Puffy feet, Elevated Creatinine

[strawberry]

Hello,

Some background: in December I was having palps, ignored them til I went to a doctor for something else who heard them and sent me to cardio. I have mild AI and MVP without MR. Told to come back in a year. This spring I noticed my ankles were puffy. I posted about it then and was urged by folks here to go to the doctor which I of course...did not do. They got really bad at the beach and I finally went. The doctor thought it could not be heart related cause everything was mild and no lv changes. I thought, well how do you know if it's getting worse and if so how fast? But anyway they did metabolic factor testing and my creatine came back just above the reference range. Some labs consider it even normal for a female: 1.3. Everything else including BUN was normal but I guess they've changed since the last lab they had on me. I had to do a 24 hr creatinine clearance and more bloodwork yesterday. I know I should just wait and see but it's driving me crazy. Does anyone have any thoughts about this? I see Ross had some creatinine elevations but it looks much worse than what I have. My feet aren't severely swollen but enough that it's uncomfortable and noticeable. Any thoughts on wether I now have ANOTHER condition (kidney), it's heart related, or just a fluke?

Thanks!

 

[Nancy]

Ask your doctor to run a BNP test to check for congestive heart failure. If you have that, you should probably be on diuretics to clear any fluid retention. Also go on a low sodium diet, which you should probably be on anyway.

Please call your cardiologist today and be proactive in getting to the bottom of what this is.

 

[strawberry]

Nancy,
Thank you so much for replying. I hope it's not CHF already! I don't have any other symptoms except palpitations. I do feel short of breath sometimes but then I can do my elliptica for 40 minutes. I read somewhere that that is possible those large muscles are well conditioned though...I can do that but feel short of breath drying my hair. Then again it might be better if it's something I already know I have wrong with me than adding something else to the list. Sheesh. I guess I'll see what these tests reveal and go from there.

Thanks again!

 

[Bunny_Rabbit]

Okay here's a thought. Maybe it could have something to do with some sort of infection...like bladder or kidney...or maybe yeast.

 

[strawberry]

I actually had that same thought. I took my temp and it's normal. My bladder's chronically inflamed due to another condition so it's hard to tell if I have an infection cause it hurts most of the time anyway. Nice, huh? So I have a stash of antibiotics I take for three days which I've done, and I take diflucan weekly to prevent yeast since that sends my bladder haywire. That brings me to my next thought of which of the 5-7 medications I take for my bladder might be doing this to my kidneys.

 

[strawberry]

aldactone

aldactone

The nurse from my gp called to say the second creatinine test was the same at 1.3, creatinine clearance was 77, reference range 75 to something. She said the doctor wants me to start on aldactone right away. So I'm on 25 mg. I guess I should call the doctor and say what exactly am I taking this for? I mean besides edema, do I have a diagnosis? Shouldn't one of us check with my cardio? Does anyone know how effective 25 mg aldactone will be or how fast it will work? I took one dose with breakfast a couple of hours ago. I've been peeing but I also had two cups of coffee. My ankles were very squishy yesterday and still today. Any thoughts out there for me? Ross? I see you've taken it?

 

[Ross]

Yeap and I'm still taking it everyday. I think it's safe to say that your GP is pursuing CHF and starting standard protocol for reducing the swelling. I'm on a cocktail of Lasix, Aldactone and Zaroxolyn for mine and I still have a little swelling going on all the time. The drugs work fast, but not so fast that you see instant results.

 

[LUVMyBirman]

I have had two minor bouts of edema in my feet in the last two months. Both occasions is was very hot. Was also standing/sitting for prolonged periods of time. Usually I have an even mix of both. Also, was wearing shoes I normally do not wear. So I just chalked it up to the heat and shoes. This is something I will casually mention at my next appointment.

Perfectly healthy individuals do get swollen feet from time to time. If it was on going and daily..I would tend to worry at that point.

 

[strawberry]

Thanks

Thanks

Thank you guys so much for replying. Gina, I chalked up the swollen feet to summer until I remembered that I threw a pair of shoes away in Jan or Feb cause they were too tight. Didn't occur to me to ask why. Once those capri pants came out it became obvious and it got worse and worse and never went away completely; better in the morning, just as puffy each day in the evening. (or more so). I asked the GP about the valves and she had said oh no this last echo was fine. Well it's my only one so who knows what's going on!

P.S. Very excited to read the complications regarding breast enlargements. Or is that just in guys and not in women who are built like a 12 year old boy?

 

[Ross]

Are you making fun of my man ****ies? I think your just jealous that's all.

 

[strawberry]

Yes I am and Yes I am!

 

[strawberry]

OK, the aldactone did nothing for me after the first day. She had me take it twice a day and still my ankles were swollen. Now I'm on a low dose of Bumex (.5) and it did make me pee a lot yesterday morning and this morning. I have shoes on that I can wiggle my toes in and I couldn't even squeeze into over the summer. The doctor is my GP who only seems to be treating the edema as edema and not concerning herself with the cause despite valve issues and creatinine elevations. My question is I feel short of breath after taking each diuretic. Has anyone else felt MORE short of breath on a diuretic?