eGFR and lab values

Medical Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi Dr. Feigenbaum and Dr. Baraki,

I’m a 25 year-old male that has been consistently training for about a year now with some breaks in-between due to injury. As I’m starting back up again, I want to start taking creatine monohydrate to improve my lifts and also maybe improve my health overall. However, before starting creatine, I would like to get both of your perspectives in regards to whether taking creatine would negatively affect my kidney health. Here are my current lab values without supplementing with creatine:

​
Creatinine: 1.2 mg/dL
eGFR CKD-EPI Cr 2021: 86
Cystatin C: 0.78 mg/L

urine analysis:

Specific gravity: 1.1019
Protein: no protein found in urine
Urobilinogen: less than 2.0
RBC: none detected
WBC: 0-2 WBC/hpf/ hpf
Leucocyte esterase: negative
Nitrite: negative
Bilirubin: negative
urine pH: 6.5
Ketones: negative

Firstly, would you say a creatinine level of 1.2 mg/dL is normal for a 25 year-old male that has been training consistently for 3-6 times per week? Secondly, would you say I would have no issue negatively affecting my kidney health by supplementing with creatine? I would like to know how to best estimate kidney health outside of measuring creatinine levels as my creatinine without supplementation is on the higher end of the normal range, however my other lab values appear to be pretty normal. Of those other lab values, what lab values besides Cystatin C would be useful to check for kidney health?

Thanks for reading, and hope to hear back from you both soon!

  • Anton
2

Hi there,

Have you checked out our article on this topic?

3

Yes, I did. Thanks for showing me the article. The article gives me reassurance as my Cystatin C is normal. However, my doctor told me that creatinine is the most effective measurement of kidney function, and my creatinine is on the higher side of normal. He still wants me to reduce my protein intake which is around 120g/day. Do you think it’s reasonable to reduce my protein intake? Or should I continue on with my current diet, and workout regimen? My workouts right now are pretty much bro-splits around 5 times a week because I can’t powerlift as my back is injured. Thanks!

4

This is not correct.

I do not think that this would have any impact on your kidney function.