Are vitamins, supplements or herbs issue with CKD?

@26mary Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect!

While we strive to work and figure things out to help our health conditions, we also need to be cautious in what we might try. You might experiences episodes of nervousness with this, as there is caffeine in this product. Also, look at the labels. Potassium and phosphorus are two things we need to monitor when we have CKD, and this product may have an overabundance of these!

Where did you learn about this, how was it presented to you? I am curious. Have you and your medical team figured out the cause of your decreased kidney function?
Ginger

Hi Ginger, thanks for the welcome - no cause as yet but my kidney function is decreasing and Im not happy. I read about the product on Facebook and Id want to know from my nephrology team that it wasnt harmful before taking it. I know that high blood pressure has damaged my kidneys but that's been controlled for some years; however my EGFR has continued to fall. Regards, 26Mary

@26mary You mention that you had high blood pressure, and that is one of the two leading causes for chronic kidney disease. The others is diabetes. Even though your blood pressure may be under control now, there may have been irreversible damage done a long time ago. Perhaps, you can have your medical term take a look at your current medication regimen, and see if there is a side effect that is contributing to the decline in function?

One of the biggest caveats we have, in any medical or health situation, is what may be beneficial to one person, and their experience is really positive, someone else may not have that same result. We are unique beings. I say this because we do need to be careful, and simply not believe everything we hear or read! A good example, from me, is a new medication I recently started. A friend suggested a supplement to go with it, to lessen some of the common side effects. It helped her tremendously. Well, I have kidney disease, which she doesn't. So, after getting the okay and suggestions from my nephrologist, I invested in a small supply of this supplement. The recommended dose for me is not very high, given my kidney disease. And it might or might not work. Then, speaking to my primary care, and getting her input based on cardiac education, there is no specific science to back up some claims. It might or might not work. And the dosage for me is small. My education on that? Just because someone else had good results, and their dosage was higher, doesn't mean it will be good for me!
Ginger