Protein in urine?
 

I'm a T2 diabetic for 15 + years. I am currently taking Glucovance 5/500 2 pills morning and 2 pills night, Avandia 4 mg. 1 morning and 1 night, plus other meds for other problems. I had lab work done the other day, first time since starting my LC diet 2 months ago. Total Chol was 199, HDL was 49, LDL was 100 and Triglycerides was 249 (down from over 300 the last test). My A1C was the best it's ever been, 6.6, down from 7.0 the last test and my highest was 13.1.

My worry and question is, the dr. said it looks like I'm spilling some protein into my urine and wants me to do a 24 hr. urine test. Does eating LC/high protein cause this? Dr. says no, he's worried that my kidneys are failing, but they've always been fine. All the rest of my blood work was good. I had a pretty big meal the night before of bbq pork ribs and beef brisket.

Anyone have any knowledge of this? I'd appreciate any input.

Thanks,
deb

Hi Jayhawkmom! It's hard to say at this point exactly what is going on and your doctor is wise to be doing more tests to see exactly, but I'd be willing to bet that the 13.1 A1C was a contributor to what's going on now. It might help to ease your mind a bit to read what Dr. Bernstein has to say on the matter; he was exhibiting symptoms similar to yours (protein in the urine) and reversed it through normalizing his blood sugars and keeping them there.
6.6 is better than 7 or 13.1, but you really want to shoot for below 6, preferably mid 5's or a bit lower. A 6.6 A1C, while an improvement, says that your blood sugars are still going too high too often.
Those triglycerides need to come down more as well. What is your daily carb intake currently and how much per meal/snack?
While there's no evidence that eating a higher protein intake can damage healthy kidneys, if the damage is already there it can accelerate it under some circumstances (such as continued elevated blood sugars).

Thanks for the info Lisa. That 13.1 reading was many years ago. My urine tests have always been good. The nurse mentioned that my sample wasn't very big and seemed like I was a bit dehydrated so that could be a reason the protein seems a little high.

I'm trying to keep my carb intake to below 30 gm. per day. Supper is usually a little heavier than the rest of the day, mainly due to the fact that it's usually my biggest meal. On occasion I'll go over the 30 gm but not usually by more than 10 or 20 gms.

I'll get the 24 hr. jug in the next day or two and collect over the weekend. It's just a real pain to try and collect every drop for 24 hours. Hopefully there is nothing wrong and it's a false alarm.

Deb

Hi there Deb ..I hope you are doing other research as well as what you can find here. You have done marvellously well to get your HbA1c down so low...keeping to a lowcarb plan will assist you even more, because, as you know, extra weight can be your biggest enemy, but it won't disappear overnight. I'm not sure, but I don't think eating lots of protein the night before would influence you test results. If the test is positive for protein, don't despair... the Dr or a specialist will have a good plan for you to follow...the main thing is you have already started on the road to recovery. Dr Bernstein that Lisa mentioned can be read in part on line..type his name in your Search engine or another starting place is www.diabetes-book.com/ .....Eve