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I Am 29 Years Old And Just Had My First
I am 29 years old and just had my first meeting with my nephrologist who at this point has no answers for me. I would like an opinion to better prepare me for what i could be dealing with as im young and this has come unexpected.
My history started about 8 months ago as i went to my family physician as i was feeling tired a lot and suspected i may have low iron. Labs had showed low ferritin levels but my iron in my blood was normal. My family doctor ordered a complete ultrasound to check for abnormal bleeding. They found a 2.5 cm follicular cyst on my right ovary. about a month after that I started getting right flank discomfort sorta like pressure discomfort i could feel it standing laying down didnt matter (this discomfort still persists since then). I assumed it was from my cyst since both were on the right side. I followed up on the cyst with another complete ultrasound in september and results indicated that there was a small mass no indication of specifically what it was and no indication of further follow up suggested. When I had labs redone on September 24th everything came back okay (minus the ferritin levels) my urine screening was NORMAL. The beggining of December following my menstration I felt extremely WEAK and fatigued but more severe this time. I felt like i was going to pass out/colapse... and couldnt concentrate even after getting alot of sleep. I went back to my doctor suspecting iron again and i immediately got called back following lab work. My ferritin was 7(still normal CBC) ... however my urine creatinine levels literally doubled. I got into a nephrologist within a week. My nephrologist is confused as i have little symptoms but indicted the concern is why my creatinine in my urine went from normal to doubling in less then 3 months. I have not been sick with viruses or colds... i have no feet or leg swelling... no fever... no problems with urination...the fatigue has subsided a bit with iron pills and diet changes.... i dont have bloody urine or "particles" in my urine (what my nephrologist called it) and no weightloss (i've been gaining weight lately) normal BP (have never had abnormal BP's and has been checked several times recently). The only thing I feel is this right flank discomfort ive had off and on for over 8 months (which occasionally but rarely feels inflammed/burning) but my nephrologist didn't think it was related (i feel like it is since it started several months before i found out about my kidneys) and the iron storage levels. I have been honest to both nephrologist and family physician that my diet WAS horrible for a long time (years) im used to eating unhealthy quick meals that are high in calories however its not uncommon for me to be so busy that i usually eat only 1 to 2 high calorie meals a day (like fast foods burgers) so my nutrition isn't ideal. I rarely drink water/pop/juice but do drink primarily milk and coffee (with sweetner) this isn't recent however... this has been years. I don't have "severe" dehydration (i know what this looks like my daughter had this when she went through DKA following a T1D diagnosis). I have to wait a month to meet my nephrologist again and if my labs are still abnormal he will schedule a CT. I don't have any "scary" symptoms that would warrant immediate fear however this flank issue that keeps getting brushed off has me alarmed. I've read accounts of people having kidney stones that were undiagnosed for a long time due to lack of symptoms just flank pain. Also I have read that kidney stones are commonly missed on ultrasounds. My ultrasounds showed no abnormalities with liver or kidneys. Im just as confused as my nephrologist. Something changed suddenly within less then 3 months. The only other medical issue i've had was 2 years ago i was told i had psoriasis (visual diagnosis no biopsy done) that is primarily confined to my legs. I dont get large "patches" just small spots and dry skin which gets itchy. No other health problems (yes i was recently tested for virtually everything on labs STD's diabetes thyroid and even tested for markers of inflammation within the body) all clean.
My history started about 8 months ago as i went to my family physician as i was feeling tired a lot and suspected i may have low iron. Labs had showed low ferritin levels but my iron in my blood was normal. My family doctor ordered a complete ultrasound to check for abnormal bleeding. They found a 2.5 cm follicular cyst on my right ovary. about a month after that I started getting right flank discomfort sorta like pressure discomfort i could feel it standing laying down didnt matter (this discomfort still persists since then). I assumed it was from my cyst since both were on the right side. I followed up on the cyst with another complete ultrasound in september and results indicated that there was a small mass no indication of specifically what it was and no indication of further follow up suggested. When I had labs redone on September 24th everything came back okay (minus the ferritin levels) my urine screening was NORMAL. The beggining of December following my menstration I felt extremely WEAK and fatigued but more severe this time. I felt like i was going to pass out/colapse... and couldnt concentrate even after getting alot of sleep. I went back to my doctor suspecting iron again and i immediately got called back following lab work. My ferritin was 7(still normal CBC) ... however my urine creatinine levels literally doubled. I got into a nephrologist within a week. My nephrologist is confused as i have little symptoms but indicted the concern is why my creatinine in my urine went from normal to doubling in less then 3 months. I have not been sick with viruses or colds... i have no feet or leg swelling... no fever... no problems with urination...the fatigue has subsided a bit with iron pills and diet changes.... i dont have bloody urine or "particles" in my urine (what my nephrologist called it) and no weightloss (i've been gaining weight lately) normal BP (have never had abnormal BP's and has been checked several times recently). The only thing I feel is this right flank discomfort ive had off and on for over 8 months (which occasionally but rarely feels inflammed/burning) but my nephrologist didn't think it was related (i feel like it is since it started several months before i found out about my kidneys) and the iron storage levels. I have been honest to both nephrologist and family physician that my diet WAS horrible for a long time (years) im used to eating unhealthy quick meals that are high in calories however its not uncommon for me to be so busy that i usually eat only 1 to 2 high calorie meals a day (like fast foods burgers) so my nutrition isn't ideal. I rarely drink water/pop/juice but do drink primarily milk and coffee (with sweetner) this isn't recent however... this has been years. I don't have "severe" dehydration (i know what this looks like my daughter had this when she went through DKA following a T1D diagnosis). I have to wait a month to meet my nephrologist again and if my labs are still abnormal he will schedule a CT. I don't have any "scary" symptoms that would warrant immediate fear however this flank issue that keeps getting brushed off has me alarmed. I've read accounts of people having kidney stones that were undiagnosed for a long time due to lack of symptoms just flank pain. Also I have read that kidney stones are commonly missed on ultrasounds. My ultrasounds showed no abnormalities with liver or kidneys. Im just as confused as my nephrologist. Something changed suddenly within less then 3 months. The only other medical issue i've had was 2 years ago i was told i had psoriasis (visual diagnosis no biopsy done) that is primarily confined to my legs. I dont get large "patches" just small spots and dry skin which gets itchy. No other health problems (yes i was recently tested for virtually everything on labs STD's diabetes thyroid and even tested for markers of inflammation within the body) all clean.
