Kidney damage after Cisplatin

buzz99
buzz99 Member Posts: 404
in Head and Neck Cancer #1
Has anyone had kidney damage after Cisplatin? Buzz has elevated Creatinine, BUN, and decreased GFR. All that means is his kidneys are showing signs of not functioning fully. At what point does someone with this problem need a renal diet? His oncologist does not seem to look at his labs (unless we ask) although he has blood drawn and labs run with every visit. His Internist just says stay hydrated. Karen
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Comments

  • ratface
    ratface Member Posts: 1,337 Member
    #2
    Mine dosen't either
    Hi Karen

    My oncologist dosen't seem too involved in my lab work either. He dose ask if I'm still seeing My GP. My thyroid has gone south so my labs bare watching. I can't speak to the kidney issue but when you say "internist" are you talking family doctor? I'm reminded that I need an appointment with my family doctor to review labs and medication.
  • Dav1965
    Dav1965 Member Posts: 132
    #3
    Cisplatin
    I had cisplatin also. My oncologist never looked at my labs either. The chemo doctor handled all of that. I do know that every Friday the chemo, radiation, and my oncologist had a meeting and discussed my case. The labs might have come up then. My oncologist has yet to take blood from me. I had kidney problems right after chemo/rad and they told me more water and when i did that it went away.
  • Noellesmom
    Noellesmom Member Posts: 1,859 Member
    #4
    nephrologist
    Does Buzz have a nephrologist and did he have previous kidney problems?

    If his internist is not concerned (and the doctor is one you trust) I would go with that judgment.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #5
    Chemo MD
    Fortunately my Chemo MD is and my ENT both are highly involved with me. I'm nearly two years post treatment and they both monitor my TSH Free T4 and general blood tests and routine scopes. Plus various CT/PET scans regularily, though spaced out now to either six months for CT or annual for PET. The scopes are at six months now...

    Depending where you are in treatment (Ratface I know is post treatment), the GFR levels can fluctuate. Going in my GFR was 93 (normal), during Chemo (one of which was Cisplatin), my GFR would fluctuate anywhere between low 70's to low 90's.

    It took (along with most of my CBC) nearly a year to all come back within normal ranges.

    Anyways, my Chemo MD was aware of these fluctuations and said that it was the Chemo, but that during Chemo it's normal for your blood work to be wacked out.

    Now if like me, your many months post treatment and are still having issues, I would definitley bring that to your MD's attention.

    I didn't really think there was a difference metween a chemo MD and ocologists, not sure...but my chemo md is my ocologists and her specialty is hematology, so maybe that's her big interest in monitoring my blood counts and chemo related effects.

    Best,
    John
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #6
    Dav1965 said:

    Cisplatin
    I had cisplatin also. My oncologist never looked at my labs either. The chemo doctor handled all of that. I do know that every Friday the chemo, radiation, and my oncologist had a meeting and discussed my case. The labs might have come up then. My oncologist has yet to take blood from me. I had kidney problems right after chemo/rad and they told me more water and when i did that it went away.

    Flushing
    They have you hydrate and flush the cisplatin out during your treatment (chemo days) as well as give you fluids like lasix in helping with that.

    My chemo facility was highly active on making sure I flushed the chemo.

    JG
  • arndog64
    arndog64 Member Posts: 537
    #7
    After my husbands first dose
    After my husbands first dose of cisplatin he was put in the hospital with poor kindey function. He was put on a renal diet.. He never received Cisplatin after that, and his kidneys are back to normal. I am curious, I believe your husband has been out of treatment for awhile. So, is this late side effects?
  • buzz99
    buzz99 Member Posts: 404
    #8
    Noellesmom said:

    nephrologist
    Does Buzz have a nephrologist and did he have previous kidney problems?

    If his internist is not concerned (and the doctor is one you trust) I would go with that judgment.

    Kidney damage
    Our Internist is our family doctor. Buzz has been seeing him for some time so we should probably trust his judgement. Buzz's GFR is 40, Creatinine 1.8, and BUN 28 (all abnormal) and he is 4 months post treatment and had his last Cisplatin in October. I am going to bring all this up with the Oncologist when we see him in early June. I an wondering if he should be on a renal diet. I have a call in to the nutritionist to talk about this. Thanks for all the responses. It helps to get input from all of you who have been down this road. Karen
  • denistd
    denistd Member Posts: 597
    #9
    buzz99 said:

    Kidney damage
    Our Internist is our family doctor. Buzz has been seeing him for some time so we should probably trust his judgement. Buzz's GFR is 40, Creatinine 1.8, and BUN 28 (all abnormal) and he is 4 months post treatment and had his last Cisplatin in October. I am going to bring all this up with the Oncologist when we see him in early June. I an wondering if he should be on a renal diet. I have a call in to the nutritionist to talk about this. Thanks for all the responses. It helps to get input from all of you who have been down this road. Karen

    Kidneys
    Yes, I too have kidney damage, like Buzz my Gfr is a little over 40, creatinine is 1.7, will be having another blood test in a few weeks. My radiologist onc says no more scans with contrast, I have had a lot of contrast scans with my heart and carotid situation. Whats a renal diet? I just drink plenty of water. Denis
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #10
    buzz99 said:

    Kidney damage
    Our Internist is our family doctor. Buzz has been seeing him for some time so we should probably trust his judgement. Buzz's GFR is 40, Creatinine 1.8, and BUN 28 (all abnormal) and he is 4 months post treatment and had his last Cisplatin in October. I am going to bring all this up with the Oncologist when we see him in early June. I an wondering if he should be on a renal diet. I have a call in to the nutritionist to talk about this. Thanks for all the responses. It helps to get input from all of you who have been down this road. Karen

    GFR 40
    I would definitely get someone involved and soon...that's a very low number....

    Best,
    John
  • davidgskinner
    davidgskinner Member Posts: 81
    #11
    Skiffin16 said:

    GFR 40
    I would definitely get someone involved and soon...that's a very low number....

    Best,
    John

    now that you mention it
    I don't remember what my lab numbers were for the kidney function during my chemo (cisplatin also) but I know that one year later I am having problems with one of my kidneys. After two visits to the er last week I finally found that I had some kind of blood clot that caused an enfarct to the kidney. I didn't know what that was...evidently a death of some of the tissue caused by lack of blood. The urologist didn't know what caused the clot, and didn't want to speculate about a connection to chemo. These days I blame everything on chemo or radiation or surgery...it seems a safe bet.
  • Hondo
    Hondo Member Posts: 6,636 Member
    #12
    davidgskinner said:

    now that you mention it
    I don't remember what my lab numbers were for the kidney function during my chemo (cisplatin also) but I know that one year later I am having problems with one of my kidneys. After two visits to the er last week I finally found that I had some kind of blood clot that caused an enfarct to the kidney. I didn't know what that was...evidently a death of some of the tissue caused by lack of blood. The urologist didn't know what caused the clot, and didn't want to speculate about a connection to chemo. These days I blame everything on chemo or radiation or surgery...it seems a safe bet.

    Hydration

    My doctor has me dirking 6 to 8 bottles of water a day, the body needs to be flushed and pure water is the best way.

    All the best
    Hondo
  • buzz99
    buzz99 Member Posts: 404
    #13
    Hondo said:

    Hydration

    My doctor has me dirking 6 to 8 bottles of water a day, the body needs to be flushed and pure water is the best way.

    All the best
    Hondo

    Hydration
    Thanks for all the responses. I called the nutritionist who worked with us while Buzz was on the tube feedings and she looked at the labs. She recommended reducing protein intake (protein is hard on the kidneys), increasing liquid intake to 10 cups a day, and suggested he see a nephrologist (kidney specialist). He has a appt. with the specialist July 1. Thanks you all. Karen
  • Noellesmom
    Noellesmom Member Posts: 1,859 Member
    #14
    buzz99 said:

    Hydration
    Thanks for all the responses. I called the nutritionist who worked with us while Buzz was on the tube feedings and she looked at the labs. She recommended reducing protein intake (protein is hard on the kidneys), increasing liquid intake to 10 cups a day, and suggested he see a nephrologist (kidney specialist). He has a appt. with the specialist July 1. Thanks you all. Karen

    nephrologist
    Let us know what the nephrologist says, Karen, and ask them if you can be called if there is a cancellation.

    Remember what someone else said about not getting scans when a contrast is going to be used - I would surely check with the internalist, if not the nephrologist, about that before Buzz had any scans. The contrast is very hard on the kidneys even for people with no issues, hence, the requirement that you flush the kidneys with lots of liquid for the days following the scan.

    Hopings things go very well for Buzz!
  • friendly frieda
    friendly frieda Member Posts: 6
    #15
    denistd said:

    Kidneys
    Yes, I too have kidney damage, like Buzz my Gfr is a little over 40, creatinine is 1.7, will be having another blood test in a few weeks. My radiologist onc says no more scans with contrast, I have had a lot of contrast scans with my heart and carotid situation. Whats a renal diet? I just drink plenty of water. Denis

    Kidneys
    See my note in Cancer Survivors Network - cisplatin & chronic Kidney disease. (I'm new and couldn't figure out how to post it here.) I'm trying to find out if this will remain stable or will continue to worsen. Meanwhile check out DaVita.com. They have information for the different stages of CKD. My interpretation of a renal diet at this level would be to limit salt, sodium and phosphorus although my nephrologist has not recommended any special diet.
  • Kent Cass
    Kent Cass Member Posts: 1,898 Member
    #16
    Noellesmom said:

    nephrologist
    Let us know what the nephrologist says, Karen, and ask them if you can be called if there is a cancellation.

    Remember what someone else said about not getting scans when a contrast is going to be used - I would surely check with the internalist, if not the nephrologist, about that before Buzz had any scans. The contrast is very hard on the kidneys even for people with no issues, hence, the requirement that you flush the kidneys with lots of liquid for the days following the scan.

    Hopings things go very well for Buzz!

    Old Post
    I'll be danged- all my blood tests show an elevated cratinine read, which my regular Dr has noted several times, but did not get into details about it.

    "Creatinine is chiefly filtered out of the blood by the kidneys (glomerular filtration and proximal tubular secretion). There is little-to-no tubular reabsorption of creatinine. If the filtering of the kidney is deficient, creatinine blood levels rise. Therefore, creatinine levels in blood and urine may be used to calculate the creatinine clearance (CrCl), which reflects the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The GFR is clinically important because it is a measurement of renal function...Men generally tend to have higher levels of creatinine because they have more skeletal muscle mass than women. Vegetarians have been shown to have lower creatinine levels."

    So, perhaps I just learned something from this forum that my Drs haven't found important enough to tell me about. Seems like every couple months I have kidney pain in one or the other, and have always just considered it a "stone" thing, which I also have a history of. So, maybe my kidneys are what's struggling a bit, and it's not a little pebble.

    Also of note for many- chemo is reported to cause scarring throughout the body- including the digestive tract tubes, such as between the kidneys and bladder, etc. FYI. And THANKS for the heads-up about the creatinine level in the blood.

    kcass
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #17
    Kent Cass said:

    Old Post
    I'll be danged- all my blood tests show an elevated cratinine read, which my regular Dr has noted several times, but did not get into details about it.

    "Creatinine is chiefly filtered out of the blood by the kidneys (glomerular filtration and proximal tubular secretion). There is little-to-no tubular reabsorption of creatinine. If the filtering of the kidney is deficient, creatinine blood levels rise. Therefore, creatinine levels in blood and urine may be used to calculate the creatinine clearance (CrCl), which reflects the glomerular filtration rate (GFR). The GFR is clinically important because it is a measurement of renal function...Men generally tend to have higher levels of creatinine because they have more skeletal muscle mass than women. Vegetarians have been shown to have lower creatinine levels."

    So, perhaps I just learned something from this forum that my Drs haven't found important enough to tell me about. Seems like every couple months I have kidney pain in one or the other, and have always just considered it a "stone" thing, which I also have a history of. So, maybe my kidneys are what's struggling a bit, and it's not a little pebble.

    Also of note for many- chemo is reported to cause scarring throughout the body- including the digestive tract tubes, such as between the kidneys and bladder, etc. FYI. And THANKS for the heads-up about the creatinine level in the blood.

    kcass

    Blood Labs...
    Kent, aren't they testing your GFR and other kidney function along with TSH and Free T4 for thyroid function annually?

    My bloodwork is still tested minimally once a year.

    I actually have bloodwork in the morning, and then the annual PET around 9:30.

    Wish me luck and success bro...

    Best,
    John
  • Tonsil Dad
    Tonsil Dad Member Posts: 488
    #18
    Skiffin16 said:

    Blood Labs...
    Kent, aren't they testing your GFR and other kidney function along with TSH and Free T4 for thyroid function annually?

    My bloodwork is still tested minimally once a year.

    I actually have bloodwork in the morning, and then the annual PET around 9:30.

    Wish me luck and success bro...

    Best,
    John

    Well wishes.
    Just sending you positive thoughts & prayers
    for another NED on your scan tomorrow.

    God bless
    Tonsil dad,

    Dan.
  • katenorwood
    katenorwood Member Posts: 1,912
    #19
    Skiffin16 said:

    Blood Labs...
    Kent, aren't they testing your GFR and other kidney function along with TSH and Free T4 for thyroid function annually?

    My bloodwork is still tested minimally once a year.

    I actually have bloodwork in the morning, and then the annual PET around 9:30.

    Wish me luck and success bro...

    Best,
    John

    Well wishes sent !
    Hoping your labs and pet come back all NORMAL ! Katie
  • yensid683
    yensid683 Member Posts: 349
    #20
    Severe Kidney Damage
    After Cisplatin, or at least that is what the diagnosis was. I wound up with such severe damage that they were forced to cancel the next two induction sessions (Tax, Cis and 5FU 5 days as an inpatient and then two weeks off)

    It took three months for me to bring my creatine levels into the normal range and I still struggle to improve the BUN, but the encouraging thing is that they are showing progress, so the medical oncologist is not all that worried. Their magic bullet....hydration, hydration, hydration. I am up to 8 bottles of water a day as well as 6 cans of jevity. The down side, don't get far from the bathroom!

    Hope things improve

    Peter
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    #21
    yensid683 said:

    Severe Kidney Damage
    After Cisplatin, or at least that is what the diagnosis was. I wound up with such severe damage that they were forced to cancel the next two induction sessions (Tax, Cis and 5FU 5 days as an inpatient and then two weeks off)

    It took three months for me to bring my creatine levels into the normal range and I still struggle to improve the BUN, but the encouraging thing is that they are showing progress, so the medical oncologist is not all that worried. Their magic bullet....hydration, hydration, hydration. I am up to 8 bottles of water a day as well as 6 cans of jevity. The down side, don't get far from the bathroom!

    Hope things improve

    Peter

    Welll
    Cheers, same chemo as you only without the side effects....my BUN is good too, LOL.

    Hoping that things will improve for you also brother...

    John

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