Stage 3a kidney disease: looking for info

I also have stage 3a CKD. I was diagnosed when my primary care physician noticed a consistent decrease in the eGFR marker on bloodwork and referred me to a nephrologist to check my kidneys.

I was lucky to find a great doctor who took care in learning my medical history. She determined that the cause of my kidney issue was taking an anti-inflammatory medication Meloxican daily (as prescribed by an orthopedic doctor for knee arthritis). The medication can be harmful to kidneys for some people, and for me it was. My kidney function was eGFR was 47 when I began seeing the nephrologist. Normal is 60 and above.

Here are the most important things I was told to do to care for kidneys:

1. DO NOT take NSAIDS (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). This applies to OTC and prescription drugs.
If you have pain Tylenol is safe for kidneys.
2. Reduce sodium intake, aim for less than 2,300 milligrams daily
3. Drink plenty of water and eat lots of vegetables and fruits
4. There are many OTC medications, prescription medications, herbal supplements, supplements containing
potassium, supplements containing phosphorus, and intravenous dyes that must be avoided for CKD
patients. Ask your pharmacist or kidney specialist if you have questions about something you want to take.

I implemented this advice and after one year I actually had an improvement in my kidney function. My eGFR is now 58. I hope this information is helpful to you. I was pretty scared when I heard I had kidney disease, but at stage 3a there are many things you can do to help you protect your kidneys. Good luck to you!

You are so spot on in your analysis of kidney disease, and very lucky to find a nephrologist who was able to find an underlying cause and a PCP who found those eGFR trends in your lab work.

Many of us have chronic kidney disease due to long term diabetes, vascular swelling, blood pressure, and more. ,

Unfortunately, we cannot reverse our trends, but can follow your advice and hope to stabilize our stage of kidney disease. You may have had acute kidney disease and were able to reverse your downward trend by stopping the medication. At any event, you have great care from your docs which is the hope of many of us who want from our respective physicians.

@patriciacb Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect.

Thank you for stepping in and telling us your story. I echo @collegeprof's kudos to your medical team for sourcing out what the cause of your kidney issue is. The recommendations you followed have shown you what can be done to help ourselves. As they say, "the proof is in the pudding".
Ginger

My GFR my last blood test came in at 46 while my A1c was 6.4. My doctor didn't seem too concerned with my having CKD. Should I be?

@pcjaparis Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect.

Chronic Kidney Disease [CKD] can be attributed to many different causes, including uncontrolled high blood pressure, diabetes, long-term medication side effects, genetic issues, and lifestyle. The high blood pressure and diabetes appear to be the leading causes, from research studies.

It is my nonmedical opinion, that we shouldn't look at a single test, but rather the trend that our routine labwork shows us. There might be a different analyzing machine used, or our hydration level may be different than another testing date, etc. These are both factors that can affect results. What have your previous lab results shown for eGFR?

As you read the posts here, you will no doubt read that many of us have experienced our doctors not seeming to be too concerned about dropping eGFR numbers. That is where it becomes important for us to be our own advocates! Knowledge is power! What other questions do you have for me?
Ginger

Many doctors do not care to discuss CKD; they think there is nothing to do for it. Or they just don't think. Many are doctors just to get the money. I had CKD stage 3 for 18 years and 3 doctors or the hospital did not tell me. Moved to NC and first doctor told me I was stage 3. Scared me! I sent to former hospital in Ohio for all my records. Every test showed stage 3 CKD. My last test came in with stage 2. Must have been a change in diet: making vegetable soup with a small amount of beef for a large pot. So, I have a chicken sandwich and slaw for lunch and the veg soup for dinner. Drink 64 ounces of water - this is extremely important. I do not know about how much water for stage 4 or 5-never been there.

Because I have type 2 diabetes as well as CKD, I would think you should see an endocrinologist first because you may have pre-diabetes. Your value of 6.4 is higher than normal which may lead to CKD. @gingerw is correct in that the trend is most important for kidney function and diabetes control. The unfortunate part for me is seeing a kidney doc regularly because they are so booked for stages 4 & 5, and end stage kidney disease. I have found that many nephrologists prefer 6 month follow ups for stage 3 or earlier. Stage 3 is quite vulnerable because in my opinion it requires 3 month visits. For CKD patients, control in many cases are diet, water intake and exercise. There is so much more and this forum has much help from others in making good choices on what to eat especially like @kamama94.

That was very helpful... thank you.

@collegeprof You are so right! I failed to mention that getting a handle and control on underlying causes for kidney disease is so important. Unless it is a situation that you cannot do anything about, getting good nutrition, moderate exercise, and addressing that cause is critical to helping anyone with kidney disease.

I did just that, myself, My kidney disease is a rare autoimmune disorder, but I chose to aggressively advocate for myself, following a sound renal diet plan while still in late Stage 2, against the advice of my doctors! I believe it helped delay the progression of my disease.

This forum has been so great in helping ourselves along, with support and experiences on managing Chronic Kidney Disease! Let's give ourselves a round of applause, along with that helping hand!
Ginger

Pc. It sounds like you just got a lot of good info here. If you need a blueprint for what to eat how much of it to eat and when to eat it let me know and I will send it to you . I have 3a with 52 gfr and 155 creatinine level. All stable #s for several yrs. Excercise daily , am 71 yrs old and have no doubt that eating clean, sleeping 8 + hrs drinking 1 gallon of H2O daily and excercising will afford me a long natural life. So rest easy and stay informed. Johnmacc