Hi everyone! I’m new to this community. I was hoping to find people who have reversed end stage renal disease and/or diabetes naturally. My mom’s latest GFR was 17 and she’s between a rock and a hard place. Her doctor keeps increasing her lasix, knowing it can cause kidney damage. When she tries to get off of lasix, she can’t breathe. Any suggestions or testimonials to share? Thank you in advance!
Avoiding dialysis with natural approaches - Kidney Disease
Avoiding dialysis with natural approaches
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What type of doctor prescribed Lasix for your mother? I ask because it is not recommended for someone with CKD, especially at stage 4. I've included below a link to Lasik at the Drugs.com website for you to look over. I'm also not sure I understand the correlation between stopping the Lasik and not being able to breathe. The purpose of taking Lasik is to remove the excess salt from her body. At any stage of CKD, she should only be eating the bare minimum of sodium, and definitely no added sodium.
There is no way to reverse kidney disease, natural, or otherwise. All those of us with CKD can do is slow the progression through a kidney-friendly meal plan. If she doesn't have one I'd highly recommend she see one and ask about meeting with a Renal Dietitian who can help her develop a meal plan to match her wants and needs. Along with the meal plan, she should also be controlling her blood pressure, and if she has it, diabetes. Those are the top two causes of CKD.
Best of luck.
in reply to
Thank you so much for your reply. I have read that article and sent it to my mom. It seems to me the swelling affects her abdomen and diaphragm in such a way that it affects her breathing.
I will encourage her to see a renal dietician however I tend to not agree with most dieticians as far as what is “healthy” and “not healthy”. Dieticians are still recommending whole grains and dairy as health foods which I know from personal experience ruined my health.
I understand the importance of diet and controlling her blood sugar and blood pressure too so thank you for mentioning that.
Again your time and insights are much appreciated.
in reply to
Again, it may be that she is consuming too much sodium. Cutting way back on her sodium intake is the best way. By speaking to a nephrologist there may be a better medication for removing the excess, but I'm not a physician and can't offer any names. You can do a search on diuretic medications that are less harmful to the kidneys.
in reply to
Thank you! Yes she is on a low sodium, low potassium and low protein diet. That much she has followed by her doctors recommendations.
Oh and BTW to answer your question, it was a nephrologist who prescribed it. 🤦🏽♀️
Root cause simply and purely is possibly kidney and or heart decline in function BUT we do not diagnose here. This is a question for her doctors not for a patient forum. Best of luck
Lasix is primarily to assist removing excess fluid. If a person has insufficient renal or cardiac functions and is taking Lasix, stopping this medication could cause excess fluid retention and thus difficulty breathing. My understanding at any rate. I am not a doctor and do not offer advice or diagnosis merely an opinion which should not be taken as medical advice. Blessings
in reply to KidneyCoach
I was suggesting a different medication that wouldn't impact the kidneys as much.
Okay
I agree Mr. Kidney, there are other less renal toxic fluid retention reduction medications. My husband was put on Torsemide for example.
in reply to Bassetmommer
Pachee said it was prescribed by her nephrologist and I know there are other diuretic medications less likely to affect the kidneys. Hopefully, she can find a different one.
I suffer from time to time with fluid overload, which causes difficulty breathing and I take Lasix in a small dose to keep from having Congestive heart failure which I have suffered from as a result in the past along with my dialysis treatments.
Unfortunately there's no way to reverse. As Mr Kidney says potentially you can slow it down with diet and lifestyle changes. I was diagnosed at 17% and told I would be on dialysis within 6 months. Through diet changes I made that 6 months into five years. I think I could have lasted even longer if I had of made changes earlier. Your mum should be seeing a renal dietician who can look at her blood work and recommend diet changes.
I am at that stage now feeling a little hopeless. Can you tell me a little about your diet and how you are feeling?
Sorry to hear that. You really need to speak to a renal dietician. There is no point looking at my diet because we are all different. For example even when I was at 7% kidney function I had no problems with phosphate or potassium so I could eat food high in that. Well that's not going to be the same for everyone. If you were able to sit down with your blood results and talk to a renal dietician they could come up with a diet for you. I have been on peritoneal dialysis for 8 months and feel a lot better than I did before starting.
Thanks I'll do that. How is your at home treatment?
Doing dialysis at home is fine. You need a fair bit of space to store all the equipment and supplies obviously. You have to keep track of all your consumables and make sure you order them in plenty of time. Doing it at home is so much easier for me. You have all your own setup and don't have to adjust anything because nobody else is using it. I have a bit of flexibility when I do it and I can make minor adjustments to my dialysis schedule so we can go out. Well back in the day when we were allowed out!
Hi Rabbit01. Can I call on you for some advice in the future. My eGFR is now 12 and I haven't been to the Renal clinic since January. I don't know where you are from but in the UK you don't go on dialysis until you are under around 8 or 10. My son is currently being tested as a donner but that can take quite a long time . If I need to go on dialysis, I'm not sure which would be the best for me. I had thought of PD but I have a dog that goes nowhere without me and insists on sleeping in my bed so I would need to do manual PD. Are you able to shower with PD - I think you can get something to protect the catheter.
I am in UK. In fact the doctors were trying to get me on dialysis once I got to 11%. It was me that kept delaying it. There is so much more that can be done regarding patient information but that is a whole different discussion. You can still have a dog on PD. You are only vulnerable during the time you are connecting up so providing you can keep him out of the room for that then you will be fine. Yes you can still have a shower. There is a water proof plastic dressing called tegaderm that you can cover the exit site with while you shower. If you want to friend me then we can have a private chat if you prefer.
If there was anyway to reverse it then I would not be sitting here right now doing dialysis. Yes people can have temporary damage to their kidneys and they can recover from that and get back to normal. But if you are talking about long term chronic kidney disease where the nephrons are destroyed and turned to scar tissue then they don't come back. Sure you can make diet changes which give the impression of a reversal but at best you can only slow it down. I spent five years reading every bit of work that I could find in search of a way of getting back my life and trying to avoid dialysis. If you know of a way of reversing chronic kidney disease then please share.
I would not be on dialysis if you could reverse end stage renal failure with diet ! I pray that your mum can keep off dialysis as long as possible but as rabbit01 has explained once the damage is done there is no going back. A good diet is always best, even on dialysis you are constantly monitored to make sure that you are getting enough of certain things and not to much of other’s, a balancing act of sorts. If it were as simple as diet we would not have people needing dialysis or transplants. My best to you and your mum.
KidneyCoachNKF Ambassador
if a persons kidney disease is chronic, improving outcomes are certainly possible. Once a person has reached stage 5 its rarely changed for better and most often impossible to reverse the damage. Since the kidneys were damaged over longer periods of time regaining that healthy tissue and function is very difficult.
Acute kidney injury can often be recovered to somewhat normal function. I've known several withe AKI who were able to get off dialysis and return to normal life.
Those with CKD due to diabetes and high blood pressures are very often able to stop or reverse their kidney function by lifestyle changes. Those with hereditary CKD like alports or pkd or even diseases like LUPUS or FSGS can slow progression but not reverse damage.
Blessings
Hi Pachee, my GFR had gone down to 19 so I went on a renal diet watching potassium. Phosphorus, sodium and calories. Cut protein way back. My GFR has s now 30. I lost 20lbs.
KidneyCoachNKF Ambassador
I would dare you to reverse my kidney failure.
In my opinion this is just one of many systems out there which can improve insufficient renal function through (as i stated earlier)diet and lifestyle changes. Looks like this one has added supplements which could be costly and potentially dangerous for some individuals.
If this system were truly a miracle cure then hundreds of thousands would be off dialysis already. Nobody WANTS to be on dialysis. NOBODY! Why charge money? Why? And why not charge $2? Why so much? Because this is to make others rich, not to cure. IMHO.
If this is real it can reverse and cure MY failure. I challenge you.
Sadly you are going to be right. I tried so hard to avoid dialysis and I really think I did slow the progression but I still ended up on dialysis. I have to say that dialysis is nowhere near as scary as I thought it would be. I wish they'd have introduced me to people on dialysis so I could have understood how good it can be. I spent too much time looking for a miracle reversal. Ieft starting dialysis till my skin was yellow and I felt like crap at 7%. In hindsight not a smart move!
I have PKD so I know this is not possible, however I believe in positive thinking and prayers and I hope nothing but the best for you !
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