Slightly elevated creatinine - Kidney Disorders Message Board

kjarels · 09-10-2004, 01:07 PM

My creatinine has been tested twice within a years time and each time it was 1.4 and normal is .5-1.2. I have switched doctors since the first testing and this dr did not seem concerned about that reading. I have been on benicar and a water pill and I read that benica could change kidney function in some people but this doctor said no. What do you guys think?

butterflytrans · 09-11-2004, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjarels

My creatinine has been tested twice within a years time and each time it was 1.4 and normal is .5-1.2. I have switched doctors since the first testing and this dr did not seem concerned about that reading. I have been on benicar and a water pill and I read that benica could change kidney function in some people but this doctor said no. What do you guys think?

This creatinine reading is not too high, and as long as it's staying constant, it's not a big deal. Do you know if it's been increasing?

butterflytrans · 09-11-2004, 10:04 PM

Oh! I didn't realize which medication you were talking about. Benicar, is I think the drug you're talking about, and it belongs to a class of drugs known as ACE inhibitors. ACE inhibitors are excellent blood pressure medications, and they are known to cause a slight rise in the creatinine of patients who are on them. There is no problem with this if the person already has good baseline kidney function. This is the reason your doctor was not alarmed by the small rise.

kjarels · 09-14-2004, 05:56 AM

Benicar is a member of blood pressure meds called ARBS but they can cause a decreased kidney function in some people so I really do not know what to do at this point, once last year when I had my creatinine checked I did not take my meds and my creatinine was at 1.1 within the normal range so that is making me think its the meds causing mine to increase. What do you guys think?

butterflytrans · 09-14-2004, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjarels

Benicar is a member of blood pressure meds called ARBS but they can cause a decreased kidney function in some people so I really do not know what to do at this point, once last year when I had my creatinine checked I did not take my meds and my creatinine was at 1.1 within the normal range so that is making me think its the meds causing mine to increase. What do you guys think?

Shoot! I'm sorry kjarels....I was thinking ARB and I wrote ACEi by accident.

Anyway, the same goes for ARBs....doctors will allow for a 20% increase in serum creatinine before they deem that the drug is not safe to take.

Additionally, it doesn't seem like your kidney function is that bad--I'm having trouble correlating it because the units in Canada are different, but I don't THINK it's too bad. The thing with ARBs and ACEis is that you can't give them at ALL in patients in renal failure (whether chronic or acute), but in a person with good baseline function but some renal damage from, say hypertension or diabetes, giving the ACEi can prevent renal failure way down the road.