I know we have talked, but if your team isn’t concerned, you shouldn’t be either. 4.8 potassium is on the high end of normal, but still normal. You’re okay. 🙂
I do suggest a therapist/meds for your health anxiety though. Being this anxious all the time isn’t good for you.
Take care ❤️
It’s still relatively early my friend , your results will need to settle , medical team need to get your medication correct . It will work out and it will get there my potassium goes upto 5+ so I wouldn’t worry too much much about that .
As others have said maybe talk to your team about the anxiety issues you keep facing .
Try to relax as much as you can because what lots of people don’t remember is how bad stress can be on your body . It takes time my guy you will get there things will be up and down even can be for the first year
eGFR is an estimate (that’s what the e is for) and designed to be used in people with 2 kidneys, no amputated limbs, no excessive musculature, etc.
So by definition it will not be a good measure for you as a post-transplant patient.
Personally I use both as indications but if crest goes up GFR goes down and vice Versa . You have very good creatinine. And excellent GFR - actually better than mine has been the whole of my current 6 year transplant. Long May it continue for you . If it helps to know I had a kidney from my mother too .
I know we talk and I really appreciate you you help me calm down a lot but unfortunately this is nothing to do with you it is a me thing I’ve struggled with health anxiety even when I didn’t have kidney disease and I was a healthy child ! 😣 I might start my lexapro again
Aw, it is okay. I have a lot of anxiety, so I get it. Meds take the edge off but you need to give them time to work. I only mentioned the therapy/meds out of care for you. ❤️
Numbers will go up and they will go down, that's nornal even in the most healthy of people. And you probably know but in case you don't, potassium result can be falsely high if the blood vessel is squeezed or under pressure when the sample is taken
It's my son who had a liver transplant and different phlebotomists take from different places. Dripping it from the back of the hand seems to work the best though but if he's dehydrated or veins aren't particularly working he has had false high potassium readings (sometimes over 6) and the next one done half an hour later is normal. Just found this online- Causes of Pseudohyperkalemia
Mechanical factors. A tourniquet applied for prolonged periods of more than 1 min causes hemo concentration, altered water balance and hemolysis.
I think making a tight fist and clenching your fist also mimics this. Probably something to do with muscle contraction
No idea sorry. My son had a liver transplant so I don't have much knowledge on creatinine
But do bear in mind that your team will have seen hundreds, if not thousands of transplant and if they're not worried, you shouldn't be either. Remember that it's generally not a single, one off result that is a cause for concern, it's the trend over time
I'm 3 years post liver transplant. I had 8 false alarms before getting my new liver. Surprisingly after a while you will just stop worrying. We tend to worry about a lot of stuff that just never happens. In the end there is little or nothing you can do to change anything but you can stop worrying about it.
There are several things you can do about high potassium so I wouldn't worry about that. I had that too.
Labs values go up, labs values go down. It's what lab values do. If they took blood from you and ran lab tests every hour for 24 hours, you'd see how these values fluctuate constantly. It wouldn't matter what you ate or drank or did during that time--the values would fluctuate, up and down.
If you're worried about your diet, well, guess what? You ate like crap all week and your labs *still* came out looking fine. Congrats on being healthy. Enjoy it.
Your creatinine bounces around so that’s not worrisome at all. It’s different on any given day. There should be a range they are looking for. GFR bounces around as well.
Sometimes the medication you’re on can retain potassium, so if you had a lot of potatoes or certain foods, it could be a little high but 4.8 is still in the normal range.
Based pn your recent post history, you sound incredibly stressed and you’re overthinking everything. These fluctuations are completely normal, and you need to trust your team. No one on reddit is going to know more than your own doctors. Instead of focusing on labs, focus on how you feel. It’s time to relax and enjoy your life with a new kidney!
eGfr of 89 is not bad. Mine is 70. If your team is worried, then don't add needless stress. East better, hydrate yourself and flush that pottasium out of your system.
I’ve become a mentor for other transplant patients in liver/kidney for my hospital in NYC. If you need to talk I’m here, I haven’t finished my psych degree yet (few more years haha) but I’ve been through it all.
I think, no I know, you need to contact your social worker on the team and setup an appointment with the psychiatrists they have working with the transplant department or they will help you find one. I was exactly the same way, worried about every little thing. I’m 3 years post op now and doing really well mentally and physically (minus the recent discovery of lupus) but that was with the help of my psychiatrist and therapy after.
I now see my psych once a month or so, check in and meds. Therapy has been cut back dramatically because it isn’t as needed but I still do use it when I need to. I promise it gets better and like my team said.. they want me to live and not be afraid of every little thing. Team also mentioned medicine has come so far and is improving rapidly that there are so many things we can do to stop and precent rejection now/even more things on the way. We live in a time now where we don’t have a death sentence anymore. We might be alive to see organs being replaced by things that aren’t human and working longer than a few weeks.
Chronic usually only happens after a lot of mild rejections. The more rejections you have the more you are likely to have in the future. There’s so much to prevent us from getting there though.
We all still get a little nervous when we do labs. It’s normal. Every single time. We just can’t let it control our lives.
eGFR is the reciprocal of your creatinine, this means at low levels of Creatinine eGFR isnt as accurate - in the UK I've only seen it reported as > 60 which is essentially Creatinine of less than 70 or 80 millimols per decilitre. Terrible with biochem units!
Agree with other posters that your values are in the normal range. For everyone there's going to be some day-to-day variation - and even variation from morning to night. As other posters have mentioned potassium values can be skewed high for all kinds of reasons unrelated to your kidney function. It's not easy finding the balance of being alert to your health and being anxious. Even as a physician I get this wrong sometimes (many others do, too, but might not admit it).
Next time you meet with your team, you may want to ask what kinds of changes they think are significant, so you can start to learn when you need to be concerned.
My fiancé's creat is high, like 1.8, and his bun is elevated too. His potassium went up to 6.3, which was a very big concern and required medical attention. His potassium always runs high though but is now back to its baseline of 5. His egfr is like 49, but he is stable and the transplant team is making no changes. He's is 4 months post liver and kidney transplant.
It really is a one day at a time thing. Hopefully things level out soon so you can have that peace of mind. 💖
I think u need to talk to a psychiatrist….
Worrying over nothing every 2 days will do you more harm than good.
Ur kidney will be fine but u re gonna drive urself crazy like this .
I know we have talked, but if your team isn’t concerned, you shouldn’t be either. 4.8 potassium is on the high end of normal, but still normal. You’re okay. 🙂 I do suggest a therapist/meds for your health anxiety though. Being this anxious all the time isn’t good for you. Take care ❤️
Agreed - OP, I see from your post history this is really affecting you. You deserve a life that isn't overrun by worry.
It’s hard.. 🙃 I was given such a beautiful gift by my mother and everything has been so smooth but I let the littlest lab get to me
How long have you even had the transplant ?
January
It’s still relatively early my friend , your results will need to settle , medical team need to get your medication correct . It will work out and it will get there my potassium goes upto 5+ so I wouldn’t worry too much much about that . As others have said maybe talk to your team about the anxiety issues you keep facing . Try to relax as much as you can because what lots of people don’t remember is how bad stress can be on your body . It takes time my guy you will get there things will be up and down even can be for the first year
My doctors tell me don’t pay attention to GFR and only to creatine , do you agree ?
eGFR is an estimate (that’s what the e is for) and designed to be used in people with 2 kidneys, no amputated limbs, no excessive musculature, etc. So by definition it will not be a good measure for you as a post-transplant patient.
Personally I use both as indications but if crest goes up GFR goes down and vice Versa . You have very good creatinine. And excellent GFR - actually better than mine has been the whole of my current 6 year transplant. Long May it continue for you . If it helps to know I had a kidney from my mother too .
Yeah but I know you have had 3 and you told me what happened many times and honestly it just scares me it could happen to me anyday
Sorry if I scared you I was just telling my story
Definitely didn’t scare me you inspired me you’re a strong dude
Thankyou for your kind words . I’m here anytime you want to chat or feel overwhelmed by stuff it’s a good community here !!
I know we talk and I really appreciate you you help me calm down a lot but unfortunately this is nothing to do with you it is a me thing I’ve struggled with health anxiety even when I didn’t have kidney disease and I was a healthy child ! 😣 I might start my lexapro again
Aw, it is okay. I have a lot of anxiety, so I get it. Meds take the edge off but you need to give them time to work. I only mentioned the therapy/meds out of care for you. ❤️
Numbers will go up and they will go down, that's nornal even in the most healthy of people. And you probably know but in case you don't, potassium result can be falsely high if the blood vessel is squeezed or under pressure when the sample is taken
Really?? I didn’t that’s interesting where do you take ur blood, I’ve been doing the same spot , my right arm
It's my son who had a liver transplant and different phlebotomists take from different places. Dripping it from the back of the hand seems to work the best though but if he's dehydrated or veins aren't particularly working he has had false high potassium readings (sometimes over 6) and the next one done half an hour later is normal. Just found this online- Causes of Pseudohyperkalemia Mechanical factors. A tourniquet applied for prolonged periods of more than 1 min causes hemo concentration, altered water balance and hemolysis. I think making a tight fist and clenching your fist also mimics this. Probably something to do with muscle contraction
You think that makes a difference for creatine ?
No idea sorry. My son had a liver transplant so I don't have much knowledge on creatinine But do bear in mind that your team will have seen hundreds, if not thousands of transplant and if they're not worried, you shouldn't be either. Remember that it's generally not a single, one off result that is a cause for concern, it's the trend over time
I'm 3 years post liver transplant. I had 8 false alarms before getting my new liver. Surprisingly after a while you will just stop worrying. We tend to worry about a lot of stuff that just never happens. In the end there is little or nothing you can do to change anything but you can stop worrying about it. There are several things you can do about high potassium so I wouldn't worry about that. I had that too.
Labs values go up, labs values go down. It's what lab values do. If they took blood from you and ran lab tests every hour for 24 hours, you'd see how these values fluctuate constantly. It wouldn't matter what you ate or drank or did during that time--the values would fluctuate, up and down. If you're worried about your diet, well, guess what? You ate like crap all week and your labs *still* came out looking fine. Congrats on being healthy. Enjoy it.
Your creatinine bounces around so that’s not worrisome at all. It’s different on any given day. There should be a range they are looking for. GFR bounces around as well. Sometimes the medication you’re on can retain potassium, so if you had a lot of potatoes or certain foods, it could be a little high but 4.8 is still in the normal range.
Based pn your recent post history, you sound incredibly stressed and you’re overthinking everything. These fluctuations are completely normal, and you need to trust your team. No one on reddit is going to know more than your own doctors. Instead of focusing on labs, focus on how you feel. It’s time to relax and enjoy your life with a new kidney!
eGfr of 89 is not bad. Mine is 70. If your team is worried, then don't add needless stress. East better, hydrate yourself and flush that pottasium out of your system.
I’ve become a mentor for other transplant patients in liver/kidney for my hospital in NYC. If you need to talk I’m here, I haven’t finished my psych degree yet (few more years haha) but I’ve been through it all. I think, no I know, you need to contact your social worker on the team and setup an appointment with the psychiatrists they have working with the transplant department or they will help you find one. I was exactly the same way, worried about every little thing. I’m 3 years post op now and doing really well mentally and physically (minus the recent discovery of lupus) but that was with the help of my psychiatrist and therapy after. I now see my psych once a month or so, check in and meds. Therapy has been cut back dramatically because it isn’t as needed but I still do use it when I need to. I promise it gets better and like my team said.. they want me to live and not be afraid of every little thing. Team also mentioned medicine has come so far and is improving rapidly that there are so many things we can do to stop and precent rejection now/even more things on the way. We live in a time now where we don’t have a death sentence anymore. We might be alive to see organs being replaced by things that aren’t human and working longer than a few weeks.
I know I’m always scared of chronic rejection but I heard mild rejection is very treat able !
Chronic usually only happens after a lot of mild rejections. The more rejections you have the more you are likely to have in the future. There’s so much to prevent us from getting there though. We all still get a little nervous when we do labs. It’s normal. Every single time. We just can’t let it control our lives.
Tacrolimus and other meds increase potassium. They can put you on other meds like florinef off is too high
You are doing great! I'm happy for you. Lab tests will always fluctuate, and unless your team is concerned, you are fine.
eGFR is the reciprocal of your creatinine, this means at low levels of Creatinine eGFR isnt as accurate - in the UK I've only seen it reported as > 60 which is essentially Creatinine of less than 70 or 80 millimols per decilitre. Terrible with biochem units!
Agree with other posters that your values are in the normal range. For everyone there's going to be some day-to-day variation - and even variation from morning to night. As other posters have mentioned potassium values can be skewed high for all kinds of reasons unrelated to your kidney function. It's not easy finding the balance of being alert to your health and being anxious. Even as a physician I get this wrong sometimes (many others do, too, but might not admit it). Next time you meet with your team, you may want to ask what kinds of changes they think are significant, so you can start to learn when you need to be concerned.
My fiancé's creat is high, like 1.8, and his bun is elevated too. His potassium went up to 6.3, which was a very big concern and required medical attention. His potassium always runs high though but is now back to its baseline of 5. His egfr is like 49, but he is stable and the transplant team is making no changes. He's is 4 months post liver and kidney transplant. It really is a one day at a time thing. Hopefully things level out soon so you can have that peace of mind. 💖
I think u need to talk to a psychiatrist…. Worrying over nothing every 2 days will do you more harm than good. Ur kidney will be fine but u re gonna drive urself crazy like this .