Dietician

[S_dillow]

When are you commonly referred to a dietician especially with Ckd stage 3

[WinJ3]

You need to be proactive and do it yourself. Ask your doctor to refer you.

[citruskayaker]

Ideally, find your own but first read a couple books such as "stopping kidney disease" and look at dietary recommendations from the NKF, national kidney foundation. To be successful requires major changes such as giving up alcohol, sodas, meat, dairy, fried foods. You have to love life and decide to make a full commitment for 3 to 6 months and reject the temptation of foods you love to see positive results. So far, it has paid off for me. My new nephrologist agrees and my old one was too busy with end stage patients to motivate me. WinJ3 is giving excellent advice here.

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador in reply to citruskayaker]

So true. Good you are being pro-active. My diet is working for me also.

[Bassetmommer NKF Ambassador]

You can ask for a referral at any time. They won't "prescribe" until 3b or 4, if they do. So don't wait. There are dieticians who do not take insurance, and even though you have to pay, it is well worth the money. My dietician is who I credit with keeping me off dialysis. I had to seek her out as she was independent and only affiliated with NKF and not any medical group.

[barbara55109]

True renal dieticians are hard to find and current medical practice doesn't advise dietary prevention. Medical researchers do suggest dietary changes early, but it takes along time for Dr. to start using newer techniques in the clinical setting. Same goes for dieticians. The two I've seen are not on the veggie train, they just care about the big 3. The biggest dietary advice is "eat to your labs" for the big 3 - phosphorus, potassium and salt. These are the big three that they start caring about once you hit stage 4-5. Preventative dietary advice, based on current medical research, is to go vegetarian to prevent further damage. Meat is difficult for our kidneys to process. Most renal dieticians work for dialysis clinics and focus on end stage patients. I live in Minnesota, home of 10,000 Dr.s and there aren't any board certified renal dieticians who take my very good insurance. But I'm not sure it would even be helpful since I can't go veggie due to having an ileostomy.

[Sophiebun11]

To answer your question I was not referred to a Renal Dietician in Stage 3. I never even saw a Neph until I reached Stage 4 and then asked for, and received, a referral to a Renal Dietician.

You can take classes on Davita which cover what to eat or read the KidneySchool.org modules which also cover food and all the basics on CKD.

I found the Dietician referral not to be very helpful in my case. I have been a vegetarian my entire life, I don't have diabetes, so she told me I was already doing everything right so she couldn't add anything except that I needed to eat more carbohydrates and add more protein to my diet.

If you aren't on a plant-based diet, it will be a help. But reading books and going to the CKD websites can be equally helpful.

If you really want a referral, ask your PCP or Neph, either one can refer you.

[S_dillow in reply to Sophiebun11]

Thanks Sophie I can't afford what they charge and insurance definitely won't cover so I'll use what I can when I have to

[Sophiebun11]

Go to the public library, it's free. Check on books on CKD diet. You don't really need a dietician. Mine was free with ins. but it was really a waste of time. The kidneyschool.org classes online are also free and you can ask the RN any questions you want via web or email during the class. Each of us has to read and listen to information and decide what works for each of us. A dietician is just one source of info, but all of that is in library books or online.

Good luck.

[Bet117 NKF Ambassador]

Hi S_dillow,

Another thought is to call your local medical center/ hospital and ask patient advocacy to give you the name of the person who sees hospitalized kidney patients.

Let them know your present financial situation and ask for assistance. Patient advocates are there to help you.

You can also call the NKF who has a number at the bottom of the page here. I believe that they have direction to renal dieticians.

I know that I saw a post by a member who had a renal dietician on line. Go to search at the top here.

It will all work out for you, I promise.

Reach back.....

[citruskayaker in reply to Bet117]

That is an excellent ideal! Don't give up if your first effort is unsuccessful. You must be determined and you can do this but remember that a diet must address each person individually based on the whole body. For example, a person with diabetes and kidney disease has a special diet that differs from non-diabetic CKD patients.

[Bet117 NKF Ambassador in reply to citruskayaker]

Agreed. Some foods will be great for the kidneys but raise the glucose and electrolytes. Each person is different with different needs based on labs and taste. What may be good for one person may

It's getting a professional to offer tailored suggestions and monitor.

Lifestyle!