Creatinine levels rising on TRT

In my clinical practice , it´s kind frequent men going into TRT and after some months , creatinine levels goes up to high normal levels and sometimes a little higher , even with no protein excess intake or great muscle mass gained.
Sometimes BUN ( blood urea nitrogen ) gets also high and sometimes doesn´t .
I had already ask some nephrologists but never got a direct answer , in general they only tells it´s related to protein abuse , whey protein, and so one.
Does someone have any technical info about it ?

I can't help much, I always have high creatinine levels. I believe it's from resistance training, also if I supplement with creatine I no longer do. I'm told the essay for checking creatinine levels, does not separate creatinine and creatine.

Vince said:

I can't help much, I always have high creatinine levels. I believe it's from resistance training, also if I supplement with creatine I no longer do. I'm told the essay for checking creatinine levels, does not separate creatinine and creatine.

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Thanks Vince for your time , helpful as ever
There is a test called Cystatin C that appears to evaluate renal function without influence of muscle mass but it´s expensive and most insurances don´t cover.
I forgot to write the these high creatinine levels in TRT patients ofter fluctuates , goes up and some months goes down , without any treatment of lifestyle modification .

If you've eliminated resistance and weight training, high protein diet, red meat and still have Creatinine issues I would defer to the potential for an actual kidney problem as TRT alone shouldn't do this. Typically I have to approach a CMP with a strategy where I don't lift weights and stop my creatine use 72hrs before I have blood drawn. I can usually have a high Creatinine, yet it's under the max. Also make sure that the guys you're testing are fasting 8-10hrs prior to their blood draw and do the draw first thing in the morning.

Since going on TRT my creatinine levels have gone up and now are often right at, or just over the reference range. I've never taken creatine and only do moderate resistance training. My nephrologist just gave me a shrug when I asked him about it.

Vincente, I have a question for you on a different subject. Are you familiar with the ADMA blood test, I was wondering if this test can be used for checking nitric oxide levels. The reason I was wondering, so many people use a nitric oxide stack, it would be nice to have a way to check your levels to know what products are the best to use.

Here are some animal data

Can Testosterone Replacement Affect Kidneys?

Vince said:

Vincente, I have a question for you on a different subject. Are you familiar with the ADMA blood test, I was wondering if this test can be used for checking nitric oxide levels. The reason I was wondering, so many people use a nitric oxide stack, it would be nice to have a way to check your levels to know what products are the best to use.

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Great idea. I've never used the saliva strips, they're expensive and I hear that they're not very reliable.

Vince said:

Vincente, I have a question for you on a different subject. Are you familiar with the ADMA blood test, I was wondering if this test can be used for checking nitric oxide levels. The reason I was wondering, so many people use a nitric oxide stack, it would be nice to have a way to check your levels to know what products are the best to use.

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Vince i´ve heard about ADMA being a metabolite of NO. Never seen in practice of this blood test .
I´ve always been interested in enhancing NO , long before low dose daily tadalafil , in the old times i tried arginine , cituline malate , L citruline, beet root juice , old supplements named no explode, nitrix , hemavol , and so on . Even together this precursors approach to optimize NO productions seems weak results . ( only agmatine gives visible results and i still use for it´s global effects ) . IMO low dose tadalafil is the way to go , cheap , safe, effective.
It would be great if we could really check real NO levels and we hope this ADMA test become more avaliable soon.

Maybe because TRT overall increases fat free mass? My creatinine has been 100% correlated to my muscle mass

My clinic uses Cleveland HeartLabs for the ADMA test, Quest Diagnostics is acquiring Cleveland HeartLabs. So that's one place I know of that has the test.

Sometimes elevated levels are from the hemoconcentration of dehydration. Especially when the patient is fasting.

A BUN/Creatinine >20 is usually indicative of dehydration--but not in our patient population. That is because we tend to eat lots of protein, and that also elevated BUN.

...but this is where it's good to have a doc who lifts. LOL

I realize this thread is several months old, but I thought I would share anyhow.

My CK level is at 500. I have no idea what my norm is, but I do know it was 298 two weeks ago. I told my GP I worked out two days prior, but he still thinks I need to stop TRT.

I know I had it checked two years ago (well prior to TRT), so I plan on having the doc check those records for an idea of my baseline.

Tman said:

I realize this thread is several months old, but I thought I would share anyhow.

My CK level is at 500. I have no idea what my norm is, but I do know it was 298 two weeks ago. I told my GP I worked out two days prior, but he still thinks I need to stop TRT.

I know I had it checked two years ago (well prior to TRT), so I plan on having the doc check those records for an idea of my baseline.

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CK <> creatinine. A muscle injury can cause CK to rise. Sometimes a crazy amount of intense exercise with little rest can cause Rhabdomyolysis. For weightlifters is not uncommon to have CK and creatinine slightly elevated. Try to take some time off the gym and retest

Next time do not work out a few days before the test. Don't stop TRT. It is not related to TRT.

I run around 600.

Creatine will also artificially raise creatinine levels, that's why I stop supplementing with creatine.

Thanks for the replies. I stayed on TRT, but cut out the exercise for the next week. I will retest then.