How does a WG patient know if their kidneys are becoming involved?
The quickest way to know if your kidneys are becoming more involved with Wegener’s, assuming you already have the diagnosis of Wegener’s, is to compare the serum creatinine analysis with preliminary or previous analyses. Creatinine is a substance of impure metabolism, and its constant level in the normal bloodstream is about 0-1.4mg%. If that starts rising, that means your kidneys are getting worse, and they will not filter as well as they should. It is not a toxic substance, but a marker telling you that your kidneys are not clearing what they should clear. If your creatinine level is up, your doctor should point it out to you and perhaps you should go to a more sophisticated test such as a kidney scan, or a 24-hour clearance of creatinine and total protein.
