Hello,
I’m male, 40 years old, 6’ tall, 200 lbs and have been barbell training for about 2 years. I had my annual checkup at the VA last week, and my creatinine was high (1.36 mg/dL). Last year it was 1.26 and apparently the reference range is 0.6-1.3. I have no history of high creatinine levels or any kidney issues. My doctor wants me to half my creatine intake (I currently take 5 mg per day) and come back to retest in a few weeks. My question is, would it be poor form for me to send her your “Dietary creatine supplements raise serum creatinine mimicking acute kidney injury” study? I read it when it came out last year, so I’m not at all worried about my creatine intake. I just think it might help her out in case she runs into this a lot. But I also figure that doctors probably hate patients sending them “look what I found on the internet” things, even though this one is legit. Anyway, thanks for all of the content. It really does help.
Hi there,
I think that even if you sent that paper, she’d still want you to re-test off the creatine to be sure. In practice, we see true chronic kidney disease due to issues like hypertension and diabetes far more frequently than a falsely elevated Cr due to someone being too jacked.
It’s pretty common to have a Cr in that range for people who are well-muscled, to no real ill effect. (Jordan and I both have Cr levels between 1.3 and 1.4, which, as you noted, is above the reference range in most labs). However, it’s also a useful marker for kidney function, so we do tend to keep an eye on it. I don’t view a change from 1.26 to 1.36 for someone in your situation to be an especially concerning one, as this value can fluctuate frequently.
Is this marker affected significantly by creatine intake, or just jackitude? In other words, would it decrease a lot, some days or weeks after stop taking it?
It’s affected by a lot of things, including, potentially, creatine intake - which is what the article referenced in the OP discusses.