My eGFR is better and creatinine is normal

[Granny401]

I just got my lab result today. My kidney function is up from 53 to 65 in 3 weeks. I've made diet changes to fit kidney friendly foods and to suit diabetic diet. It is such a relief to see my eGfr up. I did some search in DaVita.com which helped me find better food choices for CKD and they are working for type 2 diabetes. I have a 😊 on my face today. Though my eGFR numbers weren't horribly low it's best for me to get my number up again. Higher eGfr means less kidney damage. There may be some issues with my auto immune disease as well. Have to see a rheumatologist. The changes in my diet have helped. I want to thank all of you for your input responses and feed back. A heart felt THANKS to all of you and God bless all of you.

[lowraind]

Hi Granny,

Glad that things have improved. Once you see your rheumatologist, be very careful with any new medications. N-SAIDS are not for people with ckd, but you also have to be careful of acetaminophen, because of your liver. Make sure all of your doctors are aware of the ckd, and continue to educate yourself.

lowraind

[Granny401 in reply to lowraind]

Well, way back years ago I discovered that I have major allergies to ASA and was told not to take any medications such as Motrin etc. The Rheumatologist told me they are chemically structured similar. Really I don't take anything much for pain but I'm able to work with my pain with a meditation relaxation technique. I do use Tylenol but ONLY if it's absolutely necessary. I don't and have not used any narcotic Rxs. I walk for exercise which helps my pain considerably, especially I notice the pain relief the next day. Thanks for your concerns.

[Bunkin]

Fantastic news! With God, all things are possible😀

[Chocko]

Hi Granny,

Please share some details. Articles, website etc....

Thanks and so happy you are feeling better.

[Granny401 in reply to Chocko]

Hi...the details yes. I want to tell you that I did not know that I'm in and have been in stage 2 CKD. No one ever told me I have CKD. Its much better, of Course than it could be, since I do have lupus. I went to the DaVita web site and searched for kidney friendly foods for stage 3a, since my eGfr had dropped from 66 to 53 last month with elevated creatinine. Then I made a list of foods for stage 3a CKD. Also I googled for the stages of CKD. I found a web site through Mayo clinic that had a great deal of information about kidney disease. I learned that the eGfr can improve if caught early enough. My aim is to keep my eGFR at its current stage. Also, I need to blend my diet with respect to type 2 diabetes. Surprisingly I found that the diet I eat for diabetes is similar to the foods I eat already. I've found that adding in garlic and onions, fresh cracked pepper and a little sage and other spices for flavor and omitting salt completely gives the meats a super taste and overrides the salt. I've been eating chicken breast, skinned and de-boned and a little fresh LEAN red meat. It put my eGfr back to stage2 CKD within 3 weeks. Thanks for your input and I hope I've helped.

[Krazykatlady in reply to Granny401]

I'm impressed! And curious. How close are the kidney diet and the diabetic diet? While I'm not diabetic (knock on wood) there are a lot of diabetic recipes around, and my sister posts quite a few. Would you say most would work?

[wirivergirl]

That's wonderful! What was the biggest dietary change that you felt you made? Thanks.

[Granny401 in reply to wirivergirl]

The first one is NO SALT. Number two is getting rid of potatoes both white and sweet potatoes and minimizing tomatoes. Instead, spices and things like garlic and onions, turnips instead of potatoes, and radishes instead of tomatoes. Minimal use of tomatoe products. The last I found a bit hard to do was getting rid of whole wheat breads and using white bread. I love whole grains and whole wheat especially breads. Everything is fresh and when it can't be, fresh frozen. Any canned veges low salt then rinsed thoroughly with water. I just haven't missed any of the salt. Thanks for your question and I hope it's helped.

[lowraind in reply to Granny401]

You are truly a person after my own heart! I have done so many of the things that you have listed, and it helped me to improve my gfr, also. There are those, including doctors, who say that you do not have to go to such more extreme measures. I say that each of us has to decide for ourselves what is the best way to go about handling ckd, and I would rather do now those things that will keep my kidney from going to end stage renal disease.

Keep up the good work!

[Marvin8 in reply to lowraind]

And you should also get your cystatin-c tested in order to give a more accurate prognosis. Combine your cycstatin-c with your creatinine into the various formulas and might be even more pleasantly surprised.

[Bassetmommer NKF Ambassador]

Good for you Granny. Let us know what the rheumatologist comes up with. I have psoriatic arthritis which is the cause of my kidney issues.

[Granny401 in reply to Bassetmommer]

Ill surely let you know and thanks.

[Bassetmommer NKF Ambassador]

PsA is a stinker. It causes high uric acid which can cause lesions and kidney stones. arthritis.org/about-arthrit...

Here is what happened to me. I was diagnosed in 2008 with PsA and put on high dose of methotrexate (MTX) and prednisone. I stayed on the MTX shots for over a year and noticed I had blood in my urine. They did nothing and did not take me off until I had a lab done and had an A1c of over 13 and my GFR crashed. I have no idea how low it got. Eventually I got the GFR to 41 and my A1c down to 7. I was on Enbrel for years and then it stopped working. I went through 3 years of trying everything out there with HORRIBLE reactions. I had awful kidney stones which I passed like a goose. Finally, five years ago they put me on allpurinol and the stones stopped. My uric acid level was 11. That's like passing battery acid. Finally, three years ago they put me on Stelara which has been a miracle, but I had to go through all the other medications to get approved for it. It cost $21,000.00 a shot and my insurance covers it.

Meanwhile, I have diabetes and gained a ton of weight over the years because of the meds. (mostly) I have great days and not so great days with the PsA. But all the medication changes and the out of control diabetes ( also from mismanaged medications) dropped my GFR to 23. I got it back up to 27 over a period of time but this fall it was back down to 23.

I fight everyday to have a more normal life. I am limited in my physical ability to exercise. I am tired often as PsA causes huge fatigue and then couple it with the kidney disease and I get wiped out. I drink a lot of water and seem to be in the bathroom a lot. I am now taking liquid citric acid 2x a day and it really helps with the peeing and uric acid burning, It neutralizes it. I can sleep for more than two hours. I am on better diabetic meds and have brought my A1c back down and it also climbed back up due to a med change my doctor did that did not work.

Good news, I am doing much better since I retired. I can plan my physical stuff and pace myself. I have recently lost 27 pounds and that helps. I eat a renal diet, mostly veggies. I walk more now and recently got a treadmill.....which is harder than I thought. I am more active now and have less pain than when I sat at a desk for hours. My PsA is again in remission and I am allowed only four shots a year, every three months. I take the Stelara and I am raring to go for about 10 weeks. The last two weeks, I hurt more and more everyday... but I know I will take my shot and be fine.

PsA can cause cardiac issues as will as other auto-immune responses such as Hashimotos thyroid disease mdedge.com/edermatologynews...

Take care of yourself and become your best advocate. I had to fight to find the right medications and diet. Learn as much as you can about the associations of PsA and other disease to protect yourself.

Contact me anytime if I can support your effort.

[Chocko]

Thanks Granny, great to hear you are doing well. Keep up the good work and let us know how we can help.

[Barbee44]

Your post brightened my day. I was under the impression from things I've read that the eGFR never goes up. Mine is 50 and I just started the diet. I'm praying that I can get mine down. You've given me hope. Thank you for posting.

[Redear in reply to Barbee44]

GFR can fluctuate depending on different factors.

[anands1952]

I also suffered from vasculitis and in the stage of CKD 3 My creatinine was 3.2 After treatment it came down to 1.9 at present Blood urea isv56 GFR is 35.I am a diabetic for 30 years and am now 66. What diet you are taking to reduce ce creatinine. My BS is under control always. I have reduced salt intake to a maximum extent

[Bet117 NKF Ambassador]

Granny,

So delighted to hear your news!

Something to be said about diet and exercise!

Many more great days ahead!

Bet 😃

[Pennoyermom]

I wonder why tomatoes are a problem with kidney disease. I get migraines from tomatoes.