Anemic due to kidney problem: How to increase hemoglobin?

@gingerw OMG I just went on the eat right site!! Fabulous!! I left messages with two women already for telehealth, who work with cancer, autoimmune and food allergies !!! Exactly what I am looking for!!
I can't thank you enough. You might have literally just saved my life 😵‍💫❤️

@jerrysgirl3 I truly hope you find some answers.
Ginger

@gingerw
Thank you. As do I.

Oh yeah. Stage 4a

Whatever that means.

Definitely not interested in synthetic epo. I wonder how Lance Armstrong got it to work without killing him?!

I’m still on antibiotics for dog mouth bacteria in my thumb, so that has distracted attention from my anemia, which is equally concerning only because the labs come back a teeny bit worse than the ones before, and they are checking my blood twice a week.

GFR is 10’s and 11’s.

Hemoglobin down, but I forget now. I’ll go look again since bloodwork was done again yesterday. Thanks!

I had posted earlier about latest labs I got back, but I can’t find the spot I was posting it on or for, lol.

My GFR is in the 50’s..

My BUN is 41 and creatinine is also high

I tried to get some dialogue on what these numbers mean FOR ME (since they are different for all of us) with my drs, but they are still working on my osteomyelitis in my thumb. Gotta avoid sepsis before worrying about red blood cells! LOL

Maybe I didn’t post earlier. If you see my note about GFR being 11, it’s wrong. Please delete that post.

Thanks to other folks posting here about this. It’s fascinating to hear about what others are struggling with. And helpful having a place to kinda talk about it! My boyfriend has heard enough about kidneys simply because his Mom likes with him and she only has one kidney and she is 93! Nobody knows why she didn’t get the pair..

My mom lives with me and she’s 83 and suddenly has Parkinson’s disease! We are having similar symptoms and both of us are forgetful now.

Does anyone else have “the dropsies” when you drop phone, keys, cooking pans, cups with liquid ? I get them when my body is totally OVER EXHAUSTED and I’m not sure it’s related to this or not.

Thanks for reading my meandering thoughts….beautiful day out to force myself outside.

@laurie6
I am having bad anemia issues as well! Actually I've been freaking out as there are so many different types of leukemia. GingerW posted this link which I found EXTREMELY helpful:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/anemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20351360
You should def check it out!! How is your blood sodium level ? Mine keeps going down and in July it went so low I was critical and had a car accident due to confusion and needed a blood transfusion 😳. My Haptoglobin is almost non-existent. None of my docs are addressing it although my primary recommended folate. This morning I took some liquid vitamins with all the B vitamins in it and boy if it's not like night and day!!! Yesterday I was afraid I was dying!!! And today I'm
Just beginning to get tired and I've been up for 12 hrs!! No breathing issues. Yesterday I couldn't breathe. Don't know if it's coincidence or what. It's very very bizarre and I hope it will help me sleep tonight. I've also been drawn to cantaloupe lately and I read up on it and don't you know it's for folate in it and all these other great things!! Strange how the body "knows" instinctively what to eat !!
Note- my husband has only one kidney lol!! Didn't know til he was 62 lol!!
Have you all had Covid vaccines? With so many people suddenly coming down with autoimmune diseases it leaves me wondering.... I only took original two. No boosters. No more vaccines. Too many unknowns.
Try the cantaloupe! Besides being beneficial it's also delicious !! I feel for you so much with the anemia. And not getting answers. 🙁

@laurie6 i also just remembered that I took an iron supplement yesterday and I have a very slow metabolism so maybe between both the vitamin and the iron supplement finally metabolized it is helping me. Now I don't know what to do about the iron supplement!!! Very constipating....Yesterday my brain was so foggy I couldn't even talk right and I couldn't remember words. My husband kept asking me if I was ok because I was sounding like I was stroking out 😳. (Former small stroke in 2015) Today brain fog at a minimum!! God I hope I can stay this way....

You have my sympathies. I also have cognitive problems, random and hard to pinpoint.

Sometimes I cannot write a full sentence. And forget remembering why I went in to the kitchen…dunno 🤷‍♀️

I suspect it’s a side effect of our health condition and likely a warning sign for SOMETHING. I have been taking electrolytes immediately upon realizing my sentences are wandering….

It’s really embarrassing.

I can’t recognize faces as well, cannot recall friends in their cars to wave. Never.

You haven’t mentioned your electrolytes, but I would like to know if you get any results after trying some when you start to stop making sense. If that makes sense, lol.

I have also had concerning “falls”. About 4. I drop stuff and it’s always LOUD stuff.

The electrolyte imbalance was the first sign of this kidney disease.

Clarity, the anemia was first. Decades first. THEN the electrolyte issues got my hematologist’s attention and the bruises all over my arms and legs can scare drs….

I use a topical heparin gel to help clear the bruises …

The only thing I can do is eat right (working on it but antibiotics are hindering my efforts), rest well and - Effing exercise.

I did a 20 minute walk today and it didn’t kill me. Sometimes I procrastinate stuff and it becomes BIGGER. lol

Hang in there, and thank you for sharing your experiences! It’s a helpful distraction, haha

@laurie6 i used to drink Propel, mostly in the middle of the night when leg cramps or sweating bad. Then after my food allergies diagnosed in February, I suddenly started getting hives from it so switched to Gatorade. My primary told me about electrolyte salts to add to water. I use that sometimes but I feel like it raises my BP and contributes to swelling of my ankles. But it was raising my blood sodium levels which were (are?) very low. Is bruising part of kidney disease ? Is you blood sodium level normal? Have you been checked for leukemia ? I feel sometimes like I'm dehydrating even tho i drink a lot of water. However with the low blood sodium I have to limit my water intake! Never thought to try electrolytes when I'm having my cognitive issues. Something to think about. Yes I was talking to someone yesterday and I felt like I was babbling and the more I felt like that the more I forgot words. He was very kind about it and helped me out (and he's not known for being kind ❤️) But today wasn't like that....that's what's so bizarre about the last two days. Yesterday I was sure I was dying and today, after taking vitamins and drinking less water, I feel almost normal. It's actually frightening on a different level 😳