Protein in urine-should I be concerned?

Had another question about Kidneys. Went to the doc Friday and said Kidney function is still good but he was a little worried because I went from having 2 red blood cells to having 22 in my last urinalysis. No, I was not on my period...been almost 4 months since my last one :) and no I am not pregnant. So my question....what does red blood cells in your urine mean? He did go ahead and drop me down to 20 mg of Prednisone and kept my cell cept the same. Wanted to increase it until I told him I was having 4-7 bowl movements a day. (I never knew how sore your bum could get after that many...haha) I am only taking 250 mg becuase on anything more than that I will not be able to leave the bathroom...wasn't pleasant! (had same reaction to plaquenil) He did say if it keeps going up we will have to come up with another plan. So my question...what does red blood cells mean in your urine? Someone told me inflamation? IS that true? Oh yeah, I asked him about my bladder issue and he said it sounded like inflamtion of the bladder, didnt really say anything else about it. So is there anything I can do to make inflmation inside of me go down? Love ya

Hey gals,

 

I'm glad Bill had an answer for you.  I have never had any kidney issues with my Lupus (weird eh?)  So I'm not experienced with that part of our disease at all.  All I know is that if you have protein or red blood cells in your urine, something is flaring.  Definitely get your doctors to take more action.

 

Ginny

Thank's for the responses!!
I'm so fatigued, I rescheduled my rhuemy and eye appointment I had on April 10, I just fear the drive. I'm ok when as a passenger but HB can't take day-off from work. The drive is going thru the Cajon Pass (I get scared going down hill, and with all the traffic), Here in CA. The reason I rescheduled is because it may rain.

New appt. is next week, I will definitly bring this up to my new rhuemy. Today, I felt like I was going to pass out as soon as I stepped in the shower, my torso area tightned up, I got so scared just waited a few seconds before I moved, I thought I better not pass out here nude, in shower, aaagh, I was alone too. I'm kind of scared to let HB know because he will probably want to take me to ER.

I'm so fatigued and I have to fill out forms for my Disability attorney, I feel I just can't remember and have so much brain fog, its terrible.

Sorry, so long....

Thanks

I had protein in my urine as well.  As long as it stayd constant and low enough my doctor just watches it.  There was a time that it was quite elevated.  I asked to test it again and I did and the 2nd time it was higher yet. At that point my doctor did refer me to a nephrologist.  A little protein in your urine can seem quite harmless-once it elevates then you may have a problem.  While at the nephrologist-she decided that I should have a kidney biopsy (this was before my Lupus diagnosis).  That's actually how I was diagnosed with Lupus Nephritis and Lupus.  Since I've been on my methotrexate those numbers have come down, but I still go to my rhuemy every 3 months and have blood and urine tests so he can keep track of the the numbers and monitor things to make sure I don't have something else showing up. 

 

I would recommend asking your doctor about the protein in your urine and he may just say he will watch it because your numbers are low (typical response with Lupus).