Can efgr improve drastically?

I truly admire your strength and determination. It must have been incredibly difficult seeing your grandmother, mother, and aunt go through dialysis, and I completely understand your decision.

A vegetarian diet has been highly recommended for my father as well, and we’ve been strictly following it—eliminating red meat completely and sticking to boiled vegetables with minimal oil. Processed foods can definitely be a challenge to cut out, but every step in the right direction makes a difference.

I absolutely agree that diet and exercise play a huge role in maintaining kidney health. Wishing you all the best on your journey, and thank you for your kind words and encouragement! ♥️

I completely understand your feelings about dialysis, and your journey has been incredibly inspiring. Thank you for the encouragement! We’re staying committed to the diet and lifestyle changes because, as you've shown, they truly make a difference.

I’ve always been more of a carnivore too, so adjusting to a vegetable-based diet for my father has been a learning experience. But we’re making it work, incorporating meals like boiled vegetables, and avoiding red meat altogether. It’s great to hear about alternatives like Indian vegetable dishes and eggplant-based meals—I’ll definitely look into those!

I really appreciate your advice and will check out **Dadvice TV** on YouTube and Facebook. Wishing you continued success on your health journey, and thanks again for your support!

My GFR was down to 28 before my GP mentioned it and set me up with an appt at the local dialysis center. Ummm....that was a hard NO for me. Both of my parents were on dialysis when they died and I decided to try and improve before resorting to drastic measures with dialysis.

I cut waaay down on red meat, began eating a lot more vegetables, limited myself to one cup of coffee a day, cut out soft drinks entirely, started an exercise regimen. I didn't drink alcohol, smoke or use drugs but would have stopped if I had. Three years down the road at almost 73, my GFR is consistently between 48 and 52, which for my age is good enough. So I definitely believe that being proactive about improving kidney function can be helpful. I have been a T2 diabetic for 18 years, btw.

@hopeinal you are giving me HOPE! I did routine lab work for my annual physical and found out that my EGFR was only 38. I am only 54 years old. I, too, never drank or smoked or did drugs but I have been on an antidepressant. The nephrologist sent me to ultrasound which resulted in unremarkable findings so I am panicking. How long after the lifestyle changes did you see your EGFR improve?

@syedlaeeqahmed Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Changing eGFR is often a topic of discussion here! Many of us like to follow the advice to watch a trend versus individual tests, to get a better overall picture. Does your father have any other health concerns that could be a factor in his overall health status?

When eGFR drops, it could be a result of progressing disease state, dehydration at time of the testing, illness/infection, medication interaction, diet choices. You haven't mentioned how long it has been since the 29 reading. A sudden drop could be an acute kidney infection/injury. Rebounding back like it seems to have done, it sure looks like you are doing the right things, now! Keep on being mindful of diet, stress, use of NSAIDs. Be careful to not be over-vigilant regarding the protein too much, as that is needed everyday in some form for good health.

Hydration, getting the right amount of fluids every day, is easy to say, sometimes harder to do. But our bodies really rely on the right fluid level in order to function well.

What do you plan to do from here?
Ginger

Hey Ginger,
Hope you're doing well. I wanted to ask about my father's diet. He’s on a very restricted protein intake and is allowed only about 6 vegetables. We’re feeding him every 2–3 hours, and he also takes Pediasure for added nutrition.

His current meds include:

Loprin 75

Carvida 6.25 (morning)

Anifid Retard 20

Zyloric 100

Elezo capsule

Maxflow 0.4

Ketocell

Ruling 40mg

Insulin (8 units morning, 8 units night)

He was previously on Spiromid but that’s stopped now—no Lasix either and new tests are going to be on 1st of next month. Even with this routine, he seems to be getting weaker. Is there anything you'd recommend helping him maintain strength and energy while staying within his kidney-friendly limits?

Really appreciate your help. Thanks so much!