Anyone else with any prior to PG ( even if Minor) kidney damage?

I am really driving myself crazy with this so here once again trying to see if anyone else can relate. I’ve been a type 1 now for little over 11 years. Ive never considered myself a bad diabetic or out of control so i was a bit surprised when my doctor told me 6 months ago that i was spilling a small amount of protien in my urine. I was ten over the normal limit so it was very minor.

All the same this is very scary being my mother also a type 1 had kidney disease and later failure and its my worst nightmare. Anyway he put me on an ace inhibitor and told me it would fix things. He was right and now I am told my levels are normal and my kidneys are fine.

Here is my problem. Im gonna have to be on this medication for life. Sounds simple enough right? It cannot be taken during pregnancy as it causes severe birth defects. So that would mean I would have to go off of it for over a year. That’s the part that freaks me out.

I know pregnancy increases blood flow to the kidneys and I am just really freaked out now about getting PG. My endo didn’t tell me that I could not - but now I am questioning myself.

I have been depressed about this and in really bad place ever since I found out. I had been planning on getting PG within a couple of years and now I fear it will never be an option.

I am thinking I should see a nephrologist ( kidney specialist) to get their take on this but so far haven’t done so. I really feel this adventure is over for me before it has even begun - I mean i doubt even a specialist will be able to give me a guarantee.

I want a child of my own very badly - yet I do not want to go down the same path as my mother. Have any of you had any kidney issues prior to pregnancy?

Hi,

Well, I have had type 1 for almost 19 years. I had a successful pregnancy a few years ago and our daughter will turn 3 in July. I have been on Lisinopril for years as a kidney-protector. I have never had protein in my urine, even through pregnancy, until my last appointment with my Endo. My first test was just a spot check with a sample from my doctor’s appt. I was way over the normal limit. My doctor then ordered a 24-hour microalbumin and a creatinine clearance and both were in normal ranges. We are trying for baby # 2 right now so the first test really freaked me out. I can totally understand how you are feeling!

Was your original test a spot check or a 24 hour collection? My Endo said the 24-hour gives a much more accurate picture of what, if anything, is going on. She said protein can randomly spill into urine from strenuous exercise, dehydration, being sick, high bg, etc in the spot checks and that doesn’t necessarily mean early kidney damage.

Hope this helps and please feel free to email me with questions:)

Hi Jamie, thanks so much for your reply.

It was indeed a spot check ( along with blood work). Ive never had anything more than the spot check and my endo was so quick to put me on the ace inhibitor that more investigation was not done. The lab work and other spot check i had done a few months later came back as normal and my endo ( as well as myself) was happy.

I just had lab work yesterday and will find out in a week how that turned out. Hopefully everything is still fine.

I sort of jumped off the deep end and into a panic over this whole thing - but its because at a young age I watched my mother go through kidney failure and it was the most horrifying thing ever. I just don’t want any part of it ;( I also worry that since i inherited the diabetes from her that I may have similar genes and be more prone to kidney problems.

Of course I am intelligent enough to realize that she was diagnosed as a child and didn’t have the type of care we have today. Glucose monitors and the new insulins etc- so more than likely it was this that did her in. However I still worry.

Thanks again for helping to ease my mind!

No problem! I have the exact same fears, even without a genetic link to kidney disease. We ‘completely’ stopped trying until I got the results from the creatinine clearance and follow-up labs. I was way too nervous. Since having my daughter, I get clearance test every year. I had to do it several times during pregnancy, too. It’s no fun, but maybe you can request that test to ease your fears before getting pregnant.