I’m concerned that my microalbum is very higher than normal range and I know that has something to do with the kidneys poring something in my urine… Anybody else has this problen???
Have you had a 24 hour urine protein test?
The one sample test can be wrong if you did any kind of physical labor before the test and if you are dehydrated it will cause a discrepancy. When I was riding road cycling events on weekends I would always fail the single sample micro-album test on Mondays or Tuesdays but my kidneys are fine and the 24 hr test would be in normal range.
Could this test be done in the emergency room or in doctors office?
You collect your urine for 24 hours and drop it off at the lab or your doctors
office. For the random test you just collect one sample. Yes these tests could be prescribed at your doctors office but I doubt that a ER Doctor would prescribe the 24 hour study.
I guess, I need to call the endo, because I’m absolutely terrified… I don’t need kidney problems… I’m already terrified from being type 1 diabetic.
A verified high microalbumin result is definitely a sign of early kidney damage. Like John says, however, the spot urine test wich you most likely had (You would defintely remember a 24 hour urine collection) is subject to a number of isssues that could give you a false high result. As John says, additional tests should be done. Typically, it would take 2 high microalbumin results in consecutive spot urine tests over a couple months before a doctor would diagnose you at some level of kidney damage depending upon the amount of microalbumin you are spilling.
If done properly, a 24 hour urine test will give you more robust results because it is not subject to the same issues as a microalbumin test. If done improperly, if can also give you misleading results. However, if you rest for 24-48 hours prior to your spot urine test and hydrate yourself properly, a spot urine sample gives comparable results in much less time and much less effort.
Relax, you are reletively recently diagnosed so it would be unusual for long term complications such as kidney damage to manifest themselves so early in your diagnosis. The first thing you need to do is get your BGs under control. If you are spilling microalbumin, your endo will put you on either a ACE or an ARB inhibitor. Both are blood pressure meds that have been shown to be effective in helping with kideny problems in diabetics, even returning kidney function to normal if the kidneys aren;t too damaged.
I was spilling microalbumin a couple of years back, was put on an ACE inhibitor, then an aRB inhibitor and saw my numbers return back to normal by my next endo visit. Haven't had any issues since.
I just wanted to let you know that youre responses really do put people at ease. I for one, thank you. :)
There is also something women should be aware in these tests.
If you are menstruating, You should forgo the test. If any blood gets into the sample it will throw it off in a big way,
You should do the whole "clean catch procedure", which most people do not bother doing. Where you go a little then you go in the cup then finish in the toilet.
Most Diabetics that I know take an ACE inhibitor even with no trouble because it is good prevention. I can not tolerate an ACE inhibitor so I take an ACE blocker which seems to work just as well.
I would not worry too much about just one test. Tell us what the actual number was if you like. I would be curious.
Thank you trinsmum.
I have very vivid memories of the way I felt when I got my microalbuminuria diagnosis. It was scary. The scariest part was not having information. The second scariest part was starting to learn more about what I was up against. According to my microalbumin/creatinine ratio of 272 and my estimated GFR, I was looking at Stage II kidney damage.
The second biggest relief was finding out that my numbers could be off and that there were treatment options regardless. The biggest relief was seeing my numbers return to normal. I didn't really care at that point if it was a misdiagnosis or the medication working better than expected.
Thus forum played a huge part every step of the way after my diagnosis. It's good to pay it forward.