I've recently been dx with high potassium. I started taking Lokelma and it seems to be helping, potassium went from 6.2 to 4.4. The problem is it makes me severely constipated. What, if anything, do you do to counteract this. The obvious answer is eat more fiber or take a fiber supplement but that doesn't work for me. It never has. Also, i drink my 8 glasses of water a day. Any ideas or thoughts are appreciated.
Thanks in advance
I know…constipation is no fun. You could try stool softener and maybe exercise like walking. If that want work, I would let your doctor know.
I know that walking helps me also. Here is a link to Davita regarding walking and CKD. davita.com/education/ckd-li...
Jodaer,Being stuck is no fun. I was having that issue and still do from time to time. My answer is not for everyone and you should run it by your doctor. More fiber. I eat plant based and even with all that, I still add more fiber. I add milled flax seed to many things. I manage to eat about 2 -3 tablespoons a day. I add it for the protein which I was lacking too. It adds a little. The thing with adding fiber that is crucial is you need to drink plenty of water with it. That is key. I still occasionally need a stool softener as well and that was approved by my nephrologist. Movement is the other key. Walking is good but any exercise is helpful.
How active are you? Activity will help more than constipation.
Thanks for the replies. I can't walk much due to lower back pain. Fiber, believe it or not, blocks me even more. I do drink my 8 glasses a day. I've been using an herbal tea but was curious as to how others handle this problem.
When you are taking fiber you need to drink even more than your usual amount of water daily. As for exercise, I too have lower back pain, so I use an exercise bike for most of my exercise, and use an eliptical a little bit also. With kidney disease, and constipation, it is important to be as physically active as you can be.
Can you run closer to the potassium limit and so less meds? Prune juice for my wife who suffers. Hi potassium I know but perhaps in small quantities?
Commiserations anyway: only had it rarely amd its awful.
What kind of diet you on? One consequence of my going plant based was that I went from being a comparatively unconstipated 1 x day mover to being a 3 x per day mover.
You'd have to watch your potassium but that's do-able.
I've been on low carb for diabetes but will probably have to rethink that somewhat. So far, it seems that eating for low potassium and eating for diabetes is polar opposites. Plant based diets just don't appeal to me. I was trying to buy ice cream at Sprouts the other day and there was no ice cream, it was all plant based, dairy free, lactose free and a few other frees.
I can't say I was over the moon about the prospect of plant based myself. I had been 'eat anything I like' based before that. I've gotten used to it to a degree and its probably only 30% as bad as I imagined. And that.more the inconvenience than taste.
But if CKD, then low or very low plant based appears to have a lot of merit - there's lots about it on this site.
But I do commiserate. Having two serious illness to worry about is an utter bummer..
To be honest I've not researched plant based that much. What turns me off is it's processed foods. I rarely buy anything in boxes or packages. I try to eat as clean as possible. If I were to make a change I would go vegetarian. When I do eat processed foods, they are junk foods. BTW, In addition to CKD and Diabetes, I also have COPD and IBS
All you need is a bit of cardiovascular in there to make it a full house. Bloody Hell, the stuff folk Labour under...
Read “how not to die” by Dr Greger for info on whole food plant based diets. Also “the China syndrome” by Dr Campbell & finally “how to stop & reverse heart disease” by Dr Eselstyne - all on plant based diets. Downside: b12 deficiency possible, iron deficiency anemia possible monitor Hg & B12. You don’t have to go all or none - experiment & maybe add fish on weekends which is a WFPB diet for the most part with Mediterranean diet on weekends. Whole food means unprocessed plants - the real thing in your recipes. No dairy, no living things - meat, fish. Only plants from soil. But plants do not have heme iron so treat low Hg/anemia to get Hg to normal.
Thanks for all the replies.. you have given me a lot to think about.
My doctor recommends taking Miralax ,or the cheaper clearlax, along with colace, or generic. Initially, I was on lactilose, but it caused to much gas. Be sure to drink plenty of water fruits, and veggies.
Miralax says right on the bottle not to take it if you have kidney disease, unless directed by your nephrologist. There is even a lawsuit in by a guy who says his CDK was caused by it. In later stages of CDK it is more damaging to the kidneys.
Do consult your nephrologist about every RX or supplement , and express your concerns about Miralax.
Hello jodaer
I have just seen your question and read all the replies. You have my sympathy, especially since you have so many health problems. I also struggled with intermittent constipation for many years, then used 1 natural senna tablet when need for many years. This worked well until I changed my diet having been diagnosed with age-related CKD about 6 years ago - I found the senna tablet was too strong to use (probably because of the extra fibre that was in the low potassium diet I adopted).
I started keeping a food diary and noticed that some foods caused problems, in particular white bread and boiled or poached eggs - the bread problem was fixed by just using wholemeal bread or putting a teaspoonful of finely milled flax seed onto an open sandwich if using white bread and the latter problem was fixed by frying eggs or making omelettes using a low calorie fry spray in a non-stick frying-pan. Your food problems may be entirely different, or it may be when you eat the food or if you drink some of your glass of water before, or during, the meal. Hope these ideas work for you - curleytop1.
I do rather keep a food diary. I have a gluten problem so only eat sprouted or sour dough bread and only 1 slice per day. Thanks for your kind thoughts, much appreciated.
Flax seed powder. I understand it helps fight constipation & has lipid reducing benefits.
I have read that propylene glycol (Miralax) (Restoralax) are the main suggestions for chronic constipation that can't be helped by the above-mentioned remedies. I have been taking it for years and it has not affected my GFR numbers.
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