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High Serum Creatinine

M

mazbee78

Member
I had a very nasty water infection that went to my kidneys around Easter this year. Since then my Serum Creatinine has rocketed up and remains higher than it should. My G.P. prescribed Ramapril for this condition, to try to protect my kidneys. Unfortunately I had adverse reactions to Ramapril. I now know that part of my low carb diet, (meats and dairy) are contributing to my high serum creatinine. I am looking for information on how to reduce this problem,via diet, to protect my kidneys. It seems my low carb diet is now a danger to my health too :(
 
mazbee78 said:
I had a very nasty water infection that went to my kidneys around Easter this year. Since then my Serum Creatinine has rocketed up and remains higher than it should. My G.P. prescribed Ramapril for this condition, to try to protect my kidneys. Unfortunately I had adverse reactions to Ramapril. I now know that part of my low carb diet, (meats and dairy) are contributing to my high serum creatinine. I am looking for information on how to reduce this problem,via diet, to protect my kidneys. It seems my low carb diet is now a danger to my health too :(
Click to expand...

Are you sure that your Low Carb diet is a danger to your health? Dr David Unwin's patients appear to have better kidney function on a Low Carb way of eating. His GP surgery is in Southport, England and he is treating his Diabetic patients on the NHS with very high remission rates.
https://twitter.com/lowcarbGP/status/1422437079900901399
 
mazbee78 said:
I had a very nasty water infection that went to my kidneys around Easter this year. Since then my Serum Creatinine has rocketed up and remains higher than it should. My G.P. prescribed Ramapril for this condition, to try to protect my kidneys. Unfortunately I had adverse reactions to Ramapril. I now know that part of my low carb diet, (meats and dairy) are contributing to my high serum creatinine. I am looking for information on how to reduce this problem,via diet, to protect my kidneys. It seems my low carb diet is now a danger to my health too :(
Click to expand...
I now have the same dilemma. When I had a recent CT scan it was confirmed that I am allergic to the contrast dye, which stopped my kidneys functioning. They gradually recovered, but I have high creatinine levels which the specialist is worried about, I used to be on Raminpril before this episode, but I have now been put on a different BP med (Entresto). Too early to say if it helps or hinders, but I am being urged to go back onto Eatwell and I have had my Metformin stopped, and my Gliclazide halved. To make matters worse I am on a water tablet and Dapagliflozin to make me wee for England, which is flushing out the sodium from my blood.

Doing some research into this I found too that high protein is a problem, as is alcohol intake, and salt in food. So I can no longer add salt to my food to counteract the sodium, and I need all the other meds to try to control my diabetes, and I am not allowed any supplements either. When I was in hospital recently on Eatwell, my daily average bgl rose from around 6 to 12 and rising. Since coming out I have managed to get it down to 7 again, but this creatinine worry is urging me to go back to Eatwell.

My plan of action is to change my diet slightly by reducing red meat, in favour of white meat and fish. I will reduce my alcohol in favour of adding salt, and I will halve my water tablets.

I will let you know if this provides any respite.

They want to give me an angiogram, and another CT scan with more contrast dye in the near future, so this gives extra urgency.

Edit to add: the other culprit I discovered was dehydration, so my water tablets and Dapaglifozin are not helping me there either. So alcohol is a no-no and hello gallons of water. Constipation from Eatwell and hospital food means cutting back on the laxatives and hoping for fair winds to follow,
 
Last edited:
ianf0ster said:
Are you sure that your Low Carb diet is a danger to your health? Dr David Unwin's patients appear to have better kidney function on a Low Carb way of eating. His GP surgery is in Southport, England and he is treating his Diabetic patients on the NHS with very high remission rates.
https://twitter.com/lowcarbGP/status/1422437079900901399
Click to expand...
The problem with low carb, is protien. It is high amounts of protein and salts that is causing my liver to release high serum creatinine, which in turn can cause kidney damage. While I was ill, I lost 28lbs in 5 weeks, due to my poor appetite and bringing back both food and drink. This caused my body to release my stored fat too quickly for energy, releasing large amounts of protein into my blood. Because of this my kidneys (already weakened through infection) were further attacked.
I know too many carbohydrates are not good, but now I am in a situation where Protein can cause me huge problems too. Until I can lower the Serum Creatinine.
 
Oldvatr said:
I now have the same dilemma. When I had a recent CT scan it was confirmed that I am allergic to the contrast dye, which stopped my kidneys functioning. They gradually recovered, but I have high creatinine levels which the specialist is worried about, I used to be on Raminpril before this episode, but I have now been put on a different BP med (Entresto). Too early to say if it helps or hinders, but I am being urged to go back onto Eatwell and I have had my Metformin stopped, and my Gliclazide halved. To make matters worse I am on a water tablet and Dapagliflozin to make me wee for England, which is flushing out the sodium from my blood.

Doing some research into this I found too that high protein is a problem, as is alcohol intake, and salt in food. So I can no longer add salt to my food to counteract the sodium, and I need all the other meds to try to control my diabetes, and I am not allowed any supplements either. When I was in hospital recently on Eatwell, my daily average bgl rose from around 6 to 12 and rising. Since coming out I have managed to get it down to 7 again, but this creatinine worry is urging me to go back to Eatwell.

My plan of action is to change my diet slightly by reducing red meat, in favour of white meat and fish. I will reduce my alcohol in favour of adding salt, and I will halve my water tablets.

I will let you know if this provides any respite.

They want to give me an angiogram, and another CT scan with more contrast dye in the near future, so this gives extra urgency.

Edit to add: the other culprit I discovered was dehydration, so my water tablets and Dapaglifozin are not helping me there either. So alcohol is a no-no and hello gallons of water. Constipation from Eatwell and hospital food means cutting back on the laxatives and hoping for fair winds to follow,
Click to expand...
I feel for you . I have never had high blood pressure until I was put on Ramapril, then it shot up extremely high, it also caused hives and swelling of my mouth and lips. So I had to stop taking it. It is very rare I have alcohol, and I have never smoked. I have my blood glucose down to a daily average of 8.2 on fasting bloods (Before breakfast) now, and I am working on reducing it more. Since my illness I no longer drink tea or coffee, as I no longer like the taste of both. I drink mostly water, or flavoured water with sugar substitute from the supermarket. I do like tonic and soda water, and I always check the ingredients for sugar before choosing and buying a brand. I am now caffeine free as well. But the last 3 blood tests since my diabetes check (June 2021) (First in 18 months because of Covid) have all come back with high levels of Serum Creatinine. I am waiting on my last results. Also waiting to see what treatment my G.P. practice recommend.
 
mazbee78 said:
I feel for you . I have never had high blood pressure until I was put on Ramapril, then it shot up extremely high, it also caused hives and swelling of my mouth and lips. So I had to stop taking it. It is very rare I have alcohol, and I have never smoked. I have my blood glucose down to a daily average of 8.2 on fasting bloods (Before breakfast) now, and I am working on reducing it more. Since my illness I no longer drink tea or coffee, as I no longer like the taste of both. I drink mostly water, or flavoured water with sugar substitute from the supermarket. I do like tonic and soda water, and I always check the ingredients for sugar before choosing and buying a brand. I am now caffeine free as well. But the last 3 blood tests since my diabetes check (June 2021) (First in 18 months because of Covid) have all come back with high levels of Serum Creatinine. I am waiting on my last results. Also waiting to see what treatment my G.P. practice recommend.
Click to expand...
This website is informative for those of us using LC diets, and gives a good treatise on how much protein we need, and what it is used for.
https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/protein
 
mazbee78 said:
I had a very nasty water infection that went to my kidneys around Easter this year. Since then my Serum Creatinine has rocketed up and remains higher than it should. My G.P. prescribed Ramapril for this condition, to try to protect my kidneys. Unfortunately I had adverse reactions to Ramapril. I now know that part of my low carb diet, (meats and dairy) are contributing to my high serum creatinine. I am looking for information on how to reduce this problem,via diet, to protect my kidneys. It seems my low carb diet is now a danger to my health too :(
Click to expand...
Hi @mazbee78 Here is one link that might be useful:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods-to-avoid-with-kidney-disease
As it points out, your dietitian (especially renal) is the best advisor. As kidney disease goes through different stages, the requirements change. After 27 years of passing protein in urine, I was put on a low phosphate diet. This included avoiding anything produced from/or containing seeds/beans, including standard tea(!) coffee, strawberries (sadly high on th list), chocolate, vanilla, and strange itemes such as sea bream, and avocados (even though we don't eat the seed, they are high in potassium). I was allowed to drink 1 glass of wine a day! If you can discuss this with your dietitian it would be helpful, but if not I would tend to consume the recommended until a meeting or conversation is possible. I was on the low phosphate diet for 13 years, but it certainly paid off! Good luck.
 
mazbee78 said:
. I now know that part of my low carb diet, (meats and dairy) are contributing to my high serum creatinine.
Click to expand...
I think you might be blaming the diet for what the infection may have done..
Dr Jason Fung, a nephrologist, seems pretty happy with many of his patients doing a low carb diet. I doubt he'd be supportive if he thought it was doing damage.
 
I think it may be worth getting your kidney function checked out. High Creatinine is a sign of the kidneys not being happy. My wife has had Stage 5 CKD and then a kidney transplant 3 months ago. Creatinine levels are the key measure of kidney function. In general your diet has relatively little effect on kidney function or damage but medication can be bad news depending on the drug. In my wife's case it was believed to be a Colitis drug used long-term. Ibuprofen and other NSAIDs can cause kidney damage.
 
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