update while at infusion

[Voxx66]

Good news in general - my kidneys are not failing. It was indeed the cimetidine. My tests returned to normal after stopping it. It really does mess with the creatinine measurement. File this info away if you do Tagamet.

My platelets are still right at the treat/don't treat boundary - as such and given that I had far fewer side effects and I am already having less pain in the area - my doctor recommended staying with a reduced dosage - he thinks we can get more treatments in this way. I said ok but really want to hit it hard. He also suggested pushing the next treatment back a week so I would be ok for thanksgiving. I drew the line there. Christmas I might do that for but I don't want to give this cancer any breathing room.

[Maddielolo]

That's good news indeed Voxx and agree with your approach. Curious to know how long and how much cimetidine you were taking?

[KWT]

Glad you received some decent news!

[Voxx66]

I had been taking 1 pill a day for about two weeks. Then the creatinine test. I suspected it immediately as I had no symptoms and that was the thing that had changed. Didn't take long to find it online as notorious for messing with that test.

[bitchslapped]

I was wondering the same thing as far as dosage & length of time. Good to know. It sure impacted your #'s in a hurry. Also don't remember where your pain was in the gut/back? At any rate, positive results quickly, it sounds like.

BS

[Voxx66]

Pain around the liver from the mets just outside it

[singingholly]

So glad to hear your kidneys are ok! Hope the therapy goes as smooth as possible...
Olivia

[bitchslapped]

Glad you're getting relief from some of the pain.

BS

[Marian1961]

Good kidney news!

[jens22]

Great to hear some inprovement of your symptoms. Renal Failure wasn't really needed to add to your list. Prayers for lots of days with symptoms control!!

[dianetavegia]

That's really good news.

We should probably have a sticky for things to do and not do.

I once took my old lady calcium pill about 2 hours before my CMP and my calcium level was borderline high. The RN called and while we chatted, I googled and saw that you should not take calcium 12 to 24 hours before a blood test that includes calcium because it causes a false high. We retested and it's never been above normal again even with me taking it on a regular basis.

Those of us who have given up red meat and eat mostly fruits and veggies will have a low creatinine clearance level because we don't have the protein to 'throw off' that most people have.

[testing765]

Hi. I have been taking 400 mg of cimetidine in the morning and 400 mg of cimetidine at night since a few weeks before my colon resection until now. Should I stop taking the cimetidine due to the effect that it apparently has on creatinine levels? Will a problem with creatinine levels affect whether I can continue with the FOLFOX therapy?

[Voxx66]

First off - your levels may be fine. You should know from your blood tests. Secondly, it may just be messing with the test and not the actual levels. I'd stay on it if I were you.

[testing765]

First off - your levels may be fine. You should know from your blood tests. Secondly, it may just be messing with the test and not the actual levels. I'd stay on it if I were you.

Thank you. I am not sure if creatinine shows up on the blood test report that they provide me at the chemo center. But I will take a closer look for it and thanks for the information.

[GrouseMan]

First off - your levels may be fine. You should know from your blood tests. Secondly, it may just be messing with the test and not the actual levels. I'd stay on it if I were you.

Agreed - My wife has been taking Cimetidine 400 mgs in the morning and again in the evening (total 4 pills) every day for over a year now, and no sign of creatinine being messed up for her in her blood tests. She is very good about her hydration and I think that likely helps a lot as well. According to the links you posted - they actually often add cimetidine to get a more accurate measure of creatinine levels by a particular measurement method.

As a warning - try not to compare tests from different labs also. Different methods, instruments and procedures might be involved. Even different standards for comparison could come from different manufacturers and have their own quarks. Teach Instrumental Analysis, and also understand the electronics behind the instruments used and you will wonder how two different labs come up with similar numbers at all. Hell even using the same equipment someone else might get another number. A whole classroom of students running the same experiment with the same standards get numbers all over the place.

I remember many years ago that we saw variations in results at different parts of the day off the same two instruments and that sometimes the variance would switch machines on us. Turns out it had to do with the two people on the staff that prepped samples for the instrument and the maintenance schedule, of the instruments. Seems one technician had a different but very consistent way of looking at a very sensitive meter dial that was used to zero balance the electronic balance used in the test. That persons test results were always consistently high including the standards, making them inconsistent with those of her colleague. It took a lot of work to trace the problem to the source.

YMMV -Regards,

GrouseMan