It’s a common scenario: another doctor or your dentist hands you a prescription for an antibiotic. You start to worry—how will this affect next week’s lab work and your creatinine level?
Are you right to be concerned? That’s the question we posed to one of our kidney experts.
“That depends on a few things,” says Dr. Gabriel Valle of The Kidney Group. “It’s not always a simple answer.”
When asked what a patient should do in that situation, Dr. Valle explained:
“First, every patient in our practice is told at their initial visit that from now on, they should inform all medical and dental professionals they encounter that they have chronic kidney disease. We encourage patients to understand their stage of disease. Once that is clear, it becomes fairly simple and straightforward for other doctors to choose medications that aren’t 100% excreted by the kidneys.”
He added that some classes of antibiotics are best avoided altogether. In some cases, you may have no choice but to use a drug that could be potentially harmful to the kidneys—in those situations, the dose must be adjusted to account for the level of kidney function.
Dr. Valle noted that a good internist can modify the dose accordingly when prescribing. “Often, the need to lower the dose is also caught by the pharmacist, who may be familiar with the patient’s history.”
He added, “We receive many calls from dentists regarding dosage, which is understandable. It’s not uncommon for the treating physician to request our input as well.”
But above all, Dr. Valle emphasized this key point:
“The most important thing is a patient who understands their stage of chronic kidney disease and ensures that every healthcare provider is aware of it.”
He also shared an important reminder: not every flu or cold warrants an antibiotic. In fact, many cases of viral illness do not require antibiotic treatment at all—and some antibiotics can be harmful to kidney function. “A good doctor won’t prescribe antibiotics just because the patient wants them,” Dr. Valle said.
Point well taken. First, do no harm.
