Just diagnosed

[Golf-dean]

Just diagnosed with stage 3a CKD with a eGFR of 47. The doc had me do three labs over three months. Biggest issue now is high blood pressure. On three BP drugs. Has anyone had experience with Hibiscus Tea - supposed to assist in lowering BP. Thanks.

[Hidden]

Hi and welcome to the community.

Before you begin with non-medicine ways to lower your blood pressure, let's talk about the elephant in the room. You are lucky to have found out you have CKD with a GFR of 47. I was diagnosed three years ago with a GFR of 32. When I did my research after that I found out I had it for a long time and was not informed by the doctors. My CKD was the result of having diabetes. I also have HBP. My suggestion to you would be to contact a nephrologist for anything related to CKD, including the tea. For your HBP obtain a referral and meet with a cardiologist. I made a change to a different cardiologist a year ago and after reviewing my numbers from my daily home testing he switched me to three different medications and my blood pressure is now under control. He recently switched me off one of them and had me begin a different one and it has lowered my BP even more consistently.

To keep your average GFR high you need to learn all you can about CKD. The first thing is to make sure you get and keep your blood pressure under control. HBP is the second leading cause of CKD, with diabetes being #1. With regard to CKD, knowledge is power.

Provide all of your physicians with your list of medications and keep all of them informed of all of your health issues. It's important for you to have them share your test results from labs and diagnostic tests with each other so be sure to ask them to comply.

To learn about CKD right now, you can go to kidneyschool.org and view their learning modules and develop questions based on what you learn from them to ask your nephrologist. Also, when the country opens up slowly and safely you can go to davita.com and look for their free, 90-minute Kidney Smart class held in your area. Until then the Kidney School modules will suffice.

Also, go to drugs.com and set up a free account. You can enter your medications and get immediate information on interactions with other medications and/or food. Again, be sure to share this information with all of your physicians at each appointment.

Also, on the DaVita website, you can look at the menu bar and find the link to RECIPES. From that, you will see a wide variety of foods to eat to help you slow the progression of CKD. Ask your nephrologist for a referral to meet with a Renal Dietitian. For that appointment bring as many hard copies of your last years' worth of lab results with you and together you can develop a kidney-friendly meal plan designed especially for you.

The menu can be vegan, vegetarian or include protein from poultry and seafood, whichever you prefer. You'll need to obtain levels for your consumption of protein, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and sodium. The sodium you should already have reduced because of the HBP. If you haven't already been told you should know that fast food, processed food, smoking, and consumption of red meats need to be eliminated. The taking of NSAIDs is also not good for your CKD. No ibuprofen, Advil, Aleve or aspirin be taken. My cardiologist knows about my CKD and he monitors my BP all the time. He does have me on a daily 81mg dose of aspirin. Some of us with CKD and HBP have to make a choice regarding medication for one health issue that may impact on another health issue. I take my BP twice a day and bring the information to the cardiologist at each appointment. If my BP should spike or if my GFR drops I contact him immediately and he runs diagnostic tests to see if I need to make a change. Since my diagnosis, three years ago, I've averaged a GFR of 51.

This is a great community to learn and share information so again, welcome.

[Golf-dean in reply to Hidden]

Thanks!! Appreciate your input. I’ve battled blood pressure since I was 30 - now 76. My diet has been primarily the DASH diet for as long as I can remember. Probably 90% DASH. I’m not overweight, don’t drink or smoke and I exercise regularly with a personal trainer. So my first focus is definitely to manage my BP.

Thanks again for your excellent suggestions!!

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador in reply to Golf-dean]

I was 74 when diagnosed with CKD level 3b, 4 years ago. I am on a prescribed CKD diet and have to restrict sodium, phosphorus and potassium. I have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes also. No high blood pressure. So far the diet and exercise (in my case walking) has helped slow the progression of CKD. I find that it is important to watch your CBC blood test results.

Welcome to the forum. It will be much help for you.

[Golf-dean in reply to orangecity41]

Thanks

[vinadhun2 in reply to orangecity41]

When you say that your CKD progression is slow can you give an idea on how much has been your creatinine/gfr over say 3 year period.

Has it been steady or going up and down

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador in reply to vinadhun2]

eGFR results have gone from 54 to 69 to 62. This test is an estimate and my Doctor keeps an average.

[vinadhun2 in reply to orangecity41]

Thanks

This has happened in how many months

[vinadhun2 in reply to orangecity41]

Your case is giving me ray of hope.

Sorry to ask so many questions

My case is similar to yours. I have no blood pressure no diabetes no thyroid etc.no protein in urine.

Can you give a rough idea of within how many months of starting renal diet your gfr started moving up

[vinadhun2 in reply to vinadhun2]

By the way I am 72.i am at 3b

My creatinine is 1.85 and gfr 35

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador in reply to vinadhun2]

It took me a while to adjust to the diet and lost weight but then leveled off. Looking back I guess started noticing improvement with-in 6 months. Everyone is different. I think too depends on other medical conditions? Some related to CKD and some not, in my situation.

[HealthBuddyMelissa]

I have never tried Hibiscus tea. I hear it is delicious and may help with reducing blood pressure. However, with that being said you really should discuss with your doctor that you would like to try it, and how to monitor yourself to be sure it is effective. Plus, your doctor may have to adjust your other meds to accommodate such a trial with Hibiscus tea to be sure your BP does not go too low.

[Golf-dean]

Thanks. Good advice.

[Marvin8]

Tons of natural foods lower blood pressure. You just need to do a ton of research and ask your nephrologist which ones might be beneficial or harmful. I love beet juice. Beet juice lowers BP significantly. Doc said lay off the beet juice because the nitric oxide component that lowers the blood pressure can put more stress. on the kidney. I didn't completely understand why, and after some research I found that it cause more kidney damage in those with IGA nephropathy (which I don't have) and other forms of ckd, so I figured I'd lay off the stuff. My BP is pretty normal for my age unless I get really stressed or dehydrated. Tis a shame because I really like beet juice.....aside from the oxalates that create a greater risk of kidney stones. I've had two of those and don't want another one, that's for sure.

[Darlenia]

I appreciate your proactive stance. My husband is also on 3 blood pressure meds and battling both diabetes and kidney disease. Please consult closely with your team, particularly your cardiologist...it seems that high blood pressure is blamed for kidney disease, other times it's vice versa. So one can go round-n-round on that. But, bottom line, it's crucial to bring down the pressure to a point where you don't get eye hemorrhages (which happen surreptitiously), strokes, etc. Natural solutions can help in this process, but stubborn high blood pressure will likely require prescribed meds. The key is to find the right combo to do that so you can continue to lead a quality life...and your cardiologist will have the knowledge and experience to guide the process. I'm saying this since our nephrologist started to work on this only to quickly abandon everything when side effects were overwhelming, our primary and cardiologist then stepped in to take the lead. Please note that I'm not speaking for everybody, just relating our experience.

[esperanta]

Hi G-d,. Sorry I cannot help with the hibiscus tea query but wanted to ask you whether you reside in the UK or US. I live in the UK and recently diagnosed at 3b. When I say diagnosed, really I diagnosed myself. I was given a clue by a receptionist who mentioned a high level of urea in the blood. I looked it up and then asked my doctor whether I had CKD to be told I had. It had been progressing over several years and I hadn't been given a clue. I am so shocked and disgusted at the attitudes of doctors. This has turned my life upside down especially the dietary changes just at the covid outbreak and I have to trawll the internet because even if I could get near my doctor at this time she is very dismissal about the whole thing and has given me no advice. Sorry G-d but I was wondering how you arrived at your diagnosis

[Golf-dean in reply to esperanta]

Wow. Fortunately I was diagnosed by my primary care physician here in the USA. She has been excellent and has run lots of tests. In fact, I’m having another test run next week where I collect urine for 24 hours. Last year my Creatinine was just slightly elevated and she said it was something to keep an eye on. This year - wham - big increase.

[Hidden in reply to esperanta]

I was also diagnosed almost 3 years ago with CKD. I understand that regarding CKD in the UK and being informed in a timely manner can be an issue just as it is in the USA. However, now that you know you can be proactive for your own benefit. I understand that it can be difficult at this time to get referrals to see a nephrologist and a renal dietitian, but it can't hurt to try.

Should that prove to be unsuccessful then you can still do things for yourself, in spite of the limitations of your healthcare program. You can go to the davita.com website and look for the link to their RECIPES on the menu bar. That will give you information on the nutritional values of foods and meals to begin to slow the progression of CKD.

You can also ask your doctor if they can tell you what the cause of your CKD is. Diabetes and high blood pressure are the two leading causes. Try to obtain as many hard copies of your previous blood labs and track your own protein, potassium, phosphorus, calcium, and sodium intake to bring any of those numbers down within the reference range of the labs.

Best of luck.