does not think I have FSGS. I am curious to see what he says next week. Personally I think at some level I may have caused some damage to the kidneys from years of blasting without regard for my BP. Currently without the ACE inhibitor my bp sits at mid 130s over 80. With the ace inhibitor it drops down to 125ish / 75 ish. Depending on the time of day and such.

Another theory is water consumption. The time I pissed zero protein I was drinking water like no tomorrow. I had about 5 liters that day and the days leading up to the test i was doing 4 liters regularly. The time I passed 1.4 grams of protein I was maybe getting in about 1 to 1.5 liters a day.

We shall see.

My ultrasound came back fairly normal. Size, shape and appearance were all good. The technician did note however a super small angiomyolipoma at the bottom of one kidney less than 1cm. Nephro was not concerned about this other than to monitor it for size annually.

1-1.5 liter a day???

 

[Killer.7]

1-1.5 liter a day???

lol yeah. I was really not drinking much. What do you think? My Nephro thinks 4-5 liters is overboard.

 

[tornquad201]

Reply

Dehydration can definitely cause higher creatinine and protein in urine also I read that I high sodium diet can also cause you too excrete protein

 

[Elvia1023]

Why the heck would I want to depend on medication for the rest of my life for something that is not yet considered end stage? My nephrologist also told me to come off the ACE inhibitor to get a baseline result. He also thinks it may not be fully necessary.I see him again next week.

Yet you will still add in various herbal supplements at high doses? I don't really get the logic there as you drop something proven to work. Although sure it may not be needed I just never get the guys who prefer to stay off "medication" but will happily high dose various "herbal" supplements. Regardless I am sure your blood work will continue to improve by staying on TRT and eating better. As you know your hydration levels when drawing blood can significantly effect testing results. I would recommend making sure you stay hydrated consistently as that alone should improve everything. Make consistent water consumption (between meals) a priority. Astragulus is a good supplement so increase the dose if needed and see if that helps as well.

 

[danieltx]

Like the last few posts have said, you need to consume more water on a daily basis.

Sufficient water intake is important for many reasons - satiety, pumps, etc. - but most important for kidney healthy. Chronic dehydration is damaging to the kidneys.

 

[lif22]

Are you stopping your workouts a good 3 days before getting bloods?

 

[Killer.7]

Are you stopping your workouts a good 3 days before getting bloods?

Yep. Before these bloods I took 4 days off. And just to reiterate, it was my nephro that suggested coming off the ace inhibitor to test for baseline. I am not totally opposed to going back on the ace inhibitor if need be.

 

[Killer.7]

Update. Got the Cystatin C test back from America finally.

my Cystatin C was 0.71

range is 0.52-1.35 mg/L


GFR is 126


Seeing the nephro today to review the results.

 

[nothuman]

Got back on vitamin shopped astragalus 2g per day and eGFR shot back up 20 points to 106

 

[nothuman]

Update. Got the Cystatin C test back from America finally.

my Cystatin C was 0.71

range is 0.52-1.35 mg/L


GFR is 126


Seeing the nephro today to review the results.

And this is still off the ace inhibitor? Just astraglus? wow

 

[Flex500]

And this is still off the ace inhibitor? Just astraglus? wow

Well keep in mind his GFR may not have changed much it's that he used creatinine before and CysC now which for our population changes the equation drastically.

I always get my CycC done and for me it puts my EGFR sky high. For the past 18 years if I used creatinine only for EGFR it would be terrible...in fact I should probably have died a decade ago according to Cr based EGFR.

Without OP having previous CysC measures it's hard to tell as maybe his CycC has been that low forever.

That is the f*cked thing about kidney measures for us.

For me, and many of us, if Cr is used we basically are dying of end stage kidney failure yet if you use CysC we have gloriously functioning, platinum coated kidneys.

All stuff I know you know (this wasn't actually directed so much at you and it's all meant with peace and love) I think we just need to be cautious thinking he doubled his EGFR from astragalus (which I also take so I'm not dismissing it works)