What are normal blood creatinine levels?

Normal levels of creatinine in the blood are approximately 0.6 to 1.2 milligrams (mg) per deciliter (dL) in adult males and 0.5 to 1.1 milligrams per deciliter in adult females. (In the metric system, a milligram is a unit of weight equal to one-thousandth of a gram, and a deciliter is a unit of volume equal to one-tenth of a liter.)
Muscular young or middle-aged adults may have more creatinine in their blood than the norm for the general population. Elderly persons, on the other hand, may have less creatinine in their blood than the norm. Infants have normal levels of about 0.2 or more, depending on their muscle development. In people with malnutrition, severe weight loss, and long standing illnesses, the muscle mass tends to diminish over time and, therefore, their creatinine level may be lower than expected for their age.
A person with only one kidney may have a normal level of about 1.8 or 1.9. Creatinine levels that reach 2.0 or more in babies and 10.0 or more in adults may indicate severe kidney impairment and the need for a dialysis machine to remove wastes from the blood.
The symptoms of kidney dysfunction (renal insufficiency) vary widely.

• Some people may have an incidental finding of severe kidney disease and elevated creatinine on routine blood work without having any symptoms.
• In others, depending on the cause of the problem, different symptoms of kidney failure may be present including:
  • feeling dehydrated,
  • fatigue,
  • swelling (edema),
  • shortness of breath,
  • confusion, or
  • many other nonspecific symptoms (for example, nausea, vomiting, neuropathy, and dry skin). 
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