Re: nephrologist or urologist

metspitzer wrote:
I am seeing a nephrologist and an urologist. I have frequent urinary
problems that neither can pinpoint.

In 2005, I developed "drug induced" lupus that caused my platelet
count to be 5K when normal is supposed to be 130k-400k. It also
caused the protein in a 24 hour urine to be 20,000 when normal range
is supposed to be 0-165. The doctor gave me a mild chemo called
Cytoxan. It was once a month for 6 months. This seemed to be what I
needed. My platelet count when to around 200k and my protein went
down to around 1300. It was around this time when my frequent, and
during the night, urinary problems started. I mentioned this to the
nephrologist and he suggested that I see an urologist. He didn't
think it was related to my kidney problems. This doctor left the
state. He turned me over to another doctor in the clinic that is
suppoed to be a very competent doctor. He has been watching my blood
work every six months and, except for the urination, my labs have been
around the same range except my platelet levels have drop and leveled
at around 80k.

I started seeing a urologist around 2007. The urologist has done a
prostrate biopsy. No cancer or enlarged prostrate was found. He has
done an MRI and nothing showed up. He also did a cystopscopy which
showed nothing negative. My PSA levels are fine. A bladder ultra
sound shows I am emptying my bladder almost totally. I am a liver
transplant patient so oral meds are something we are trying to avoid,
but he did try Avodart, Uroxatral and Flomax. None had any noticeable
effects.

My protein levels went back up enough for concern. We did a kidney
biopsy. The biopsy shows damage that was caused by the first round of
lupus. He has ordered more tests in 3 months, but I am still hanging
and this frequent urinating is driving me crazy. I can't sleep for
more than 2 hours without having to go to the bathroom.

I am searching for any suggestions anyone may have.

The obvious thing to do is determine what the volume of urine you are passing is. If your passing a large volume (say >10 oz or 300 ml), then your kidneys are making that much urine. Also, how dark is your urine?

If you don't know if you are making an excessive amount of urine, there is no way to tell if the reason why you are peeing so much is because you are making a lot of urine, or you have to pass a small amount too often.

That is the first thing to know.

Jeff
.

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