Guest guest Posted August 24, 2004 Report Share Posted August 24, 2004 My doctor received my blood test results today. He hasn't yet received the urine tests. He said based on the two lab results he received he wants to do the biopsy. The tests were all combined into two seperate results, both of which came out below normal. I would explain but I am not really sure what the tests were. They were listed as: Complement Component C3C with the result 89 and Complement Component C4C with the result 12. Both were listed as low. Anyway it didn't take him long to say, " I think we need to go ahead and do the biopsy based on these results. " But, he's going to review the rest tomorrow...He mentioned that the only other thing it might be is Lupus but that if it was that there would more than likely be more visible affects of it. So I really did expect the labs to be fairly normal and for him to say " see ya in six months, " but that's not what happened. We'll see what happens next. - Shara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 25, 2004 Report Share Posted August 25, 2004 Shara, I am relatively new to this group...but I was given a biopsy to determine IgA or Lupus too. It is IgA, obviously why I am here, but the biopsy was important to determine which conclusively. I am now scheduled to have the tests done every 4 months. I go see my neph next month and I want her to explain them all to me and what and where they should be at so that I can track these things as well. I haven't started doing anything really at this point, other than managing my blood pressure. I have a pacemaker too, and I have been suffering dizzy spells and nausea for months and they think I might need a newer model to help regulate and adjust my rate to my activity. I saw my cardiologist yesterday and he now knows about the IgA diagnosis but doesn't think the dizziness would be caused by that, unless I was experiencing sudden low BP from the meds. Is anyone else on Ramipril or Altace? If so what dose? And does this cause you to be dizzy at times? I just feel so horrible when it happens and it scares me, so I hope they figure it out soon...pacemaker, kidneys whatever, just get it to stop I say...lol. s S Vancouver, BC Canada ________________________________ From: sl_piercetx Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 8:17 PM To: iga-nephropathy Subject: biopsy.... My doctor received my blood test results today. He hasn't yet received the urine tests. He said based on the two lab results he received he wants to do the biopsy. The tests were all combined into two seperate results, both of which came out below normal. I would explain but I am not really sure what the tests were. They were listed as: Complement Component C3C with the result 89 and Complement Component C4C with the result 12. Both were listed as low. Anyway it didn't take him long to say, " I think we need to go ahead and do the biopsy based on these results. " But, he's going to review the rest tomorrow...He mentioned that the only other thing it might be is Lupus but that if it was that there would more than likely be more visible affects of it. So I really did expect the labs to be fairly normal and for him to say " see ya in six months, " but that's not what happened. We'll see what happens next. - Shara To edit your settings for the group, go to our Yahoo Group home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iga-nephropathy/ To unsubcribe via email, iga-nephropathy-unsubscribe Visit our companion website at www.igan.ca. The site is entirely supported by donations. If you would like to help, go to: http://www.igan.ca/id62.htm Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 25, 2004 Report Share Posted August 25, 2004 , thank you for sharing. I am curious about the frequency of my doctors appointments after confirmation of diagnosis. I currently have no other health problems, so for now my outlook is good. I am little in shock that my labs were abnormal as I fully expected them to be normal and for the doctor to say, we'll check up on you in 6 months, but they're not. The last couple of days I have felt pretty awful but I don't think it has anything to do with my kidneys. My BP was slightly elevated but I got it to come down with a diet change (mostly cutting out the eating out). I guess we'll have to see as time goes by...- Shara > Shara, I am relatively new to this group...but I was given a biopsy to > determine IgA or Lupus too. It is IgA, obviously why I am here, but the > biopsy was important to determine which conclusively. I am now > scheduled to have the tests done every 4 months. I go see my neph next > month and I want her to explain them all to me and what and where they > should be at so that I can track these things as well. I haven't > started doing anything really at this point, other than managing my > blood pressure. I have a pacemaker too, and I have been suffering dizzy > spells and nausea for months and they think I might need a newer model > to help regulate and adjust my rate to my activity. I saw my > cardiologist yesterday and he now knows about the IgA diagnosis but > doesn't think the dizziness would be caused by that, unless I was > experiencing sudden low BP from the meds. Is anyone else on Ramipril or > Altace? If so what dose? And does this cause you to be dizzy at times? > I just feel so horrible when it happens and it scares me, so I hope they > figure it out soon...pacemaker, kidneys whatever, just get it to stop I > say...lol. > > > > s S > > Vancouver, BC Canada > > ________________________________ > > From: sl_piercetx [mailto:sharareece@g...] > Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 8:17 PM > To: iga-nephropathy > Subject: biopsy.... > > > > My doctor received my blood test results today. He hasn't yet > received the urine tests. He said based on the two lab results he > received he wants to do the biopsy. The tests were all combined into > two seperate results, both of which came out below normal. I would > explain but I am not really sure what the tests were. They were > listed as: Complement Component C3C with the result 89 and > Complement Component C4C with the result 12. Both were listed as > low. Anyway it didn't take him long to say, " I think we need to go > ahead and do the biopsy based on these results. " But, he's going to > review the rest tomorrow...He mentioned that the only other thing it > might be is Lupus but that if it was that there would more than > likely be more visible affects of it. So I really did expect the > labs to be fairly normal and for him to say " see ya in six months, " > but that's not what happened. We'll see what happens next. - Shara > > > > > > > To edit your settings for the group, go to our Yahoo Group > home page: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iga-nephropathy/ > > To unsubcribe via email, > iga-nephropathy-unsubscribe > Visit our companion website at www.igan.ca. The site is entirely > supported by donations. If you would like to help, go to: > http://www.igan.ca/id62.htm > > Thank you > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 25, 2004 Report Share Posted August 25, 2004 I know exactly where you are coming from with the dizziness problem! I don't have the added influence of a pacemaker but I went thru nearly a month and a half of my b/p bottoming out and causing me to be so dizzy I couldn't do much more than lay on the couch. I was on a combination of Lisinopril and Cardizem LA. They finally took me off of the Cardizem LA and dropped my dose of lisinopril from 40mg daily to 7.5mg daily. Now I'm within a range that works well for me. I hope they are able to work something out for you soon. Being constantly dizzy is not fun at all. Amy biopsy.... My doctor received my blood test results today. He hasn't yet received the urine tests. He said based on the two lab results he received he wants to do the biopsy. The tests were all combined into two seperate results, both of which came out below normal. I would explain but I am not really sure what the tests were. They were listed as: Complement Component C3C with the result 89 and Complement Component C4C with the result 12. Both were listed as low. Anyway it didn't take him long to say, " I think we need to go ahead and do the biopsy based on these results. " But, he's going to review the rest tomorrow...He mentioned that the only other thing it might be is Lupus but that if it was that there would more than likely be more visible affects of it. So I really did expect the labs to be fairly normal and for him to say " see ya in six months, " but that's not what happened. We'll see what happens next. - Shara To edit your settings for the group, go to our Yahoo Group home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iga-nephropathy/ To unsubcribe via email, iga-nephropathy-unsubscribe Visit our companion website at www.igan.ca. The site is entirely supported by donations. If you would like to help, go to: http://www.igan.ca/id62.htm Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 25, 2004 Report Share Posted August 25, 2004 Shara, When will you be going in for your biopsy? My neph already was planning mine before I even met him for the first time. My labs were screaming " biopsy " to him I guess. ) I'm glad we did it as we found that I have quite a bit more damage than my labs were showing.....don't worry about that though as it was a shock to my neph when he saw my biopsy in comparison to my labs. Normally the biopsy tends to be in line with what your labs are telling them. Your b/p may be a bit elevated just due to the stress of learning that they want to biopsy you now. It's normal to be a bit worried and stressed but try not to let it take over. Most biopsies are uneventful and considered routine enough to be done as outpatient surgery. As for how often you will have to be seen after this....it's going to depend on your biopsy results, your lab work, and what drugs they put you on. I was going in every 2 weeks at the start but I also have the aggressive form of IgAN and was on very high doses of prednisone. I needed to be closely monitored in those early days. Now (nearly a year later) I finally had my first 2 month break between appointments and labs. You should have seen the smile on my face when my neph said " see you in 2 months. " ) If your labs are stable and your biopsy doesn't show major problems then your frequency of visits will depend on your drug regime. Some drugs need closer monitoring as they can damage other areas of the body while doing their thing for your kidneys...other drugs are routine and only need yearly or bi-yearly tweaking and monitoring. I wish I could give you a clear cut and dry answer but as you will find with IgAN it all " depends " on your specific case. Many of the processes we go thru are the same, the timing however is totally different for each individual person. It was the hardest thing for me to cope with early in my diagnosis, not knowing when things might happen. As I've come to accept that 'not knowing' is a big part of this disease it has become much more easy to live with. I do the things I can to prolong my function and that's about all I can do. Amy biopsy.... My doctor received my blood test results today. He hasn't yet received the urine tests. He said based on the two lab results he received he wants to do the biopsy. The tests were all combined into two seperate results, both of which came out below normal. I would explain but I am not really sure what the tests were. They were listed as: Complement Component C3C with the result 89 and Complement Component C4C with the result 12. Both were listed as low. Anyway it didn't take him long to say, " I think we need to go ahead and do the biopsy based on these results. " But, he's going to review the rest tomorrow...He mentioned that the only other thing it might be is Lupus but that if it was that there would more than likely be more visible affects of it. So I really did expect the labs to be fairly normal and for him to say " see ya in six months, " but that's not what happened. We'll see what happens next. - Shara To edit your settings for the group, go to our Yahoo Group home page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iga-nephropathy/ To unsubcribe via email, iga-nephropathy-unsubscribe Visit our companion website at www.igan.ca. The site is entirely supported by donations. If you would like to help, go to: http://www.igan.ca/id62.htm Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 Hi Shara, Depressed C3 and C4 suggest lupus (a relatively common diagnosis in women) or MPGN (a rare kidney disease that afflicts both genders). The complement system is a set of proteins in the blood that works a lot like the clotting system. There are certain things that activate it (next section) and they go in a sequence--a protein is activated by being split into two pieces, and the active piece activates (splits) the next protein, and so on. The pieces that don't activate the next protein aren't leftovers, but instead some are used to cause inflammation--a set of responses from other cells and proteins of the immune system. Complement basically links the process of immune recognition with that of destroying invaders. It was discovered when it was realized that antibodies alone couldn't kill cells, but antibodies with normal serum could. The part of serum that enabled killing was said to " complement " the process. If you want to know more about complement, I can steer you to two New England Journal of Medicine articles. If you want to learn more about MPGN, check out emedicine.com (registration is free). Depressed complement is not common in IgAN patients - although there are exceptions. There is one IgAN person this email list that I know about who has depressed complement. Good luck with your biopsy. For us, the biopsy was easy (managing the pre-biopsy anxiety wasn't!). When do you have it scheduled for? Cy biopsy.... > > My doctor received my blood test results today. He hasn't yet > received the urine tests. He said based on the two lab results he > received he wants to do the biopsy. The tests were all combined into > two seperate results, both of which came out below normal. I would > explain but I am not really sure what the tests were. They were > listed as: Complement Component C3C with the result 89 and > Complement Component C4C with the result 12. Both were listed as > low. Anyway it didn't take him long to say, " I think we need to go > ahead and do the biopsy based on these results. " But, he's going to > review the rest tomorrow...He mentioned that the only other thing it > might be is Lupus but that if it was that there would more than > likely be more visible affects of it. So I really did expect the > labs to be fairly normal and for him to say " see ya in six months, " > but that's not what happened. We'll see what happens next. - Shara > > > > > > > > To edit your settings for the group, go to our Yahoo Group > home page: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iga-nephropathy/ > > To unsubcribe via email, > iga-nephropathy-unsubscribe > Visit our companion website at www.igan.ca. The site is entirely supported by donations. If you would like to help, go to: > http://www.igan.ca/id62.htm > > Thank you > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 26, 2004 Report Share Posted August 26, 2004 Cy, Thank you for the great info. My doctor did not seem to think that the lab results indicated Lupus, but he also didn't say that it made a more positive diagnosis of IgAN. I suppose that's why he thinks the biopsy is more important now than before. I don't know a lot about Lupus other than the death rate for it has dropped dramatically in the last 60 years...of course not knowing anything else about it means that any kind of " death rate " scares me. I will ask him about it again. The biopsy isn't scheduled yet. I see him again on the 9th and from there we will set up the biopsy. Thank you for the information and the well wishes. - Shara > Hi Shara, > > Depressed C3 and C4 suggest lupus (a relatively common diagnosis in women) > or MPGN (a rare kidney disease that afflicts both genders). The complement > system is a set of proteins in the blood that works a lot like the clotting > system. There are certain things that activate it (next > section) and they go in a sequence--a protein is activated by being split > into two pieces, and the active piece activates (splits) the next protein, > and so on. The pieces that don't activate the next protein aren't > leftovers, but instead some are used to cause inflammation--a set of > responses from other cells and proteins of the immune system. > > Complement basically links the process of immune recognition with that of > destroying invaders. It was discovered when it was realized that antibodies > alone couldn't kill cells, but antibodies with normal serum could. The part > of serum that enabled killing was said to " complement " the process. > > If you want to know more about complement, I can steer you to two New > England Journal of Medicine articles. If you want to learn more about MPGN, > check out emedicine.com (registration is free). Depressed complement is not > common in IgAN patients - although there are exceptions. There is one IgAN > person this email list that I know about who has depressed complement. > > Good luck with your biopsy. For us, the biopsy was easy (managing the > pre-biopsy anxiety wasn't!). When do you have it scheduled for? > > Cy > biopsy.... > > > > > > My doctor received my blood test results today. He hasn't yet > > received the urine tests. He said based on the two lab results he > > received he wants to do the biopsy. The tests were all combined into > > two seperate results, both of which came out below normal. I would > > explain but I am not really sure what the tests were. They were > > listed as: Complement Component C3C with the result 89 and > > Complement Component C4C with the result 12. Both were listed as > > low. Anyway it didn't take him long to say, " I think we need to go > > ahead and do the biopsy based on these results. " But, he's going to > > review the rest tomorrow...He mentioned that the only other thing it > > might be is Lupus but that if it was that there would more than > > likely be more visible affects of it. So I really did expect the > > labs to be fairly normal and for him to say " see ya in six months, " > > but that's not what happened. We'll see what happens next. - Shara > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > To edit your settings for the group, go to our Yahoo Group > > home page: > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iga-nephropathy/ > > > > To unsubcribe via email, > > iga-nephropathy-unsubscribe > > Visit our companion website at www.igan.ca. The site is entirely supported > by donations. If you would like to help, go to: > > http://www.igan.ca/id62.htm > > > > Thank you > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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