Ampyra/24 Hr. Urine

[Doodlebug]

My dr. office called me Friday & said I needed to do a 24 hr. urine because I'm on Ampyra & he needs to check kidney function.

Is he being creative again? He often orders tests to check this and that & the only thing I find out is that I owe them money

Jackie

[Karenkay]

I did that test for high blood pressure issues. Also took Ampura for about 2 months, dr never said anything about kidneys ...

[ru4cats]

Huh? I've been on Ampyra for 2 1/2 years, and my neuro has never done this test, nor has she ever been concerned about my kidney function on Ampyra. More money to the doc?

[Seasha]

I too took Ampyra for a few months and never had a test for kidney function, but I did some checking and this is what I read from MSFocus:

"Some medications go through the kidneys and others through the liver; Ampyra goes through the kidneys. As a result, people with reduced kidney function may not clear the medication from their body and it will build up. This is like taking too much of the medicine, increasing the risk for seizures."

Here is the story in it's entirety - http://www.msfocus.org/article-detai...?articleID=488 Look under side effects.

Are you under another med that affects your kidneys? sounds like he is just being cautious ??

[Doodlebug]

Thanks everyone. Thinking about it, I'm on bp meds & I have a lot of UTIs and lately I think my MS is causing me not to detect them. The last one turned into a kidney infection.

So yeah, maybe I should take the high route & just do it...

[MSer102]

This is right from the horse's mouth - the Ampyra prescribing information:

"Estimated creatinine clearance (CrCl) should be known before initiating treatment with AMPYRA. In patients with mild renal impairment (CrCl 51-80 mL/min), AMPYRA may reach plasma levels associated with a greater risk of seizures, and the potential benefits of AMPYRA should be carefully considered against the risk of seizures in these patients."

So it sounds like everyone's doctor should be doing kidney tests before even starting somebody on Ampyra. That's the only way to know if kidneys are impaired or not. This seems to be saying that normal kidney function has to be proved and not just assumed.

A seizure is a bad way to find out something that could have been found out from simple kidney tests. So maybe all of the doctors who haven't followed this recommendation aren't keeping up with the latest information and aren't protecting their patients from risk?

[Seasha]

Good point MSer102!!