what does chronic kidney disease mean if you are in 3b? I inherited this disease from my mother’s mother.

[Tchspech]

I am a senior citizen who likes to write mysteries. I am lucky enough to be a snowbird who stays in Florida in the winter.

[lowraind]

Three good resources:

Cleveland Clinic;

Johns Hopkins;

Mayo Clinic.

[honeybug]

Hi Tchspech 😊🌿🌸🦋

Hello; I’m in Michigan permanently and a senior citizen too.

I also write stories and poetry.

I have stage 3a myself. I spoke with my doctor and he said not to worry about it until it gets to the 20s. I think he is wrong. I believe anytime your levels drop it’s concerning. I haven’t seen a kidney specialist yet because my next blood tests aren’t until October. If my levels are lower I’m going to schedule an appointment asap.

How are you doing??? 🤗

Both my dad and late brother suffered kidney failure (one of my brother’s kidneys even died but couldn’t be removed because he was in heart failure 4 years before he passed last year) I’m sure I’ll have it too due to my brother and I shared so many diagnoses.

You can PM me if you don’t want others to read your answer.

Love and prayers,

EvaJo aka EJ 😊🤗♥️🥰🙏🕊🌿🌸🦋

[ShyeLoverDoctor]

kidney.org is where you want to look for information.

Kidney disease is broken down into “stages” for doctors to look at. Stage 2, mild impairment of function, Stage 3a, mild-monderately impaired, state 3b, moderately impaired. Stage 4, severe impairment, Stage 5 Kidney failure also known as end-stage. You will die once you reach stage 5, unless you start dialysis or get a transplant.

When you get to stage 4, your kidneys really aren’t filtering waste products that well, and you will have to restrict certain foods. You won’t be able to eat potassium rich foods - oranges, avocados, tomatoes, bananas, potatoes. They have too much potassium.

Your kidneys have trouble filtering it out from foods you eat and it builds up in your blood. High potassium leads to heart rhythm disrupted and death. They will monitor it in your blood and if it gets too high you will be put on dialysis.

Nothing will help your kidnesys get better. You can only hope to slow the progression of it. A few drugs are known to be “kidney protective” such as ACE inhibitors and farxiga.

Very important to keep blood pressure down. Eat a low salt diet. Animal protein is hard for kidneys to digest. Become a vegetarian.

[Blackknight1989 in reply to ShyeLoverDoctor]

I’ve been stage 4 since an AKI at age 27…I’m 57 now, have lived with stage 4 CKD now longer than with “normal” kidney function and suffer none of the issues you describe…while that may be the way stage 4 is “characterized” in a hand out from a GP’s office as “possible side-effects” I have not suffered anything you describe…in fact, I feel fairly good most days, stay active exercising and suffer none of the issues you mention nor have any food restrictions. I was 27 when I suffered my AKI I’m 57 now. I got married raised two great kids who are now healthy productive adults and my wife and I are looking forward to retirement in Florida in a couple of years…I don’t eat tofu steaks, I still eat a prime rib for Christmas and July 4th…have had a great life and looking forward to a retirement of fishing, traveling and enjoying the Florida sunshine soon…there is new research on existing diabetic drugs and the possibility of stopping and perhaps reversing kidney damage and because our shared disease has become much more prevalent affecting millions worldwide there is tremendous research advancements being studied and tested that may just be able to reverse the damage caused by some sufferers of CKD…heck existing diabetic drugs MAY be the “cure” or at least an option to halt progression of CKD…it’s a top 10 killer now costing the World’s Health Systems trillions of dollars and that has spurred an aggressive research effort to find a prevention or cure in order to help suffers recover or at least halt progression and to lower the cost and strain on the Worlds Health Systems as well as “cure” or fix our disease progression…so the future should be a better place for CKD sufferers then the past 30 years that I’ve lived with CKD and I hope it comes quick enough to make my last 10-15 years healthier…as well as all the other sufferers like me!

[ShyeLoverDoctor in reply to Blackknight1989]

Nothing I said says you won’t have children and can’t enjoy a good life or travel. Your potassium can still be normal at stage 4. I never said it couldn’t be.

If you had educated yourself, you would know kale is actually not recommended at Stage 4. It is high in potassium. High potassium has very few symptoms, can and will be deadly, and they will put you on dialysis if it’s too high, period, no matter how good you feel.

550,000 are estimated to be on dialysis in the US,. I don’t know about the UK, once you reach stage 5. If you don’t want to end up on it, the smart thing is to start paying attention to your diet once you reach stage 4. You may choose to ignore it this. You’re not doing yourself any favors, but that’s your choice to make. Your kidneys are impaired, not normal, and you are considered immunocompromised by the way. Here in the US, they gave people with Stage 4 kidney disease priority for receiving the first round of Covid-19 vaccinations.

[Blackknight1989 in reply to ShyeLoverDoctor]

My apologies if I offended you as that is never my intention. I find that often those who haven’t lived through the stages of CKD can read the simplified literature for newly diagnosed patients from a GP’s office and generalize that stage 4 is life-altering and a small step from dialysis…as I have live in stage 4 for almost 30 years I know differently and only seek to offer hope as opposed to potential worry for the last stage before the truly life-altering stage 5 horrors. Since I’ve lived in stage 4 30 years versus 27 years with normal function I only seek to offer the hope that if a person is facing stage 4 it isn’t or doesn’t have to be the restricted, “unnormal” life as described in the CKD literature. I’ve not had to make any SIGNIFICANT life changes since my AKI at 27…except avoid toxins such as alcohol and certain restrictions on the “typical Western”(American) diet. The literature and description of stage 4 CKD make it seem that stage 4 is “almost” stage 5 and tremendously life-altering. While I do have some dietary restrictions and cannot “drink my troubles” away as some healthy people do, the relatively small changes I’ve lived with for 30 years were not life-altering…in my experience a life in stage 4 has been completely “normal” and avoiding the few toxins I probably should avoid anyway to have a healthy life haven’t made me feel as if I’ve had an unnatural experience over the last 30 years…and all indications barring some disease or condition contracted that results in further kidney damage I should live a normal life into my 70s. At 57 now I sure hope that’s the case as the kids are grown and Florida awaits! As an aside there are other options if a CKD suffer starts to show signs of increasing K. Baring additional AKI like issues if K starts rising there are medication options available to stop progression versus only the dialysis option…Granted if it’s another AKI type event with a fast spike in a persons K reading then certainly dialysis is the only option but if it’s the much more common slow progression there are medications that can slow of stop the progression of K before the drastic option of only dialysis…much research has been done recently and I am hopeful that a potential solution to halt progression is near (maybe with the existing diabetic drugs that are currently showing promise of halting CKD progression…maybe even potentially reversing some of the disease…finally wack case of CKD is different. For me K has never been an issue and for many while it’s dependent on the underlying cause of the CKD as there are several issues associated with the many types of CKD that can create the need of dialysis…While true that K at too high of a level will create the need for dialysis for many it isn’t an issue….just trying to give a different perspective as K has never been my issue yet I’ve suffered from stage 4 for over 30 years. My apologies if my attempt at a different perspective seemed as if I was discounting your contributions as that was NEVER my intent. I wish you well and appreciate your prospective!

[Blackknight1989 in reply to ShyeLoverDoctor]

Wow! I didn’t mean to strike a nerve as I obviously did, just trying to add context to your informed posts…I’m not trying to argue nor am I disagreeing with you…I’m quite familiar with CKD as I’ve been stage 4 since age 29, suffered AKI in 1996, so as a 30 “veteran” of CKD I have some familiarity with the disease…that being said, you make good points, though CKD is a multi-faceted disease uniquely personal to each sufferer…with that I’ll cut bait and defer to your greater knowledge with the goal of learning additional information from your insightful posts…my apologies if I offended.

[RNMeemaw]

Best answer is to Google and read from reputable sources such as Cleveland Clinic, Mayo etc. I'm in 3b & I'm in wait & see. If you have diabetes, keep it in control, if high BP, work to get it down. Eat a healthy diet

[orangecity41 NKF Ambassador]

I am a senior citizen and diagnosed at 3b and put on a ckd diet based on blood work for phosphorus, potassium, sodium. The diet has helped me, I was diagnosed over 6 years ago

I live in Florida and spend some time in Canada during summer.

Dealing with CKD traveling can be challenging, especially as a senior.

Keep us posted on your CKD journey.