My husband is in stage 4 gfr with a count of 19

[Chelle41]

my husband has been referred to a nephrologist with a gfr of 19 in stage 4 and had very high blood pressure, he is now on bp tablets to help take strain of kidney , dies anyone have any good advice on how to maintain his count or bring it up

[overnighthearingloss]

Cut out salt and salt containing products immediately

That includes stock cubes, bacon, salami and other processed meat products

Drink plenty of water and if he is not taking bicarbonate of soda already buy some and have a spoon in a glass of water twice a day.

Do not eat too many potatoes. Rice is probably the safest option. The body needs more energy to digest oily foods so best options are to boil or steam. What you are basically trying to do is put as little strain on the kidneys as possible at the moment.

If he gets his levels to rise it may be possible to relax things a bit. But you need to try to halt the decline.

I know its a big shock but sometimes it can be halted or reversed

[vaw777 in reply to overnighthearingloss]

Overnighthearingloss...

Why would you take bi carb. I haven.t heard of that..interested vaw777

[overnighthearingloss in reply to vaw777]

Its something I was started on when I had my renal crisis. I take it in capsules but GP said it was the same stuff as home bicarb. There were studies done about the effects of it. It has an alkalising effect and there is lots of other stuff you can find about the positives of an alkaline diet.

Capsules are easy to take but home bicarb may be easier mixed in a glass of water

[vaw777 in reply to overnighthearingloss]

Oh. ok....vaw777

[Anthony4686 in reply to overnighthearingloss]

Wrong, chronic kidney disease can’t not be reversed.. false hope. This is outrageous information. Reversed?!, with proper diet and hydration you could at best get your numbers up a handful ... at best.

[overnighthearingloss in reply to Anthony4686]

I don't know if it can be reversed period, but years on my kidney function is still better than it was and I am hopeful at least that further reading, not provided by mainstream medical authorities, it may improve further. Time will tell.

[overnighthearingloss in reply to Anthony4686]

If you HONESTLY note down EVERYTHING you eat and drink in a day, i could tell you if i am doing anything differently.

[overnighthearingloss in reply to Anthony4686]

I am sorry i have upset you so much that you have just joined up especially to call me a liar. It might be more helpful to you and others if you start from a position of seeking information.

I am not exactly sure what caused my kidney issues and I am not suggesting that all people reach their diagnosis in a similar fashion to me. But if there are similarities at all, then one person's success may be replicated.

Surely that's better than a completely doom and gloom approach.

[Chelle41]

Thank u for that I need as much information as can get I forgot to add he only has one kidney! I read bananas are a big no no is that true do u know ?

[overnighthearingloss in reply to Chelle41]

When the kidneys are not doing well they have difficulty dealing with potassium. That is in potatoes, bananas, tomatoes. If potassium levels get too high it can cause knock on problems for the heart

[toeragthecat21 in reply to Chelle41]

avoid bananas ..high in potasium

[vaw777]

Hi chelle4l

May gfr was 28 and i immediately went on a low protein potassium diet.ask a kidney dietician to give u the foods to be careful of. In the meantime dont eat potatoes bananas tomatoes and stay off all dairy and red meat.tofu is an excellent replacement ...supermarkets sell it with tasty flavours.it is an awful shock when you hear the news but you can help yourself with diet. My gfr went from28 to 33 and hopefully the next blood test will show more improvement.

Good luck but be strict with your husband......cheers vaw777xx

[Chelle41 in reply to vaw777]

Thanx for the all the information! Yes it's a shock but hopefully with strict diet can improve it x My husband is finding it really hard as he had just recovered from kidney cancer after a nepherectomy in 2010 x

[phillen]

i would not take bicarb unless told to be your consultant! these levels have to be carefully monitored! but do cut down on salt you need to follow a healthy normal diet unless he has been told otherwise ie low fat low salt! & a good healthy weight! so please don't drastically alter his diet without professional advice! thats why the renal team have dieticians! my hubby is on dialysis but he can eat plenty of fruit & veg tomatos bananas etc as he has no problems with pottasssium ! but his phosphates are too high so his dairy is very restricted! every one is different thats why we have the proffessionals! you can sometimes do more harm than good as you may be restricting the wrong things!

[Chelle41 in reply to phillen]

Thank u for that we will wait to see what the specialist say x

[phillen]

yes its a worrying time i know how you feel my hubby had bicarb tablets for a short time then he had to be taken off them again if you have a good renal team it will make all the difference to you both & always go with him then you can both take it in my hubbys dieticien is pretty good we have borrowed recipe books etc

[baby_01 in reply to phillen]

I'm in stage 3 with GFR from 34.9 (GFR Corrected 41.8) in 2010 to 31.43 (GFR Corrected - 37.16) at present. My blood pressure was fluctuating then maybe due to my diet. I'm pretty worried about this. I'm now on a low salt low fat low protein diet as advised. My meals include rice, more veggies and fruits too. Would it really be okay to include banana, potato and tomato in my diet too? As to beverages, I was told I can drink decaf coffee. Chocolate and milk are no-no. Anyway, I'm 62.

[phillen in reply to baby_01]

yes that should be ok to include them if your potassium levels are ok my husband eats bananas every day & tomatoes & potatoes are also ok with him he also has an allowance of half pint of milk (we only have skimmed) even though he has high phosphate chocolate is not allowed like you but he still has an occasional coffee his friend who is on haemo says he was told you can drink filter coffee but not instant! hope this helps

[baby_01 in reply to phillen]

i had my potassium level checked just this morning and it is within the normal range in my interpretation though i haven't seen my nephrologist yet. with that result i hope my doctor will allow me to eat these fruits as these are abundant and cheap these days here, veggies too. i also hope to reduce my medical expenses with this diet. thank you so much for your help.

[baby_01 in reply to phillen]

hi! i have another concern. kindly refer this to your doctor. is it safe for a ckd patient to receive anti-rabies vaccination?

[phillen in reply to baby_01]

thats interesting my hubbyhas had hebatitis vaccines he said he will ask the homecare nurse next time ( he sees her on aug 28th) glad your levels are good

[baby_01 in reply to phillen]

i hope it will be okay. thank you. what do you mean when you say good levels? and how long could i be expecting to stay in this you call good levels situation being a ckd 3? although yes, my creatinine level has improved a bit from 1.4 to 1.2 this time, thank god. but you see i'm 62.

[phillen in reply to baby_01]

by good levels i mean within normal range my hubby was in stage 3 for about 15 years but then progressed quickly from 4 to end stage & on dialysis, every one is different some people never get any worse my mum who also suffers has been at stage 4 but is now back to 2 she had stones blocking her kidneys! which caused it!

[baby_01 in reply to phillen]

hi phillen! thanks for enlightening me. i also had stones in my kidneys. when i sought for a second opinion, my nephro said the stones could have left some scars in my left kidney which caused the disease plus my erratic bp . i don't know but he said that strict monitoring of my diet plus the medicines prescribed me could delay the progress of ckd. i just hope i will be back to 2 just like your mom.

[phillen in reply to baby_01]

yes hopefully my mums 1 kidney had split from a large stone which they had to leave because she is 82 & got heart trouble so to be in stage 2 is great for her! good luck

[Chin69]

When I was at 20% kidney function I saw a dietician and it opened up my mind to what food does to the kidneys or at least levels of chemicals in the foods like sodium potassium and phosphates it's worth seeing a dietician. The main things for all kidney patients is Salt and a low protein diet. So cut down red meat, cut out any processed foods and products containing salt even low salt. So stock cubes pot noodles lots of sauces like Soy & Chillie. Instead use herbs and spices. It's hard at first so any information I have I stick it on the fridge.

[Mgt8]

This is a really useful thread. One thing that strikes me is that seeing a dietitian earlier rather than later would be of help. I asked my doctor when I was about gfr40 but she just said eat a healthy diet. I am now gfr20, 6 months later and I am due to see someone this month. Perhaps altering my diet would have made no difference, perhaps my kidneys would have deteriated anyway but I will never know. However if I had that time again, knowing what I know now, I would have pushed the issue.

Sometimes, despite asking lots of questions, we don't quite ask the right ones at the right time.

[Crinkster in reply to Mgt8]

I really believe it's malpractice to not refer someone with stage 3B CKD to a dietitian. To not see one until you're that close to dialysis is horrible! If I had a choice, I would change doctors. This one is obviously ill-informed. If it's your primary care doctor, it is even worse because you should have already been seeing a nephrologist.

[overnighthearingloss]

Nobody seems to mention this but I also find fizzy drinks dont do me any favours these days. I can tolerate some natural fizzy water but nothing sweetened and fizzy

[Chelle41]

Hi my husband has high potassium levels so has to cut out as much as he can as he is at stage 4 ckd does anyone have any help on what foods he can eat

many thanks

[toeragthecat21]

hi keep stress low..eat little red meat to take pressure of kidneys..drink only water...i went on transplant list at 16 percent..and had transplant august 16..so dont lose hope..take care chris