Fatigue with egfr 33

[madonbrew]

Do any of suffer from extreme fatigue with similar egfr numbers. I'm 40 years old and work as a community carer 3 days a week I have other health stuff...a weird autoimmune disease &severe asthma, but I am so exhausted all the time. I have to sleep at least 2 hours during the day to function. Does anybody else fine this? I'm not aneamic at the mo.My ferritin is 66 but has been heaps lower in the past.

[jillab]

Hi I have an eGFR of 29% at the moment . I am 76 and yes I too get tired , but I am lucky being retired and having a good husband I can take a rest when I feel like it. I do belong to a ladies renal site and lots of the ladies get tired too .

[Mysticlad]

Quality sleep is critical ( not easy with CKD or Asthma ) as is keeping your anemia under control. Your Hemoglobin needs to stay in a healthy range or you will get tired. Most of us are tired. How are your blood sugars running? Steroids with severe asthma can make you tired with long term use as well as well as push your blood sugars up.

[rabbit01]

Hello, I am 52 years old and I too have some weird autoimmune disease (IGAN) and pernicious anemia and asthma. I had been feeling really tired for years and I just thought well that is the way I am. This was before I was diagnosed with kidney problems and then it all became clear why I was exhausted all the time. I was not diagnosed till I was eGFR 17% and that was about 4 years ago. I managed to carry on working full time till I got to 12% but I would not recommend it and in hindsight it was pretty stupid of me to keep pushing myself everyday. Do get your Haemoglobin and B12 levels checked out as if they are low then you will certainly feel very tired. Although the docs routinely check haemoglobin not many check B12 and mine was only tested by chance and found to be very low. Since starting B12 injections about a year ago I do feel better.

[Keithtim10]

Dear Madonbrew I am similar in that my ANCA Vasculitis has left me with GFR at 35 to38 no more and although I am 69 I do feel tiredness more quickly these days but being in the position of retirement its an advantage as I can take 40 winks as it were anytime.I do sympathise with you that the tiredness can be a problem but I had to learn quickly what my consultant told me and that was 'listen to your body' and its true because when it tells you to stop for 10 minutes do it and it works believe me.Hope this helps.

[orangecity41 in reply to Keithtim10]

I find that to be so true "listen to your body" . Being in acceptance of CKD also is important. We have to know our limitations.

[itzmich]

Yes I am stage 3 and get extreme fatique. I find that by eating a kidney friendly diet and watching my portions does make the fatique better. I hope you find something that works for you.

[Bassetmommer]

HI Madonbre,

I will echo what every one else said about having up and down days. But if your exhaustion is constant, than it may have to do with blood levels. I recommend you have your b12 and Vit D levels checked. Both are easy to bring up with OTC meds. But do not take these without the labs and then your doctor's approval.

My other recommendation is to look at your life and see where you can cut back. And good for you to rest every day for 2 hours. Does this impact your quality of sleep at night? The last suggestion is water. Being dehydrated can also make you very tired.

[saifomar]

Unfortunately for those of us who have 'impaired' kidney functions fatigue becomes just a part of ones life. The only way to overcome fatigue is to rest when needed and also try to de-stress whenever necessary. As stress not only raises BP levels but also makes the heart work overtime which in turn makes us more tired. As mentioned by others here your vitamin D levels are very important as an impaired kidney cannot produce sufficient vitamin D's to keep the body running.

[Celtic]

Are you taking steroids for the autoimmune condition? If so, that’s a double whammy for risk of fatigue, not to mention the added problem of reduced kidney function. Have you had your CRP and ESR markers checked to see if your inflammation levels have recently increased? If not, perhaps worth doing, along with the test recommendations from others.

[madonbrew]

Hey guys,thank you so much for all your replies. I'm actually between 3 consultants from 3 different hosps&have seen all of them quite recently..lol, therefore between them they've ordered a mass heap of bloods so hopefully one of them will have covered all the above options.

I'm not on pred atm,but am waiting for a Rituximab infusion...to try stop my body attacking itself. I think they do my inflammation markers for that.

[itzmich]

Yes I suffer from that as well. Have tried suppliments with Dr ok and they have helped a little. Good luck to you I understand what you are going through. It's hard when there is so much we want to do. I trying to accept that this is my new normal.