Reply With QuoteI’m looking at the Wikipedia article on proteinuria and there is a battery of causes, tons.
What was your client’s reason for her diagnosis years ago?
One of the causes on increased urinary protein is, you guessed it, “strenuous exercise.”
Member
Specialist told my client to stop taking creatine and eat less protein
She was recently tested for kidney function after being diagnosed with persistent proteinuria roughly 5 years ago. Her tests results have improved, despite the fact that she is taking 5grams of creatine per day and eating 1g of protein per lb of bodyweight.
I have informed her that the kidney tests are thrown off by creatine. She is a healthy young adult who began strength training roughly 10 months ago.
Her lab results:
Creatinine = 0.91 (on creatine)
albumin/creatinine ratio = 333
GFR = 89
I have advised her to stop creatine for the next month, for the follow-up test, but keep the protein intake as is.
She would like the know if there is such a thing as persistent benign proteinuria in young healthy adults?
Member
I’m looking at the Wikipedia article on proteinuria and there is a battery of causes, tons.
What was your client’s reason for her diagnosis years ago?
One of the causes on increased urinary protein is, you guessed it, “strenuous exercise.”
TMPHBITEU
Perfect example of a Doctor looking at a set of numbers, and substituting this for a thought process.
Member
Even if the doctor WERE just dumbly looking at numbers...the eGFR and creatinine levels are both extremely normal. Not even brushing the edges of normal, for that matter. The "stop taking creatine" advice appears to have been loaded in the chamber before the results even came back from the lab.
Member
Indeed. She also has a healthy level of skepticism too. This same doctor told her that she could eat as little as 30 grams of protein per day.Originally Posted by Mark Rippetoe
She has no symptoms of kidney disease - they were just going off of her lab results, which have actually improved since her initial diagnosis of “proteinuria” from 5 years ago, before she started lifting, taking creatine and eating a sufficient amount of protein.
✓ Member
Is she in a position to look for a different doctor? Medical staff work for her, not the other way around.
For what it's worth: My PCP is wholeheartedly supportive of my lifting, protein and creatine intake, etc., and he reads my lab numbers accordingly. His take on creatinine levels is that, if I ever were to show actual evidence of a kidney issue, he'd just have me stop taking creatine for a couple weeks and rerun labs.
He's even happy about my being on TRT through an external clinic, and thinks highly of it for the elderly - a change I've seen in him from several years ago. That he changes his mind with evidence is one of the things I appreciate about him. A rare sort, I understand, but they are out there, hopefully in your client's area.
I've mentioned here before that he's a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, not an MD, and I seem to recall others reporting similar good experiences with DOs when it comes to strength training, so that may be, as the kids say, a thing.
Member
Exactly, what kind of a specialist was this?
At least she didn't get one of the specialists who defaults to telling her she is actually a man who needs immediate hormone therapy.
Member
It was her nephrologist.
She is a P.A. and a smart gal and I do believe that this is a second opion, although the first may have come from her PCP.
The only reason she is concerned enough to not look over this is because the condition predated her training, creatine supplementation and eating ample amounts of protein.
I maintain that the the fact that her lab results have only improved since the last lab is evidence that the creatine and protein are doing no harm to her kidneys, but it will produce a test result that a nephrologist would take note of and probably ask her to retest after ceasing creatine supplementation.
She is aware of this, but also insists that the nephrologist wants her to permanently stop taking creatine and reduce protein intake. She also stated that the nephrologist told her she needs 30grams of protein pet day, at a minimum, which to me is fucking fanatical.
I’m probably repeating myself at this point - any chance of getting an opinion from stef or sully?
TMPHBITEU
They'll tell you the same thing, but I'll ask her to comment.
Community Organizer (Administrator)
The important thing is to have a screening to give a certain result, not to take action to correct an underlying problem. Is there a problem or not? Is the reading a transient value? Has this guy done a workup yet or just made generic CYA suggestions? What is the followup?
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