Approximately 3 years ago, my labs revealed I was 3b. My physician told me this, said I had kidney problems. It was not explained to me what this meant. I assumed it was nothing to be concerned about. So I forgot about it. The years went by and a referral was given for me to go see a kidney doctor. Again, I thought it was just a precaution & I put off making an appointment. My husband passed away & I had a tough time for a while. Again, I forgot about it. I had no knowledge of what kidney disease is, a diet plan, my declining health. Recently at a yearly check up, my doctor had more labs done. My kidneys are now in serious trouble & I was sent immediately to the kidney doctor. 2 labs later I was sent to the ER. I stayed in the hospital until my eGFR improved. I’m angry at myself and my primary doctor. I never took this seriously. My doctor said very little, explained nothing. I left his office thinking it was no big deal. I know there are a lot of people out there with kidney disease and have no clue. I wish my doctor had put the fear in me to be accountable. To follow up. To DO something. Yes, it’s my own fault. I know that.
Clueless what 3b meant: Approximately... - Kidney Disease
Clueless what 3b meant
Rosebud, sorry for your loss. Do not spend a lot of time beating yourself up. At 3b, diet maybe would have made a difference. But, your doctor should have been pulling labs every six months without fail to see what was going on. So he/she is to blame. There often are little symptoms until late stage. You are lucky you pulled through without having to go on dialysis. Now..spend your time getting educated as best as you can. Start with National Kidney Foundation and read through the materials. There is a lot to help you. Ask questions, we are here for you.
I agree you're not the main one to blame. It's doctor(s) for not doing more eg referring you. You'll note on here this is common, almost certainly because they can do little at stage 3 - but YOU can which Is why it's wrong
OMG this happened to me to. I will never understand why our primary physicians don't explain to us what is going on with theses numbers. Found out when I was in intensive care when my gfr was 11. Luckily with diet I have been able to get it up to 42. But my thought is the doctor I see every year had to have seen those numbers going down. Take Care.
Bringing it up to 42 from 11 is impressive!!! What did you do for your diet? I know that that question might be way too difficult to answer, but if you can give me some insight, I would greatly appreciate it. Diets are so confusing, and without a renal dietician (my insurance won’t cover one until I’m stage 5. Makes no sense!) to guide me, I’m left on my own. I was one of those people that ate what they wanted for my entire life- until the ckd came along. Do you take any supplements specifically for your kidneys? I’m at 34 gfr right now, and want to try to improve it. Thanks for any info.
Hi RosebudRed! If it were me I’d talk to my GP asking why they didn’t explain it to me. I’d ask a lot of questions. Doctors are generally good people who want to help so I’d think if you explained your concerns they will try harder to work with you. I’m so sorry for your loss.
I suspect some primary doctors assume the specialists one is referred to will firmly diagnose and educate. And then I suspect some specialists assume the primary did that. I also think most doctors and patients don't really want to directly address the dark side of some medical conditions - because humans are bad news averse. My hubby, a diabetic, didn't snap to attention until he visited a nephrologist who laid it all out and told him he only had 7 years to live unless he immediately changed his lifestyle, ate healthier, and dropped weight. My hubby did that and his nephrologist mentioned he was a rare person to actually do it. "The majority ignore what I say..."
I had a Doctor who also did not do anything at CKD 3. I had symptoms, which DR thought was something else. I did change Doctors and was properly diagnosed. CKD diet has helped greatly.
I think the problem with CKD is that there are no symptoms, until there are. The NKF says that 1 out of 3 people have CKD and don't know it. My first symptom was horrible headaches due to high blood pressure. It was a warning sign for my doctor. He did more testing & a kidney biopsy determined I had FSGS. It was 1992 and unfortunately they didn't know about changing your diet to a kidney friendly diet. 1999 I had my transplant from a 16 year old deceased donor. And here I am almost 25 years later living LIFE!
The best thing you can do is learn all you can about kidneys and CKD. Go to NKF website, good place to start. kidney.org I found that the more educated you are about kidney disease the more your doctor will take you seriously.
Unlike you, I had an eGFR of 24 when first diagnosed. sort of out of the blue, though I had other ailments. I was sick of feeling sick, took it very seriously, educated myself, and jumped onto the vegan kidney diet, exercised more, drank more water, etc. and my eGFR came up. I was taking Losartan for high blood pressure, which is one of the drugs that may improve kidney function a little, though medical knowledge says kidney function can't improve. Farxiga is a new drug that supposedly helps more, as you probably know. Sorry this is happening to you, sounds like quite a sad period in your life. I had the 24 eGFR reading 3 or4 years ago, and feel much healthier now than then. I'm around your age, went through a wrenching divorce just prior to the first diagnosis, though that's a very different experience than losing a spouse, it did leave me feeling devastated, which has to affect labs. Best of luck to you. I am stage 3 now, not sure why, but grateful.
unfortunately, this is way too common. i was lucky in that i had a pcp who referred me to a nephrologist as soon as she diagnosed ckd stage 3, 6 years ago. my egfr has fluctuated over the years to as low as 27 to high of 60 +. i am now at 40. i requested that i have labs done every 2 months so that has been helpful in regular tracking. this is a very tricky condition. it is often very difficult to figure out the flux. i do try to eat based on my lab values. i have high blood pressure but it has been well controlled with medication.
So sorry you are going through this. Do not blame yourself! Doctor's need to do better much better.
Go see your doctor get labs done follow a good ckd diet try to see a renal dietician.
I was not told anything in the beginning offered no extended knowledge or information and never knew there was a renal dietician until I joined this group.
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