Low EGFR?

[Blimpton]

My blood test says normal EGFR is 90-120. Mine is 89. The lab has noted “mild reduction in EGFR compared to reference range”.

But they’ve marked it as satisfactory and no further action. How’s it satisfactory when it’s too low? Google says 60-89 is early stage kidney disease! And Google says a normal EGFR for someone in their 40s is 99, 50s is 93, so basically I have the kidneys of a 60 year old! How is this “satisfactory”?!

Hi OP, this is nothing to worry about. Kidney function can often appear to take a temporary dip then recover at the next blood test.

How old are you btw? I ask because a degree of kidney disease is almost inevitable for people in their later years.

With an eGFR of 89 as a one off, this is not enough to diagnose chronic kidney disease on its own. However, if you had an eGFR of less than 90 for 3+ months AND protein in your urine, then you maybe diagnosed with stage 2 chronic kidney disease. Even so, your kidneys would still be functioning quite well at that level, and there would be no symptoms normally.

If you are interested in looking after your kidneys, I would recommend looking at:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/kidney-disease/prevention/

https://kidneycareuk.org/kidney-disease-information/living-with-kidney-disease/

I’m 44.

Last August my EGFR was 90 (low for my age so they re checked it because I was worried). In September it dropped to 85 (they decided to monitor). In April it was 82. In May it was 90. Now in June it’s 89.

So it’s obviously below normal. The GP acknowledges it’s a “mild reduction” but insists it’s absolutely fine and no action is necessary.

You’re clearly very worried, and the good news is there are things you can do to look after your kidneys (see links as before).

The GP can’t do anything anyway unless your eGFR was to be less than 60 for at least 3 months and/or accompanied by protein in your urine.

There is more info on here that you may find reassuring:

https://www.kidney.org/kidneydisease/siemens_hcp_quickreference

Where I work they only report > 60. So we don't know if your 61 or 89. The chances of anything seriously wrong at your level is miniscule and reporting the levels 60-89 just increases unnecessary investigation and anxieties.

You're not your in first sentence

Thank you. I am very worried. Under 90 seems to be bad news and I’m hovering between 82-90 for the past year. But the doctor says it’s absolutely fine, even though it’s outside the normal range. Surely that defeats the point of having a normal range?

I’ve just done an at home test and mines come out as 76! I’m 36. Going to retest and go from there. Online said over 60 can be normal as long as no other signs of kidney disease as such as protein in urine

Just had mine checked and it’s 66, was 68 a year ago. GP is not concerned as no other sign of problems so will be monitored annually. I’m in my mid fifties.