Hi everyone. My gfr is 60.. my renal doctor has written kidney failure in of the letter to my doctor.. I am ckd stage two but I don't know why he wrote kidney failure. Can ckd stage 2 can be called renal failure..
Thank you
Ckd stages and renal failure: Hi everyone... - Early CKD Support
Ckd stages and renal failure
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Robiga
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33 Replies
•
Hi Robiga,
Think of the diagnosis as the kidneys are not perfect. It is just a word they use to code for billing. Anything below 60 is kidney failure. The last stages are known as End Stage Renal disease. It is a good wake up call because at this point, there is so much you can do to stop progression in most cases.
Thanks for your quick reply I am 44 yrs old bit worried at the moment
Like what?
the diagnosis of kidney failure when your egfr is 60 may be a motivator for one person but a total anxiety provoking diagnosis for another. i think the medical community should be well aware of kidney disease staging by this point in time, particularly a nephrologist. i know that both my nephrologist and primary care physician diagnose me based on the current medical language , in my case chronic kidney stage 3.
it’s good your doctor is doing it early. I can’t get my doctor to any referrals from me even with all symptoms I have and blood in urine for 10months. Don’t look it as failure cause they are still in good shape for reverse Gfr level.
I have an issue with a slightly reduced kidney function being called kidney failure. Kidney failure implies that the kidneys will definitely get worse and eventually fail, and this is definitely not always the case! I’m 53 and for the last 10 years my GFR has fluctuated between 60 and 49 and I was labelled with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) with no known cause. At the moment it’s back up to 60 because of changes I’ve made to my diet, so I really would argue that I don’t have renal failure.
Do you know why your GFR is slightly low, has your doctor said? Have you been told if there’s anything that can help?
• in reply toJulesboz
If your kidneys are not working as they should, they are failing.
Julesboz• in reply to
I’d prefer to think of it as mild impairment with a GFR of 60 
I guess I’m just a glass half full type of girl.
lowraind• in reply to
I do not support that thinking. If one has heart disease it is not called heart failure. By the same thinking, if one has ckd, it is not called kidney failure.
Per: niddk.nih.gov/health-inform..., "If your kidney function drops below 15 percent of normal, you are said to have kidney failure. You may have symptoms from the buildup of waste products and extra water in your body." Even then, there is the possibility of improving function.
RickHow• in reply to
I will chime in also. This is NOT kidney failure. I believe the person is age 44. Do you think the heart is beating at the same functional level as it did at a more youthful age? No, it isn't. But it isn't failing. I don't know about you, but at my age (70) to get out of bed each morning, or do something requiring physical strength is no where near at the function it was when I was youthful. Are my muscles in failure? Failure to me implies it won't be long until the function is gone. So many millions are labelled with CKD 1, 2, even 3, that will normal, healthy, full lives. They are given these labels due to some formula of what is "normal" or not. I think a better way would be to not say "normal", but say "average". To say that an "average" person, at such an age, such a race, such a sex, has a typical egfr. But everyone is not average, not normal. The key is to monitor.
If you see a steady decline then your kidney is getting worse. If that decline is rapid, it is approaching a stage it is about to fail (late stage 4 or 5). But you will find many on here who can write they have been at stage 1, 2, 3 for years and years and now are in their 70's and 80's, and so far, no "failure".
• in reply toRickHow
Thank you for your contribution. Semantics is a wonderful thing. At the end of the day we can call our problems whatever we want, if that helps us.
You’re correct , it’s only hardly the case ,only 100 people with CKD in 10,000 will ever reach renal failure
There is a lot of information on this site most is helpful especially the diet part but there is way too much doom and gloom on this site
I told my nephrologist that I’ve been looking stuff up on the Internet he looked at my wife and said change his password and don’t tell him LOL
I read the same statistic on a reputable kidney website. 10%. I wish more people knew about this stat because it eases some of the anxiety.
Its one percent not ten.
Hi I had high blood pressure when I was diagnosed but with the help of medication its normal.
First thing I would say is do not panic! Most UK GPS basically agree the way the “system” determine if you have CKD is a farce. Imagine if there was a “similar “ system to determine if the rest of your organs were failing - we would all be labelled with some sort of chronic disease! .. when I was first diagnosed with “CKD” ( last October ) eGFR 51, I was shocked! I never new there was such a thing . I was as far as I could see a healthy person ( male 59 and regularly worked out. ) my doctor told me not to worry and just get on with life . I was told my eGFR was 61 ten years ago . Anyhow - I changed my diet - drank at least 8 pints of water a day . Restricted my alcohol intake and stopped eating red meat . ( I do have red meat at least one a week now due to my zinc levels being realy low. Anyhow last reading of my eGFR was 64 ! . What I will tell you is this .... personally being told I had CKD - was detrimental to my mental health immensely- my thoughts practically all day were about my health- I was constantly on forum’s and groups about CKD and googled everything about it - the stress was awful . So what I would say like most have already said - watch your diet - drink lots of water and most importantly don’t panic and stress and stay away from forums and google ( except this one as this is the best and all you need for reassurance and info 😊...
There is a lot of needless worry and panic among people me included when they are told they have kidney disease. My gfr has been in the fifties for at least 8 years. It bounces up and down a bit but basically it has been stable. There is a lot of bad info and negativity on the web. My doctors say calling anyone with gfr under 60 as having a progressive disease is absurd.
Hi thanks for your encouraging words.. u mention everything except exercise.. can you please share what kind of exercise might help.. currently I am doing some running and lift light weight at the gym thank you
Hi, Robiga. Clearly an eGFR of 60 is not normal when 100% healthy kidneys have eGFRs of 100-120 (usually very young and healthy people get eGFR scores of over 100).
My wife at 67 had an eGFR of 68. Her doctors never told her she might be in trouble at Stage 2 CKD. I am 61 and had an eGFR of 44 and I was in trouble. We both went on a modified vegan CKD diet as outlined in Lee Hull's Stopping Kidney Disease book available on Amazon along with customer reviews. The book will also tell you everything about CKD.
My latest eGFR as of 10/17/2019 is 58. My wife's latest eGFR as of 11/1/2019 is 86 and she is now 68. Yes, her eGFR is 86. If she were black, the eGFR would be 100. (Race matters in computing eGFRs.)
My wife's eGFR was only slightly higher than yours at the start. If she can do it, you can do it.
You have to educate yourself and put in the work yourself. No one else will do it for you.
Best of luck.
P.S. An eGFR of 60 is still Stage 2 CKD; no doctor worries about Stage 2 CKD. It is still just above an eGFR of 59. An eGFR of 59 indicates Stage 3A of CKD. The renal doctor was indicating CKD on your chart, not actual renal failure which starts at an eGFR of 14 and is Stage 5 CKD.
Thank you so much for your encouraging words..
I went into total panic last year when I was told mine was 56 it really threw me. I changed to decaf tea and tried to be healthy I don't drink alcohol much anyway. I should have gone back after 6 months but was so scared I left it a year. My reading was then 90. Worried over nothing.
If I had that (I'd shout Hurrah!). Now it's time to decide how long you want to live. Mine is now 21 and I'm 83 and still starting new books but I don't buy green bananas. Give up the red meat and go from there. Be wary of those who make their livelihood from other's misfortune. Remember the dialysis clinics are in business to get you on dialysis, not keep you off it. You're just getting a wake up call.
I wonder how many of you folks have read up about Cystatin-C and had it tested. You might put your mind at ease if you do so. Just sayin'....
Hi Marvin ,
I have only read a post by another member on cystatin-c ( May have been you) but I tenner them saying it is more accurate and it gives a higher reading of eGFR. I did ask my doctor about it ( UK) but he had not heard about it . Maybe this Cystatin - c test is the way to go .. more accurate and would put a lot of people’s minds at rest .
The only confounding variable in a Cystatin-C test is your thyroid. If you've got thyroid problems, Cystatin-C loses it's value. Aside from that, Cystatin-C will tend to confirm or deny a prognosis. If your Cystatin-C calculation is lower than your Creatinine calculation of eGFR, things points to a poor prognosis. If your Cystatin-C gives you a higher eGFR than Creatinine, this points toward a better prognosis. Most of the time, the Cystatin-C will point toward a similar eGFR as the Creatinine.
CKD stands for chronic kidneys disease which doesn't mean kidneys failure. It's as simple as that!
My doctor wrote “renal insufficiency” with 58 GFR. I only have one kidney, and am age 74, so not too bad for one kidney. As I understand it, the GFR formula is age based, so GFR will automatically go down with age, however your GFR will vary based on if you have fasted or not before blood test and based on what you have eaten. It measures how much creatinine has been removed from your blood after eating. Creatinine is found in meat protein and Meat protein is said to be harder on the kidneys than plant protein.
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