Stage 3

[GERALDDAVID]

Hi , I am new to kidney group. I have stage 3, gfr 46, normocytic anemia. Diagnosed thursday, micro blood in urine. Saturday, gross hematuria. Urine strange color, foamy. Never had that before. Also anxiety attacks. Read up, went on diet and am feeling better. Have learned a lot here. I am 71, felt like the end closing in on me but much better now. I see my phos, salt, potassium all in normal range. CT scan Monday. Had heart bypass 10 years ago, thyroid removed during parathyroid surgery, still have 2 parathyroids, of 4. Will have dye for CT, any advice will be appreciated. Am losing weight now.

[JimVanHorn]

So I reduced my creatinin from 5.1 down to 3.7 by not eating foods that are high in phosphorus, sodium, and Potassium and drinking the amount of water my doctor recommended. Just because your tests are normal does not mean that when you eat foods that are high in these it is good for your kidneys. By eating properly your kidneys may never go to stage 4. I understand you have anemia, normocytic anemia, but are you aware that the kidney gives off a hormone called eythropoetin? A normal kidney watches how many red blood cells are present when they go through the glomerulus inside the kidneys. This hormone is released by the kidneys and tells the immature RBC's in the bone marrow to have RBC's mature and enter the blood stream. My kidneys are stage 4 and I have to have injections of a synthetic hormone (Procrit). Now my hemoglobin level is 10.3 to 11.4 . I get a shot every 6 weeks or so. I go to the anemia lab at my nephrologist's office. My Dad had the same problem and they told him he had normocytic anemia. I hope you checked out what to eat and what not to eat, the best of luck, and thanks for the question. By the way I see you like diet root beer, I found it has phosphates as preservatives so check it out by reading the can. Above everything else remember to just keep truckin'.

[GERALDDAVID in reply to JimVanHorn]

Thanks Jim, very helpful. Don`t drink diet root beer anymore. My creatine was 1.50 lab normal .50 to 1.40. Hemoglobin 13.1 labs 13.5 to 17.5 so not to bad. Did read about eythropoetin some. Liked your explanation. Bun 24, labs 9 to 20, microalbum 190, labs <= 29. over 300 severe. My weight was 285, now 279 after one week. I have been reading labels a long time now. Have type 2 diabetes, my A1C very good 5.6 What about canned food and potatoes, tomatoes, whole grains, bananas, etc? This is stricter than heart diet, which I kind of went off of over the winter. I saw that people in their 60s & 70s are normal in stage 1 or 2 just by age.

[JimVanHorn in reply to GERALDDAVID]

Ok, good questions. NO potatoes, tomatoes (ketchup), bananas, oranges (or juice), black beans, bran or granola. then there is the Phosphorus foods, nuts (including peanut butter), chocolate, and processed meats (bacon, ham, sausage, hot dogs, lunch meat, or canned meats. No canned goods. So if you are at lunch and they serve you a small bag of potato chips, eat a few of them but do not finish the bag. Table salt is hard on kidneys so if it tastes salty, spit it out. Watch out for sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in cookies, cakes, and fried foods. Ask you doctor how much water you should drink daily (it changes with the stage you are in). I also am diabetic type 2 and I am on insulin. When my creatinin was 5.1 I was getting sugar lows all the time! It turns out that healthy kidneys inactivate insulin so it does not keep getting higher in your blood stream. My kidneys are not healthy, so I had to cut my insulin injections by about 1/3 or I would be dead right now. My creatinin is 3.9 now and I had to adjust it again. I also have fibrillation in my heart and a stint. For eleven years I had prostate cancer, but that is gone now. I am urine incontinent and 74 years old. I wish you well and just keep truckin'.

[GERALDDAVID in reply to JimVanHorn]

Wanted to thank you again for the advice. When something goes wrong the worst thing can be not knowing what to do about it.

[lowraind]

Make sure whomever is doing the CT is aware of the ckd. They can give you one that is less harmful to your kidneys. Also, drink a lot of water after the procedure to flush is out.

[GERALDDAVID in reply to lowraind]

I will be sure to tell them. Had other tests there before and I like them. Instructions are drink plenty of water 2 days before and after, no metformin, diabetes drug, day of and 2 days after. Thank you lowraind.