What on earth could this be??

[mrbeansmom]

I have a 15 year old son with autism. He has wet the bed all his life. No not wet, he FLOODS the bed. Anyway, I took him in to the doctor to ask about DDAVP, the bed-wetting medicine and the pediatrician ran a standard urine test first. He said his protein was off the charts. We did a 24 hour urine test and the doctor said his protein was 3 times the highest amount allowed! Now I have to take him in for bloodwork tomorrow and in a week we have to have him take an ultrasound of his kidneys, which will not be easy with his sensory issues.

He has no other symptoms; no edema, no pain, no weight loss, no fever and no infections, ever. He does have very mild cerebral palsy and we have been making him use the treadmill for 30 minutes a day for exercise and he started complaining of pain behind his heel. The doctor suggested that it may be connected to the protein issue, but I have been searching the Internet and I just don't see how.

Tonight he asked me for some Aleve for a headache as he has a sinus problem right now with the changing of the weather. He does get headaches somewhat frequently, mostly after playing too many video games. He used to take Tylenol, but now he always asks for Aleve. It dawned on me tonight that perhaps the Aleve had something to do with what's going on. I looked on the Internet and it does seems that Aleve can cause damage to the kidneys. At the most, he's maybe taken 2 Aleves in a week, and that would be rare, but could this cause the problem do you think? He's been taking Aleve now for maybe four months.

Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated! I'm just worried sick about him! We adopted him and I don't know what might be in his genetics and of course I jump to the worst case scenario. What if he needs a transplant? Can we do it? What if we can't find any of his birth family, if they are the only matches?

[Beth Witten MSW ACSW]

When he had the 24 hour test of his urine, did they also draw blood to check for his creatinine clearance? This would tell you what his kidney function is. If they draw a creatinine, this lab test does not provide a very precise measure of kidney function. When the test result rises above the normal range, the patient has already lost 50% of his kidney function. It's better to calculate a glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Here's an online calculator for pediatric patients (up to age 18) that uses the lab result for creatinine, the patient's height, age, and gender.
http://www.kidney.org/professionals/kdoqi/gfr_calculatorPed.cfm

If it turns out that he has kidney damage, I'd strongly suggest that you take him to a nephrologist (a kidney specialist). If possible, it's best for youth with kidney problems to see pediatric nephrologists who know the most about treating young people with kidney disease.