When do you know to see a kidney doctor?

Yes ma'am, I sure would.

Hi,
I would say yes. Medications can lower your blood pressure. That would take some stress off your kidneys.

Yes!! Probably a nephrologist.. urologists really don't do EGFR..and mine told me there are no symptoms.. in 3rd stage kidney failure with EGFR of 49..it took me years to find out that a nephrologist is the one who deals with this.. prayers for you!!

@newgrandma welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I’ll chime in here. It can’t hurt to get established with a nephrologist. Diabetes and hypertension are the two most common causes of kidney problems. Kidney disease often has no symptoms until it is very advanced. There is no harm in learning and doing what you can now to keep your kidneys functioning as best as possible for as long as possible. Will you post on what you decide to do? Congrats on being a new grandma!

You should definitely see a nephrologist. I am at stage 3a or 3b, chronic kidney disease or CKD. Based on your eGFR, so are you! Best to stay on top of it and a nephrologist can help you do that. Best of luck.

Absolutely see a nephrologist. I don't know what meds you might be on, but I have stage 3b CKD with an eGFR of 40. My nephrologist put me on an SGLT2 inhibitor (Jardiance). It is useful for CKD and type 2 diabetes. An SGLT2 isn't that effective at increasing eGFR if you have less than 45, but does work to stabilize it and lowers BP. My median resting systolic was 120 and is now 103. The meds help your kidneys by relaxing your kidney tubules, glomeri, and your blood vessels. I am low dose, so no side effects, but there are effects, like peeing more, risk of UTIs and such. There are new kidney treatments, so it would be good to check and see if you are up to date.

Just found out yesterday stage 3 renal disease. Had ultrasound for gallstone. Female 73. First step I assume is getting a kidney doctor. Need to lose weight and want to get a good idea what foods to eat. Any suggestions

I get I get a kidney doctor immediately

You might need to see a nephrologist.. I saw 2 kidney doctors (I am 72) and they said that urologists don't deal with that.. they just addressed my kidney stones..that's when I found out I was in 3rd stage renal failure 9this took over 3 years to find out)..prayers for you!!

@lssanso It depends also on your bloodwork, levels of potassium, calcium, phosphate, sodium, and such, but a general recommendation is the Mediterranian diet, avoid high calorie foods such as fried. I use the Renal Diet Cookbook by Susan Zogheib. Stage 3a, they mostly recommend drinking a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day; with stage 3b there can be other limitations. For example, if one has high potassium than limiting high K food such as potatoes and bananas can help lower it. Exercise is very important to chronic kidney disease, it helps with maintaining bone density, lessens fatigue (which seems counter to what one would think), and also a key part of controlling type 2 diabetes and other diseases.

@cehunt57 Thank you so much. I am planning on making an appointment soon.