Kidney Disease.

[Raffles12345]

3 months ago my GRF was 41 had blood tests last week and was told my GRF has a reading of 55 has anyone ever heard of kidney’s in failure starting to repair themselves? Need answers please.

[Rock9663]

That’s fantastic! I’m looking to try to do the same. What are you doing, change of diet?

[Raffles12345 in reply to Rock9663]

Hi,Rock9663 I can only think of 2 minna changes (1) porage oats at 8.30 in the morning half hot water half skimmed milk (2) a glass of pure tomato juice and Worcester sorce at 1 pm well maybe over the last two or three months my wife has been cooking a fabulous Indian curry as by Cook James Martin seen on his tv program, I think it’s a Dansak?,it’s the curry with fennergreek in it,I have this once a week,I hope this is of some help.

[Julesboz]

Hi there, GFR does vary as quite a lot of things affect the results of a test - dehydration, whether you’ve eaten meat before etc etc. I have mild CKD and in the last few years my GFR has varied between 49 and 59. It’s currently at 59 because I’ve been eating a kidney friendly diet, which tends to be one of the main reasons for GFR improving.

[BarronS in reply to Julesboz]

how long has your kidney disease been stable?

[Julesboz in reply to BarronS]

I’ve been hovering around this stage for at least 10 years. I was only officially diagnosed 2 years ago though (I’ve since checked back through my blood test results). My GFR had started to drop prior to diagnosis but, once I knew I had it, I made a few changes to my diet and it’s now increased and stabilised.

[BarronS in reply to Julesboz]

That's reassuring. It seems that most people could get it stabilized. I was freaked out at first because everyone kept saying it is "progressive". It's progressive in that everyone has progressive kidney degradation, some just degrade more than other, but it could be stopped and brought back to normal. I believe until your reach stage 4 though - once stage 4 happens the progression to ESRD is inevitable. Correct me if i'm wrong.

Thank you for the reply though and i hope all is well.

[Bassetmommer NKF Ambassador in reply to BarronS]

Hi Barron,

I am stage 4 and have maintained for over a year and actually brought my GFR up one point. But no, there is no going back to "normal".

[BarronS in reply to Bassetmommer]

Thanks for your reply. What stage were you at when you found out you had CKD and how long did it take you to get to stage 4?

When i was talking about "normal", i meant to say that you could slow down the progression to what the standard decline in eGFR is for a normal person. Most studies I see the average person with CKD losing around 1 point of eGFR per year. You could conceivably stay in stage 2 for 20 or 30 years. You most likely know a lot more than I do about this subject, but from what I read, once you get past a certain point, it's hard to stabilize. But I am happy that you were able to stay and improve for a year. I hope you can hold there.

[Bassetmommer NKF Ambassador in reply to BarronS]

I had a reaction to a combination of prescribed drugs that literally shut down my kidneys. But I did not know it at the time until a lab showed that they were at GFR of 41. The crisis was about a year before that, so I do not know how low it was. I was passing a lot of blood in my urine, my A1c went to 13. They took me off the medication which was a combination of methotrexate (a very strong chemo) prednisone and huge doses of Advil for pain. My GFR remained around 41 -45 for about 8 years until once again, my (ex) PCP switch up a diabetic drug which did not work. My sugar again went out of control, with values of 300 or more. I took myself off the drug (Tragenta) and put myself back on Januvia. But the damage was done and within less the six months, my GFR went from 35 down to 24. it declined every month until I changed up my diet last year and has been holding at 21 for several months now after getting down to 19.

[BarronS in reply to Bassetmommer]

Thank you for your response. I'm sorry that mismanagement has caused this for you. I'm glad that you are currently holding strong right now. It seems that much medical research has gone in many of the rare diseases, but not a lot has gone into kidney or heart.

Regardless,I hope that you stay stable and have many more good years to come.

[lowraind in reply to BarronS]

There are many people on another site, Natural Kidney Journey, who attest to the fact that they have people who have come back from dialysis due to their very strict protocols for eating only 100% "LOW FAT, NO OIL, NO ADDED PROCESSED SUGARS, MINIMAL (OR IDEALLY NO) ADDED SALT, "MINIMALLY PROCESSED" WHOLE FOOD, PLANT BASED LIFESTYLE". So the statement "once stage 4 happens the progression to ESRD is inevitable" does not seem to be true.

I am not presently following all of their advice, but just by eating a kidney friendly diet and working hard to stay hydrated, I have improved egfr 20 points.

[Pappy58 in reply to lowraind]

I encourage others to join the group, “Natural Kidney Journey”, and read the success stories. There are too many to read all of them. I was skeptical in the beginning but as I hung around a while and tried the diet myself I became a believer. It’s not for everyone but I believe all of this is backed up by research.

[BarronS in reply to Julesboz]

When i say "brought back to normal", i mean that normal decline in eGFR, not that the kidneys could come back up to 100 percent functioning.

[Rock9663 in reply to Julesboz]

Can you share with me where I can find a kidney friendly diet?

[Julesboz in reply to Rock9663]

My advice would be to avoid salt, processed foods and fizzy drinks. Reduce red meat, dairy, sugar and alcohol. Eat plenty of whole fresh foods including lots of veg and drink plenty of water. Avoid drugs that damage the kidneys including OTC drugs like NSAIDs. To get a diet tailored for you, it’s best to see a dietician who can look at your blood test results and see what you need to avoid/increase. I say this because if you go online and get examples of a ‘kidney friendly diet’, a lot of sites will tell you to cut out certain things (like potassium rich foods) and you may not need to and, as a result, you may end up missing out on vital nutrients.

[Rock9663 in reply to Julesboz]

Thanks for the tips, it is difficult to understand what’s good and what’s not.

I see the nephrologist Friday, I will ask for a referral to the right dietician.

[Julesboz in reply to Rock9663]

Yes that’s definitely the best bet. I remember when I was diagnosed I looked online and thought, oh my god, I can’t eat anything! Luckily I saw a dietician who looked at my blood test results and gave me some sensible advice. I hope you get some good advice too!

[Rock9663 in reply to Julesboz]

And if you have any links, please share. I’m middle stage 3, hoping to reverse as much as possible. I pray I can.

[Pappy58 in reply to Rock9663]

Join the Facebook group “Natural Kidney Journey.”

[Rock9663 in reply to Pappy58]

Thanks!

[Pappy58 in reply to Rock9663]

There are several people in the group who have been able to get off dialysis and many others who have been able to avoid dialysis or kidney transplant. The conventional medical plan has always been to try to slow the progression of the disease. This healthy eating plan actually helps to heal the kidneys. Take a look and make your own decision.

[Rock9663 in reply to Pappy58]

I have changed lifestyle. I have gone up from a low of 36, to 44, 52 and now 58.

And lost 36 lbs, finally controlled blood pressure to 115/75. My next goal is to get into the 60’s. Changed diet, I can do more 😃

[LorrieC]

My lowest GFR was 40 (drop from a high of 59 in a matter of months). I panicked and started a very low sodium diet and stopped taking meloxicam and it now up to 57. Also, I drank a ton of water before I had my labs drawn.

[Rock9663 in reply to LorrieC]

That’s fantastic improvements. Did you do anything else, lose weight etc.?

[LorrieC in reply to Rock9663]

Yes, the pounds fell off quickly and I lost a total of 18 lbs due to my obsession of a low sodium diet. My puffy ankles are now normal in the morning, but swell a little as the day goes on, but nothing like before.

[TedHutch]

Renal Function Can Improve at Any Stage of Chronic Kidney Disease

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

"GFR improvement is possible in CKD patients at any CKD stage through stage 4–5. It is noteworthy that this GFR improvement is associated with a decrease in the number of metabolic complications over time."

Interesting to see this section

"We found that native vitamin D deficiency was less prevalent in improvers than nonimprovers. This result is important because vitamin D deficiency is very common in CKD patients, and its prevalence increases as GFR declines [39]. Although there is not yet any proof that an insufficient 25(OH)D level contributes to GFR impairment, a few studies have reported similar results. In a community-based cohort of ambulatory older adults, lower serum 25(OH)D concentrations were associated with faster eGFR loss, particularly when 25(OH)D was lower than approximately 30 ng/ml [40]. Moreover, lower levels of 25(OH)D were related to higher risks of ESRD and mortality in patients with stage 2–5 CKD [41]. In NHANES III, a 25(OH)D concentration <15 ng/ml was associated with an increased risk of incident ESRD in black subjects [42]. These findings suggest that effective treatment of CKD metabolic complications and 25(OH)D deficiency could limit GFR loss."

Most people will require Daily Vitamin d3 supplementation between 6000 and 10,000iu daily to raise 25(OH)D levels to the 125nmol/l threshold above which cholecalciferol remains freely bio-available and able to stablise endothelial function while also providing the signalling modailty that inhibits the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines.

Dietary Vitamin D and Its Metabolites Non-Genomically Stabilize the Endothelium

journals.plos.org/plosone/a...

[Raji838 in reply to TedHutch]

Ted thnks, this is vry informative. Vit D a new area for me to look into

[optimisticIndividual in reply to Raji838]

just go a walk in the morning. Get half an hour of sunlight for vitamin d

[Jenkea]

Mine had gone from 45 to 53 but 6 months later down to 49, my Dr said it can go up and down, I have another appt in July so fingers crossed.

[mrpenguin]

Definitely, I was stage 2, now stage ZERO, all I changed was removing animal products from my life.

[Raji838 in reply to mrpenguin]

"That's the way to do it anh ha"

[Munkie]

Ihad that happen. Mine was usually around 50-55. Acouples wks later it was 70. I could nvr understand how it getsup & down like a rollarcoaster

[Raji838]

Congrats, did u change Ur diet plan ? Let us know.