Trying to understand

[Jdonnabndt]

I had double and blurred vision that started several weeks ago. O have had multiple health problems for years and wear glasses also. Bit back to my story. I returned home one day with vision problems, a new doc had raised one of my two bp meds,doubled it actually as he said my BP was running high. My husband advised me to check my BP and it was very high. We kept check all weekend by Monday I went to doc as a walk in, it was 208/118._they made me wait3 hours,never checked it again and doubled my other medication.went back for labs a week later, still real high,they added a new drug,makes 3 now among my other 14 meds and raised my other drug again. Following week went in for lab results,usually 10 minute visit,took 45 minutes and the shocking info that I had stage 3 renal disease,my gfr was 56.1. I didn't even know what they were talking about. Raised my BP meds again,gave me prescrip for chantix and said my sugar was 113 and I needed to quit smoking. I am still in shock and noone said to see a specialist or anything. Got a print out on all meds and had lab results faxed to office. In November,everything looked normal. My psoriasis has been real bad,itching all over,viaion still gets bad. I have been trying to read up on this as much as I can. Talked to quit now to get patches and gum to quit smoking and left voice mail at docs office that I want to be referred to a specialist. I have had 6 surgeries on my left hip,4 were hip replacements,both wrists have plates, high cholesterol, asthma,psoriasis,osteoarthritis, thorasic compression fractures,now also been told I haven't beginning of copd,

[phillen]

Gosh you have been through the mill firstly don't worry too much this makes matters worse especialy psoriasis! my husband stayed at stage 3 for over 15 years & most people in the uk now don't get referred untill stage 4 the main priority will be to get your bp down to normal so giving up smoking keeping a healthy weight etc will all help tremendously as smoking is the worst for raising the bp! an egfr of 56 is your kidneys are 56% its how they work it out! good luck with your quitting smoking

its the best thing you can do to help

[Jdonnabndt in reply to phillen]

Thanks,that gives me some comfort.they were on process of trying to get an app. With an ra when this started. I put in all my symptoms an internet says I have ankylosing spondylitis. It will be June before I get the app. Now I'm hoping all the symptoms were this.don't know if I can deal with another medical issue right now

[aadd4444]

Dear Madame, I pray for you to be cured as soon as possible.

[Celtic]

jdonnabndt, please don't worry about an eGFR of 56 - the important thing is that it remains stable at that level. Many people have been diagnosed with an eGFR below normal but within the CKD stage 3 level like you. No treatment is necessary and I agree with Phillen that giving up smoking and keeping a healthy weight etc will help and may even result in an improvement in the eGFR reading, as well s lowering your blood pressure. High blood pressure itself can lead to reducing kidney function, but so can many medications for high blood pressure. I have experienced significant sudden drops in my eGFR as a result of taking two particular BP medications. When these two medications were stopped, my eGFR improved. A good renal consultant should be able to check your medications to find the right ones for you which don't have any adverse effect on your kidney function.

As far as the problem with your vision is concerned, have you had your eyes checked by an ophthalmologist? If not, then do arrange an appointment just to rule out any specific reason for your double/blurred vision. This could also be due to one of the medications you are taking - you aren't taking steroids by any chance are you?

[Jdonnabndt in reply to Celtic]

No steroids I was trying to get an appointment for the ankylosing spondylitis as when I put all symptoms In the computer, that is what keeps coming up. I can't get in to see an ra doctor til June.tonite I went back online to see if the kidney disease and AS could be related,of course they can,so now wondering if all this is tied in together. Thanks for the information, I had thought about all the medications being the cause also.just really confused with all this and am trying to get a handle on it.

[phillen in reply to Celtic]

Yes bp meds are not good either for the kidneys some can make them worse but the need to keep the bp down is very great, my hubby has had so many different bp meds over about 25 years finally settled on bisoprolol & candesartan for 5 years they seem to suit & have less side effects than most!

[Celtic in reply to phillen]

Ah, phillen, doesn't that just prove how different we are and how differently we can respond to medications. Bisoprolol was one of the BP meds that reduced my kidney function quite drastically in just over a month. Immediately after stopping it the function regained a few of the points lost. Indapamide had the worst effect - 9 points lost in a few months but fortunately 8 of those 9 points recovered immediately it was stopped. The combination of meds is probably important too. Losartan has been the one with the least side effects for me but it doesn't prove very successful on its own for lowering my BP so combinations are still being trialled, the latest being Doxazosin. Crossing everything on this one or I'll be running out of options but latest round of blood tests has shown lots of abnormal results, including HB, so hoping the next lot of tests will show an improvement - I'm an awkward case, although I suspect the consultant treating would not put it quite as mildly as that!

[phillen]

Yes my hubby is an awkward case too had heart valve replacement etc so he's tried them all Losartan made the legs swell Ramipril took for about 10 years but then gave him a cough Doxasin he tried for a year or so you name it he's tried it luckily what he takes now seem to work ok at one point he had a combination of 3!

Furosemide he was on briefly for a while but he was in stage 5 by then so it didn't matter they wouldn't prescribe any water tablets before that even when fluid overload as they said they are very damaging to the kidneys & yet you hear so many people on them for high bp! i suppose if you don't already have ckd it don't matter! funny how medication works differently for everyone! what suits on don't suite another!