I first posted in December last year, I received some incredible advice, support and encouragement from many of the members on this site, thank you all once again. To recap, in December I was diagnosed with CKD 3a.
I had some new tests completed this week and I received the results today. A mixed bag of readings.
My serum sodium was lower than the limit of 133-146mmol/L at 127. In December is was 138. My serum Potassium was higher than the limits of 3.5-5.3 mmol/L at 5.4. In December it was 4.9. My creatinine was just within the limits at 59-104 umol/L at 104, it was 142 in December. My eGFR was above the lower limit at 65, it was 44 in December!!!
It does seem that I am anemic as my hemoglobin and red blood cell count are low. My GP has booked me for more blood and urine tests next week. Maybe he wants to reconfirm the result or conduct for further tests on the anemia.
Has anyone seen these changers before? I would like to think that diet and medication advice you all provided worked, but I will know more the end of next week.
I will update the results next week. Thanks again everyone for the advice and support. Cheers 👍
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DrRoblox
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If your results and your level of ckd is only what you stated then mine must be of the scale as recent blood creatine test was 201 and I have one kidney and just in the last week have had to take first tablet of vitamin D tablet high dosage as have very low 23 under the 25 very minimum levels.
May be worth comparing notes eg by pte message, as my mum also has a solitary kidney?.For example, we believe that its strongly linked to her rapidly increasing albuminuria results as per some scientific evidence.
My father has just completed a blog outlining the monitoring and management of her condition which I can pm to you, if of interest.
Re vit D, she has supplemented for years and there is scientific evidence of kidney benefit which may partly explain some of her progress.
Hello Ruth, thanks for the reply. I am just a little confused as it changed quite a bit over 3 months. I wait for the retest next week. You seem to have suffered and it doesn’t sound nice. Keeping going and thanks again 👍
In general, you seem to have made progress - well done- but I believe it's important to monitor all results regularly. So, as far as CKD is concerned, your urine results may be important.My mum's urine data have been the main concern to us albeit not her nephro. She's also ckd3.
Hello userotc, thanks for the response, I am just very surprised by some the results, looks like hydrating, dropping ibuprofen and the ppi’s certainly helped and of course reducing protein also maybe played a part. I am anxious to see the results of the blood and urine tests next week. 🤞 I will post the results. Thanks again, cheers 👍
Good morning DrRoblox, similar to you I have CKD 3a, diagnosed last year. I have also requested copies of blood results from my GP. Even in the last 2 there are variations similar to what you are saying. I also noted a EGFR from 56 to 60, yet creatinine was up a bit. I am on Lisinopril, so not sure if meds change the reading but GP happy enough. I’m not going to overthinking as I want to keep a positive view, but plan to try and keep concentrating on gradual CKD healthy diet changes. What I can’t figure out is why EGFR has improved, as I believed that couldn’t happen…maybe someone more knowledgeable can help us with that one. Hope this is of help, keep us posted x
Hello Miss-guinepig, thanks for replying. I am unsure what to think right now, the creatitine results make sense but the others are confusing, especially the eFGR.,Hopefully more info available after the next round of tests. I am also on Lisinporil and Atrostatin, again the GP seems ok with these. I will hopefully know more next week. Thanks again, cheers 👍
CKD often leads to anemia. I'm now mega doses of iron. My anemia is bad enough to be tired and not bad enough for epo injections or blood transfusions.
Your situation raised a lot of questions for me. Did you go on the "renal diet" on your own or with your doctor's agreement? If you did so on your own, you'll probably want to inform your doctor. That diet requires removing proteins and electrolytes which can create other issues. For example, dropping a lot of protein out of your diet can lead to low iron and anemia and more. Hence, a doctor may wonder if you have an internal bleed, a blood disorder, a cancer, etc. In the vast majority of cases involving kidney disease, however, it's the kidneys themselves and the situation is very common. If you took a lot of salt out of your diet, then that can lead to below normal levels in sodium and so on. When electrolytes like sodium go too low - it can create issues in multiple organs (brain, heart, kidneys, etc.) and that also raises concerns in medical circles. If your doctor is aware if your diet, then perhaps there will be simple solutions like returning some items to your diet, turning some concerning issues around. This is just a suggestion from a lady who followed her hubby's "renal diet" to be supportive. and really had a bad outcome from it. The "renal diet" (especially the entire diet) isn't recommended for early stage CKD and I, in particular, shouldn't have been on it.
Hello Darlenia, thank you for your reply and sorry for my late response. You raise some excellent points and I had not thought enough about the individual values sufficiently. In the UK you are only advised you have CKD when you are diagnosed with stage 3. The normal response is stop adding salt and do some research, you don’t get any dietary advise or specialist consultations until you reach stage 4.
From the great advice I received from other members my studying my results, it was very noticeable that my creatinine level was very high at 140 and my eGFR at 143 and based on this decided to control my protein intake, cut fat and stop PPI’s and taking any ibuprofen. We never added salt to meals but used a small amount of salt in food prep.
So from mid December I started the dietary changes and the changes were seen in the results from January and most recently in a retest in February. My serum sodium dropped from 137 in December to 127 and 125 in January and February respectively, my creatinine dropped from 141 in December to 104 in January and February. My eGFR increased to 45 in December to 65 in January and February.
On Thursday this week my GP called and advised that I go to A&E immediately because of the low serum sodium count. I was admitted in the afternoon and put on saline solution. I should be released later today. I have retests next week so I will post the results.
In conclusion you are totally correct in all your assumptions and very valuable comments. I too, am convinced that not adding salt during food preparation was a significant factor.
Appreciate the update! The renal diet should be "by prescription" only. I'm so glad your doctor caught your situation in time to turn it around. Like you, I prepare my own meals, with just normal salt - a sprinkle here and there, etc. So, after reading about how everyone takes too much salt, I joined my hubby and removed all salt from my meals too. After a couple of months, I suddenly passed out - three times in succession in public. Lucky for me and others, I wasn't driving a car. My physician was shocked that I, on my own, had done that without talking to him. It took me nearly 3 months to be feel good again. Before I passed out, I experienced heartbeat disturbances, visual disturbances (wavy sidewalks, floating feelings), fatigue, strange dreams, etc. Imbalances in electrolytes can impact and harm many organs. I also suspect many who "passed away peacefully in their sleep" actually died from electrolyte disturbances. I'm very glad you're on the path to improved health. As my family from Europe always said, "Keep things normal. That's crazy enough."
That sounds kind of like my labs. I drank a lot of water before the test and it came out with several components a little too low, including sodium and chloride and red blood cells. Also creatinine was .90 Check if they tested your "osmolality" which is the ratio of particles to fluid in your blood. Mine was too low, making me doubtful of all the other low values. Also eGFR which was just listed as greater than 60.
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