Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD): How do I stop progression?

ROSE MARY HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD TRANS PLANT?

@bdade59, I have had my transplanted kidney since April 2009.
My liver disease affected my kidneys, and they failed suddenly. So I never had CKD. But I do need to take good care of this precious kidney.
When my kidneys failed, I was on dialysis for 9 weeks until my transplant. My kidney is healthy (so is liver).
I have labs drawn every 3 months, and an annual exam.

bdade59, If you want to direct your question to someone, you just have to put the @name at the beginning of your message. Thah way they will get email notification. (capital letters could be confused with yelling or anger)

How are things going for you?

@gingerw, I agree that we need to speak up, and to listen to our bodies. Good for you for knowing when something 'just doesn't feel right'. I have a PCP who knows me well enough and when I tell him something 'just doesn't feel right' , he listens and is ready to act or to refer me to someone who can help me.

@whenley1968 and @sunnyflower, This is Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD): How do I stop progression? discussion I mentioned that would be a good place to share your story and ask any questions you may have. You mentioned you had an egfr in september a year ago. In March your egfr was 46 and creatinine was 1.68. You changed everything about how you ate and Renal Stenosis was the verdict. Since then you have had an egfr taken a couple more times. The next one was 55 and one last week said it was 66. So you are wondering if your kidney and renal stenosis are reversing itself?

These are the articles I listed in my first post that you may find helpful.

Renal Function Can Improve at Any Stage of Chronic Kidney Disease: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3862566/
Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR): https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/gfr

@oldkarl, @rosemarya, @marvinjsturing and other members may have some information on

@whenley1968, Have you discussed the eGFR rate increase with your doctor to see if they can provide any information?

I am wondering the same thing. I was diagnosed June 26 this year, and immediately changed my eating habits. I haven’t eaten anything but the recipes I’ve made off the DaVita Website. Discontinued all soda products and alcohol. I’ve lost 25 lbs. I’m really hoping this will stop the progression.

Thank you sir. You are much more adept at using this website. I’ve never forumed before. I will try not to be an idiot, but grace and patience is needed

Oh, @whenley, your post has me laughing Because...I've made all kinds of mistakes learning to navigate and better use these forums! You'll find members here very understanding, helpful and ... patient! Keep posting; my theory is the more we stay engaged with others who know about our particular maladies, the better we can learn to manage whatever ails us. We are all in this together, right?

Hi, @sbshreeve, Good for you for immediately changing your diet to a more kidney friendly one. That is so important and Davita has many good recipes to follow.

When I first found this group about a yr ago, I learned the importance of checking my kidney lab values to see which specifics like potassium or phosphorous for instance needed more attention with my kidney diet. One source that helped me learn to read my kidney lab reports was http://www.kidneyschool.org.

Welcome to this group. If you are like many of us were when first diagnosed, it can seem overwhelming at first. However, as you learn more about your stage and how to better manage it, the anxiety lessens. What stage of the 5 are you? Did your doc suggest a referral to a nephrologist or dietitian? Hope to hear more from you soon. Take care.

Thank you for your kind response. I am 3A on the CKD scale. I don’t have diabetes or high blood pressure. I have no idea what caused this. To my knowledge it isn’t hereditary from my parents or grandparents.
My primary provider has not recommended I see a nephrologist. I did ask for a referral for a nutritionist. She gave me lots of written information which was good.
I’m so glad I found this group. It helps to hear others’ stories and recommendations. I’ll see my MD again in January. Hoping the labs show improvement or at least stay the same.

@sbshreeve, You are welcome. No idea what caused mine either; no family history of ckd. However, I've had lots of prednisone over the years and wonder if that contributed to my diagnosis. I learned from a scan report given to try to determine wt loss, that I "indicated kidney disease". My primary had never mentioned indications and after searching for more info., I called for an appmnt and asked for a neph referral. Primary didn't mention kidney lab values but did refer me. When neph. told me of my stage 3 diagnosis, I nearly fell off the chair! Turns out she'd used lab values from blood and urine labs conducted by my primary and sent to her for the diagnosis! No idea how long my annual labs with primary had been showing kidney problems because I'd never paid attention or even knew how to read the lab reports. I'd relied solely on the PCP to advise of any changes that were needed for whatever. Never again.

After joining this group, I learned that many primary docs do not alert patients to kidney disease until they reach stage 4. Think that is a bummer because the sooner we know, the sooner we can take measures to better manage our diagnosis. Just suggesting that you may want to request a referral to a neph. at your next PCP appt. Glad you saw a nutritionist and that you were provided with good information! Mine was great and as a result, I have improved both my pre-diabetic and kidney scores through diet and exercise.