Postural Proteinuria

[Sophia3]

Ok...I've got lots going on, in a PLETHORA of areas, but the lastest weird thing was then I saw a new doc, Rheumatologist last month. She did a BOATLOAD of tests to rule out quirky plethora of INCONCLUSIVE blood test my autonomic doc ran.

My blood work to test kidney function was good but I showed protein in a dipstick urinalysis & ketones that looked like "starvation" levels. Sigh. I RARELY eat before 5 pm except coffee & handful of nuts or a few crackers. NO APPETITE. So I figured the urine showed protein due to orthostatic stress, which as we know can affect many blood tests (for me glucose, cortisol to name a few) And extra ketones would be another since the adrenalin pumps up my metabolism/ Also the urine was taken at END of 2 hr wait/visit at Rheumy's & after she kicked up EXTRA INTENSE pain with "FM point ck"...Guess she didn't take my word at having it and I understand that since it just came up in converation & I was there for ANOTHER matter. So she did the ONLY "Scientific validation test" for FM. Man, she was no gentle but said she saw MANY FM pts & liked to hit the rt spots to get true answers! Ha. So pain creates havoc with adrenalin levels, too.

But since we know my norepi levels more than TRIPLE while standing, I figured it could show weirdness in urine tests. Rheumy's office wanted urine test repeated in a few weeks so I had my autonomic doc do it on Wed. STILL protein (1+ but still significant) and high ketones. you should show no protein or more than a trace though dehydration & "strenuous" excericse" can cause a little protein. Well, with those of us with racing HR, I was hoping it was just that.

Then my autonomic doc sent out my sample for some detailed test (forget what it was called)where they take ratio of something to creatinine..and base it on age, sex, weight. He also found "postural proteinuria" listed on his computer, so we figured it was probably that. HOWEVER you can show normal blood work for kidney tests & have protein in urine be the sign of many things, benign or serious & early kidney disease... I will spare you details of...Thankfully they called today and the protein was NORMAL for the ratio of everything else.

The next thing would've been a 24 hour collection or 4 hour one of me supine most of the time. It's been years but we used to do LOTS of urine collections on me in the early years of this stuff to rule out endocrine/kidney problems since my ANS doc is endocrinologist.

So if you ever show protein that doesn't make sense for us it can make sense, especially when blood work is normal.

[firewatcher]

Hey it works the opposite way too: you can have wonky bloodwork, but no urine protein. Ah dysautonomia........the great confuser!

[janiedelite]

Thanks for posting about this... it's good to know. Sorry you had to go through so much in the meantime, though!