CKD AND MEDS ...

[Betsysue2002]

Watching tv and hearing the narrator say not to take a certain med if a person has a particular disease causes me to think how often they DONT mention kidney disease. Maybe i notice it tho just because i have it ???

[Hidden]

I agree completely. There are almost 40,000,000 people with CKD and not once have I heard it mentioned in an ad. On top of that, one of the sites I subscribe to is WebMD. They send daily information on diet, disease and not once do they mention anything about a kidney-friendly diet when speaking of healthy eating. The same thing goes for CKD with a very few exceptions when they speak about specific diseases. I've contacted them a number of times and have basically been ignored. I stay subscribed but now I double check anything they say before I either post it somewhere or follow it myself.

[Bet117 in reply to Hidden]

I agree as well. It is a silent disease. The only recent mention of kidney disease and and an issue was in the film "Going in Style" with Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin and Ann-Margaret. This is now available in DVD, btw.

Yes, a happy ending. Must see.

[draftee in reply to Bet117]

Hi Bet, Yes I seen that movie but to tell you the truth I liked the original first movie with George Burns, Art Carney better than the re-make, Not as happy a ending though which made it more true to life. I have seen quite a few re-makes of movies but to me they are never as good as the originals, Just my opinion........

[Bet117 in reply to draftee]

Hi draftee,

I apologize for not responding to your prior note, tax time in my house..but I will.

Yes, I have seen both films. George Burns and Art Carney are immortal!

I was referring to the Morgan Freeman issue in the second film and how it is resolved. Unfortunately, it is current and a bit too realistic! None of that is pretty, but Michael Caine saves the day and demonstrates the meaning of true friendship. Both that and the pension issues are equally distressing in this country.

Will discuss with you further...let me finish getting the tax data settled for our appt. this weekend!

Speak Soon!

B...

.

[lowraind in reply to Hidden]

I totally agree! Every time I see one of these ads or hear about the ever invading erectile disfunction (sorry guys), I have to wonder what would happen if we had even a fourth of that attention to Chronic Kidney Disease. If we did, and if people were aware of what they could do, perhaps we would have less ckd.

[Hidden in reply to lowraind]

I'm going to ignore the first part of your comment and go right to the second part. I'm not sure that we would have less CKD but we might have fewer folks on dialysis or be needing a transplant. If folks were told as early as possible, assuming they had annual or semi-annual checkups and immediately took steps to change their diet and exercise we might have fewer people getting to ESRD. I used a lot of qualifiers in my statement because I'm not sure of absolutes. Knowing what I know now I can say with 100% certainty that I would make the changes as soon as I found out I had CKD.

I found out in early 2001 that I had Type 2 Diabetes. It took me16 years to get where I could control it by diet and exercise. There are so many facets to CKD, that I'm not sure folks would acknowledge it and readily make the changes necessary to slow it down until the middle or later stages. Of course, that's just my opinion and I could be wrong.

[lowraind in reply to Hidden]

I think that once the information is out there, people could then become more responsible for their choices. Of course, there have been warnings about smoking for how long, and people still smoke. Still, at least people could no longer say, "I didn't know".

[Bet117 in reply to lowraind]

Agreed! Workshops, informational brochures and testing for protein in the urine a mandated part of everyone's annual physical, not just diabetes patients.

👍

[Sally10255]

I have gained my knowledge from my doctor. He is such an amazing doctor. I pretty much have the thought, anything toxic going in,won’t turn out good. Sometimes I think so many are bombarded with kidney disease, that many doctors don’t have the knowledge. The last set of meds that I have read and heard damaging are the things like Prilosec. Guess there is a law suit.

[rabbit01 in reply to Sally10255]

I gained most of my knowledge from here. My doctors have never suggested anything to help my CKD or to slow it down other than take blood pressure tablets which actually make me feel ill. Never had any diet advice from any of the nephrologists I have seen over the last three years since being diagnosed at stage 4.

[Sally10255 in reply to rabbit01]

I had a low gfr, my doc sent me for ultrasound, kidney not draining. Immediately saw kidney doctor, a CAT showed a 6 mm stone . even though I passed stone and didn’t know it, I was in for out patient surgery. Since stone was gone he looked around at kidneys. Stent put in. My left kidney has been majorly damaged or I was born that way, stone could have done it. Crucial to keep bp down, no pain killers, other things. I don’t take vitamins anymore. Majorly watch sodium, potassium, phosphorus, dairy free, quit smoking, no pop, no alcohol, lots and lots of water. Bp to stay under 120/80 at least.

[rabbit01 in reply to Sally10255]

Thanks Sally. I make sure that I don't take pain killers anymore and I packed up smoking a long time ago. I still drink alcohol but only the odd glass of white wine. I still have dairy so perhaps I should eliminate that from my diet.

[Sally10255 in reply to rabbit01]

Maybe watch the dairy but I gave it up before all this. I could eat my weight in cheese:(( then after I went through this, husband had heart attack...so several reasons.. I feel like we should watch diet...no extra carbs, etc, check the fish since it has lots of stuff, and st least a gallon of water a day. I would say you are doing lots of great things already.

[Bet117 in reply to rabbit01]

You are kidding!

Good grief..and I don't mean to sound abrasive, but seek another opinion or new nephrologist.

[rabbit01 in reply to Bet117]

I will do as I am down to 14% having been 18% in October last year.

[lowraind in reply to rabbit01]

I have been in the same boat. The first nephrologist did tell me to stop taking Celebrex, and to take my blood pressure every night. The second told me there was nothing I could do about diet to change my numbers. I am looking for number three.

[rabbit01 in reply to lowraind]

I have never even seen a dietician. All I get is a 10 minute slot with the nephrolgist once every four months and all she does is arrange blood tests and asks me to come back in 4 months.

[Sally10255 in reply to rabbit01]

I will help as much as I can, fortunately my family physician and kidney doctor are amazing

[lowraind in reply to rabbit01]

I insisted on it with my personal physician. Asked once and had to call twice more to make it happen, but I did see her.

[Bet117 in reply to Sally10255]

Among other things and meds.

[lowraind in reply to Sally10255]

Where do you live? My doctor does not know much and I am not yet impressed with my 2nd nephrologist. Even the dietician they referred me to was a diabetes dietitian, and, as my husband noted, she probably learned more from me about ckd than I learned from her about ckd eating. I agree, I gained much knowledge from this site, as well as my own searching. I still have a lot to learn, but I wish there were easier ways to do it.

[Sally10255 in reply to lowraind]

I live in Indiana

[Bet117 in reply to Sally10255]

Sally,

Be blessed that you have such a womderful doctor who listens, cares and shares with you! Keep your great thoughts,attitude and pep! Continue reading....

Share them with this community! You make a big difference!

[Sally10255 in reply to Bet117]

Thank you, so very kind. I am more than happy to share anything I know. I feel blessed to have the care I do.

[lowraind]

Oh dear, I am in Michigan. I don't think that would work.

[Betsysue2002]

I live in mo. Our town has a couple regular dietitian and the only renal dietitian is at the dialysis center.

[Gillian2Mc]

I would say in any ad focussing on CKD that anyone who thinks they may have the disease should contact their doctor for a proper diagnosis before making decisions about their diet. I am in the UK and was getting regular blood tests due to having high blood pressure, including for kidney function. When my kidney function went down they did a double check, then diagnosed me with CKD. The practice nurse informed me and has been most helpful ever since. Gillian

[Betsysue2002]

Keep her ! I left my regular doc because she wouldnt talk to me when i asked questions. I now have docs who do.

But i hear about docs who are really uniformative so even tho she is a nurse you can still get directions and ideas to ask your doc about.