9 vials of blood tested. Here’s the results.

[woundcarping]

wheymaster1 said:

Keep calm. Book an appointment with a nephrologist — more testing will follow, Cystatin C and a uACR test among others. Should kidney problems be present, options exist to slow the decline, SGLT2 inhibitors for instance. Kidneys are tricky because declining function doesn't come with pain. Still, as someone whose mother is on dialysis, I'd ask you to at least hear the specialist out and go. Good luck

Why would I burn time on a specialist visit when $40 buys me all of this testing:

Urine Albumin/Creatinine Ratio (uACR)

Urine Albumin

Urine Protein/Creatinine Ratio (uPCR)

Urine Total Protein

Urine Creatinine

eGFR (Creatinine + Cystatin C)

eGFR (Creatinine)

Cystatin C

Creatinine

My creatinine levels by date are below — you can see where creatine started and where it stopped.

And my cystatin C:

Nearly every time blood gets drawn, my default/baseline labs are:

Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT)

IGF-1 with Z-Score

hs-CRP (High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein)

C-Peptide

Insulin

Apolipoprotein B (ApoB)

Lipid Panel

Hemoglobin A1c

Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP)

CBC with Differential

When TRT labs are due, the baseline list grows by:

PSA (Total ± % Free)

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT)

Estradiol, Sensitive

Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin (SHBG)

Testosterone, Free

Testosterone, Total (LC/MS)

Alongside my testing in a couple weeks (Baseline + TRT), I'm running the following as a periodic update or for particular reasons (ferritin and iron, say, since I donated last month to bring my hematocrit down).

Urine Albumin/Creatinine Ratio (uACR)

Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy

Complete Urinalysis

TSH + Free T4

Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]

Homocysteine

Cystatin C with eGFR

Magnesium, RBC

Vitamin B12 and Folate

Uric Acid

Free T3 (Triiodothyronine)

Iron and TIBC

Ferritin

Thyroid Antibodies

 

[Whiynot20026]

woundcarping said:

wheymaster1 said:

Keep calm. Book an appointment with a nephrologist — more testing will follow, Cystatin C and a uACR test among others. Should kidney problems be present, options exist to slow the decline, SGLT2 inhibitors for instance. Kidneys are tricky because declining function doesn't come with pain. Still, as someone whose mother is on dialysis, I'd ask you to at least hear the specialist out and go. Good luck

Why would I burn time on a specialist visit when $40 buys me all of this testing:

Urine Albumin/Creatinine Ratio (uACR)

Urine Albumin

Urine Protein/Creatinine Ratio (uPCR)

Urine Total Protein

Urine Creatinine

eGFR (Creatinine + Cystatin C)

eGFR (Creatinine)

Cystatin C

Creatinine

My creatinine levels by date are below — you can see where creatine started and where it stopped.

View attachment 132

And my cystatin C:View attachment 133

Nearly every time blood gets drawn, my default/baseline labs are:

Gamma-Glutamyl Transferase (GGT)

IGF-1 with Z-Score

hs-CRP (High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein)

C-Peptide

Insulin

Apolipoprotein B (ApoB)

Lipid Panel

Hemoglobin A1c

Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP)

CBC with Differential

When TRT labs are due, the baseline list grows by:

PSA (Total ± % Free)

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT)

Estradiol, Sensitive

Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin (SHBG)

Testosterone, Free

Testosterone, Total (LC/MS)

Alongside my testing in a couple weeks (Baseline + TRT), I'm running the following as a periodic update or for particular reasons (ferritin and iron, say, since I donated last month to bring my hematocrit down).

Urine Albumin/Creatinine Ratio (uACR)

Vitamin D, 25-Hydroxy

Complete Urinalysis

TSH + Free T4

Lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)]

Homocysteine

Cystatin C with eGFR

Magnesium, RBC

Vitamin B12 and Folate

Uric Acid

Free T3 (Triiodothyronine)

Iron and TIBC

Ferritin

Thyroid Antibodies

Great news.

Much appreciated

 

[SVT810E]

Whiynot20026 said:

Since April I've been running GLPs plus four other peptides. While on the peps I've chosen to get extremely thorough blood panels drawn every four months. A fairly broad annual test was already my habit, and my markers had always looked great. This time I ordered essentially every assay that exists for peptide use and overall health — an autoimmune screen included, which came back negative. Only four things came back off. Two of them meant nothing, but the kidney and creatine results were somewhat more worrying. My doctor rang to ask whether I was taking creatine; I confirmed it, and he told me to stop right away, saying it was harming my kidneys. So I stopped on the spot and was preparing to see a nephrologist. Then last night, out on my walk with the podcast below playing, I got about 7:30 in. He covers creatine myths, and myth one is where I lost it. Oh my fucking god. Does any doctor on this planet actually know what the fuck they're doing? It's wearing thin. The panel in question is in the photo I've attached.

Bill

View: https://youtu.be/Jk7RAkFN4vk?is=ojHKUbjq0ZHmzVtQ

Not that you need telling, but a CMP's standard eGFR tells you nothing useful when creatine is in play and training volume is high. Both skew it badly.

Have Cystatin C drawn and derive your eGFR from it alone. Skip the combined creatinine/cystatin c version — use the cystatin c number by itself. Far more accurate that way.

A recent draw of mine gave creatinine 1.3 and cystatin c 0.68. Work that out and you get a creatinine-based eGFR of 73 (not great) against a cystatin c-based eGFR of 124 (that's reta baby). Only the latter is anywhere near accurate.

 

[ThatNextGril]

undecided said:

I'm not a doctor and hold no expertise in peptides or medicine generally, but my labs from last week covered the same ground as yours (plus a little extra), and my creatine numbers looked fine. 10g of creatine goes in daily, split into 5g doses. KLOW and RETA are both in my stack. That's all I'm offering here. The pep's have only been in my routine for about 6 weeks, while the creatine has been there for years. Earlier labs showed my creatine in the normal range as well. Whether that's of any use to you I don't know, but I figured sharing my own experience couldn't hurt.

Same story for me. My daily creatine has been 5-10g for close to 13 years, and last month's annual blood work just came in. Creatine levels were unchanged from every previous round - squarely in the normal range.

Perhaps it comes down to individual differences in how creatine gets metabolized or processed, but clearly plenty of people take it daily for years with no trouble at all.

It's a shame that some people do run into problems with it, though concluding from that alone that the supplement is bunk would be a stretch.

 

[Whiynot20026]

ThatNextGril said:

undecided said:

I'm not a doctor and hold no expertise in peptides or medicine generally, but my labs from last week covered the same ground as yours (plus a little extra), and my creatine numbers looked fine. 10g of creatine goes in daily, split into 5g doses. KLOW and RETA are both in my stack. That's all I'm offering here. The pep's have only been in my routine for about 6 weeks, while the creatine has been there for years. Earlier labs showed my creatine in the normal range as well. Whether that's of any use to you I don't know, but I figured sharing my own experience couldn't hurt.

Same story for me. My daily creatine has been 5-10g for close to 13 years, and last month's annual blood work just came in. Creatine levels were unchanged from every previous round - squarely in the normal range.

Perhaps it comes down to individual differences in how creatine gets metabolized or processed, but clearly plenty of people take it daily for years with no trouble at all.

It's a shame that some people do run into problems with it, though concluding from that alone that the supplement is bunk would be a stretch.

Are you walking 5 miles daily and putting in 5 weight sessions weekly? And loading the heaviest weight your body will tolerate? See what creatine does alongside moderate-to-heavy activity. It's fantastic. Creatine plus hard training has been my routine since 2016. Fully agree. As you said, everyone reacts differently. My health doesn't worry me in the slightest.

Bill

 

[undecided]

ThatNextGril said:

undecided said:

I'm not a doctor and hold no expertise in peptides or medicine generally, but my labs from last week covered the same ground as yours (plus a little extra), and my creatine numbers looked fine. 10g of creatine goes in daily, split into 5g doses. KLOW and RETA are both in my stack. That's all I'm offering here. The pep's have only been in my routine for about 6 weeks, while the creatine has been there for years. Earlier labs showed my creatine in the normal range as well. Whether that's of any use to you I don't know, but I figured sharing my own experience couldn't hurt.

Same story for me. My daily creatine has been 5-10g for close to 13 years, and last month's annual blood work just came in. Creatine levels were unchanged from every previous round - squarely in the normal range.

Perhaps it comes down to individual differences in how creatine gets metabolized or processed, but clearly plenty of people take it daily for years with no trouble at all.

It's a shame that some people do run into problems with it, though concluding from that alone that the supplement is bunk would be a stretch.

100% agree! I'm in a pile of FB groups for lifting and the like, and plenty of posters there call creatine a waste of money, claim it only gives them the runs, or say they notice nothing. Like you say, for those people it probably is wasted. On my side there's no bloat and no side effects I can detect, it lets me push harder in the gym (I've tested this many times), and at the 10g dose I stay sharper with less brain fog. Barring some medical reason forcing me off it, creatine stays in my routine for life.

 

[Liber_Pater]

SVT810E said:

Whiynot20026 said:

Since April I've been running GLPs plus four other peptides. While on the peps I've chosen to get extremely thorough blood panels drawn every four months. A fairly broad annual test was already my habit, and my markers had always looked great. This time I ordered essentially every assay that exists for peptide use and overall health — an autoimmune screen included, which came back negative. Only four things came back off. Two of them meant nothing, but the kidney and creatine results were somewhat more worrying. My doctor rang to ask whether I was taking creatine; I confirmed it, and he told me to stop right away, saying it was harming my kidneys. So I stopped on the spot and was preparing to see a nephrologist. Then last night, out on my walk with the podcast below playing, I got about 7:30 in. He covers creatine myths, and myth one is where I lost it. Oh my fucking god. Does any doctor on this planet actually know what the fuck they're doing? It's wearing thin. The panel in question is in the photo I've attached.

Bill

View: https://youtu.be/Jk7RAkFN4vk?is=ojHKUbjq0ZHmzVtQ

Not that you need telling, but a CMP's standard eGFR tells you nothing useful when creatine is in play and training volume is high. Both skew it badly.

Have Cystatin C drawn and derive your eGFR from it alone. Skip the combined creatinine/cystatin c version — use the cystatin c number by itself. Far more accurate that way.

A recent draw of mine gave creatinine 1.3 and cystatin c 0.68. Work that out and you get a creatinine-based eGFR of 73 (not great) against a cystatin c-based eGFR of 124 (that's reta baby). Only the latter is anywhere near accurate.

Exactly right! My own numbers came out very close recently. I use creatine and eat a lot of protein. Creatinine sits around 116 on average but has gone above 1.3 a few times. The creatinine estimated eGFR lands in the upper 60s to low-to-mid 70s. When I added the cystatin c estimated eGFR test the result was 112 (cystatin c was .70). That's a really big difference! BTW, I had to request the test be added. My primary care doctor had never heard of it.

 

[rixsternaz]

A week out from a blood draw I stop taking creatine so nothing skews the results. Kidney function has always come back normal range for me.

 

[SVT810E]

Liber_Pater said:

SVT810E said:

Whiynot20026 said:

Since April I've been running GLPs plus four other peptides. While on the peps I've chosen to get extremely thorough blood panels drawn every four months. A fairly broad annual test was already my habit, and my markers had always looked great. This time I ordered essentially every assay that exists for peptide use and overall health — an autoimmune screen included, which came back negative. Only four things came back off. Two of them meant nothing, but the kidney and creatine results were somewhat more worrying. My doctor rang to ask whether I was taking creatine; I confirmed it, and he told me to stop right away, saying it was harming my kidneys. So I stopped on the spot and was preparing to see a nephrologist. Then last night, out on my walk with the podcast below playing, I got about 7:30 in. He covers creatine myths, and myth one is where I lost it. Oh my fucking god. Does any doctor on this planet actually know what the fuck they're doing? It's wearing thin. The panel in question is in the photo I've attached.

Bill

View: https://youtu.be/Jk7RAkFN4vk?is=ojHKUbjq0ZHmzVtQ

Not that you need telling, but a CMP's standard eGFR tells you nothing useful when creatine is in play and training volume is high. Both skew it badly.

Have Cystatin C drawn and derive your eGFR from it alone. Skip the combined creatinine/cystatin c version — use the cystatin c number by itself. Far more accurate that way.

A recent draw of mine gave creatinine 1.3 and cystatin c 0.68. Work that out and you get a creatinine-based eGFR of 73 (not great) against a cystatin c-based eGFR of 124 (that's reta baby). Only the latter is anywhere near accurate.

Exactly right! My own numbers came out very close recently. I use creatine and eat a lot of protein. Creatinine sits around 116 on average but has gone above 1.3 a few times. The creatinine estimated eGFR lands in the upper 60s to low-to-mid 70s. When I added the cystatin c estimated eGFR test the result was 112 (cystatin c was .70). That's a really big difference! BTW, I had to request the test be added. My primary care doctor had never heard of it.

Time of day matters for creatinine too, in my experience. Almost all of my draws happen first thing in the morning (I've already booked the next three panels so I get that first slot). Do the draw at any other hour, when I'm not as dehydrated as I am at dawn, and the eGFR reads considerably better.