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Q:
I have Polycystic Kidney Disease and my creatinine level is 7.2 now. My electrolyte K+ is normal which 4.5. I am female and 65 years old. I have swelling on face and hands, but now from two days my swelling is getting normal. How can I control my creatinine level? please help!
A:
Usually, when creatinine level increases to 5, patients are suggested to start dialysis. You creatinine level as of now is 7.2 which is very high. Have you started dialysis? Do you have any kidney failure complications? I need to know more about your condition, so that I can give you more specific and useful suggestions.
In clinical, creatinine level can be used to how much toxins in the blood. Similar with blood urea nitrogen, creatinine is also one of the wastes that produced by our body during metabolism. In normal cases, these wastes are discharged by our kidney, so once kidneys are damaged, kidney function decreases and also toxins build up in the blood. Creatinine is one of the toxins and the level of it is usually used to reflect how much toxins in the blood.
How does Polycystic Kidney Disease Cause High Creatinine Level?
PKD impairs kidney function directly. Polycystic Kidney Disease is a genetic kidney disease and marked by a cluster of cysts in kidneys. These cysts are full of yellow fluids and enlarge over time. There are no obvious symptoms at the very beginning of kidney damages, however, with the increase of kidney cyst quantity and kidney cyst size, more and more kidney tissues are damaged. The less healthy kidney tissues, the less kidney function. Damaged kidneys fail to discharge creatinine and other wastes out of patient’s body, as a result of which, creatinine level increases.
Many patients control their creatinine level by adjusting their diet. As a matter of fact, adjustment of diet is necessary and helpful, but it is hard to lower creatinine level into normal range by simply avoiding or eating some foods. To receive obvious treatment effects, aside from adjusting diet, Polycystic Kidney Disease patients also need to shrink kidney cyst and repair kidney damages. Only in this way, can further kidney damages be avoided and kidney function be improved effectively. As long as kidney function is improved, more and more creatinine are discharged and consequently, creatinine level decreases.
