So a few weeks ago my boyfriend had his blood pressure tested, and it was pretty high. He recently had an appointment at the doctors and it was still too high. (However he has had it tested multiple times at home and it’s been within the normal range.) Anyway, the doctor told him to get some tests done to rule stuff out. The results just came back and one of them said it couldn’t rule out renal disease.
I know I’m probably prematurely freaking out, but I’m worried. Now that I type this up it looked like I’m worrying over nothing…but I’d love some input.
Just to be clear, I’m not looking for medical advice, just support.
Well, first question, is he showing any other symptoms of renal disease other than high blood pressure and some lab results? Early stage renal disease is not necessarily devastating.
In fact, you might choose to view this in a positive light - IF he has renal disease, which we don’t know yet, just IF - finding it early, when it’s odd lab results and not overt, obvious symptoms can allow him to start treatment now, prior to massive damage, and might allow him to avoid severe disease in the future. That’s the whole point of screening, after all, to catch things early.
Needless to say, he really should do something about that high blood pressure. It is, however, a manageable condition. Provided he takes care of this issue he can live a very long, healthy life.
As far as I’m aware, there are no other symtoms. I did look up the symtoms, and I cant say any sound like something he has, but he may have just not mentioned something. I’m not to keen to list off the symtoms to him in case he starts thinking he has them and worrying himself.
I’m not sure about the high blood pressure. Its happened at the doctors, but like I said, at home his blood pressure is fine (his mom is a doctor). As for managing the blood pressure, at the moment he is choosing to try lower it without the aid of medication.
I’m really appreciative of you looking at it positively - of course its good to catch it now, if it’s there. I know very little about the disease, so any extra information is great.
That could be white coat syndrome. Many people’s BP increases when it’s measured at the doctor’s, because being there makes them nervous.
Note that “kidney disease can’t be ruled out” doesn’t mean “we’re thinking he has kidney disease”. Taking an example from a different organ, low transaminases mean “liver is normal”, but high transaminases mean “something is going on at the liver”: the “something” can be that the liver is sick, that the patient is taking several meds which “load” the liver, or it can mean they had their last drink of the night before the analysis closer to the extraction than they should have - or a combination thereof. In your boyfriend’s case, the problematic result could be something like an unusual cation ratio, which could come from something such as eating too many frozen entrees.
Or, in my case, about two years ago I had a blood test showing borderline “reason for concern” potassium levels. That can indicate kidney disease. However, after being cautioned to absolutely NOT take any form of potassium supplement (including standard multivitamins), and being checked out otherwise, there was absolutely zero indication of any disease or disorder. Possibly an error in the test results. Also, I eat a LOT of fresh fruits and vegetables, most of the vegetables I’d been eating at the time directly out of the backyard so they really couldn’t be much fresher.
Next time around, my potassium was very, very comfortably into the “you’re getting enough” range, but no longer borderline “we’re worried about this”.
People are funny. Sometimes you get odd lab results for reasons other than disease. Sometime it just happens. Certainly, check everything out, but this may not be something serious at all. I certainly hope not.