My cardiologist looked at my lab results and said--oh, you have Stage 3 kidney disease because the production rate is only 47%. Of course I freaked out since I only have one kidney to begin with (my sister got the other one).
I couldn't get an appointment with a nephrologist until THIS week. I started out pissed off because I finally get in there, and there is no doctor, just the PA.

But she was good, and assured me that percentage rate is not really how they judge the disease, as much as, the creatnin level. Normal is around 1%, mine is .9%. My blood pressure is typically low, I don't have diabetes. Could lose a few pounds, but not bad. I'm very active.

I'm still scheduled for an ultrasound, but she said I could go back to eating all the chocolate I want! (I've been sorely deprived lately.) I do need to cut back on my prescription anti-inflammatory to, "as needed," instead of twice a day. Going cold turkey on those has made me pretty miserable, with arthritis in all my old broken bones.

So, I asked the PA--do I have kidney disease, or not? She said, you are always considered to have it when you only one kidney, and you need to keep tabs on it, but overall--not too worried.

Advice to others per her recommendations: Cut back on anti-inflammatories, drink more fluids, eat less meat, maintain healthy weight.

Maybe try half a dose (not more than 200 mgs) at a time?

CBC, metabolic panel, lipid panel, thyroid panel, DHEA CRP....

Just go to your doctor, a lot of things she mentions could be caused by something totally different, eg edema can be caused by a drug called gabapentin, it doesn't mean your kidneys are failing. Protein in urine can be caused by a myriad of infections.

... and informative. Thanks for posting it. Makes me think I might need a couple of tests myself.

That was quite helpful - good things to know.