Anemic due to kidney problem: How to increase hemoglobin?

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.

@laurie6
Just out of curiosity, have you seen a neurologist for the memory issues? Maybe have a brain MRI to see if it might be neurological ? The thing is there are so many issues where memory and falls and other cognitive issues are symptoms that it's hard to figure out where it comes into play.

@laurie6 @jerrysgirl3 Our bodies are amazing machines. And as such, it is a huge balancing act, as we all find out. Sometimes we find out the hard way. Between different health conditions, taking different medications, our basic diet, how much exercise we are able and can do [and the resulting muscle chemistry changes]. What works for me possibly won't for you, and vice vetsa. But, sharing our successes and failures help us see what others do and can try. we become label readers, for sure!

Hydration is also something to think about everyday, even as the weather turns cooler. It can affect our memory, movement, and blood values in labwork.

I take iron chelate as a supplement, which is kindest to my system as an iron supplement. As a kidney disease patient on dialysis, my vitamins are Rena-Vite, which has no phosphorous [a bad thing for my case]. I watch my diet carefully for sodium, calcium, protein, phosphorous, and potassium. I also deal with gout, so shellfish, pork, and purines like mushrooms are off my list.

Thank you both for sharing your recent days and trying things. Experimenting to see what works can be a "pain in the shorts" but have positive outcomes.
Ginger

@gingerw
Thank you for sharing. You have been so helpful. Last night I had no cramping issues but peed like crazy (with less water in my system!) I think I will need to add salt to water today, prob take another iron supplement (I'm going to try for every other day because of constipation issues) and continue the multi vitamin. I feel a little shaky this morning. Have to be on top of things today because very active 5 yr old grandson spending the night 😁❤️. Do you have lupus as well Ginger ? Just curious because it seems a lot of lupus patients also have kidney issues. And yes! We have become label readers and that is a good thing !

@jerrysgirl3 Yes, I was diagnosed with lupus in 1988. It is considered a mild case, but I do deal with joint pain, severe sunlight reactivity, and the facial reddening among other symptoms. Back in 1999 my rheumatologist at that time mentioned a possible lupus connection to the high protein levels in my urine, but it was never pursued, whatever their reasoning.

My kidney disease is based on an autoimmune filtering abnormality in the glomeruli area of the kidney.
Ginger

Having some anaemia despite taking chelated iron (in spades). I personally think it’s the relatively fast development of ckd, which would need epo to address; not chelated iron supplements. No biggie; still mostly on my feet…have passed out only a couple of times, and that dizzy feeling comes when I try to do activities, but that’s not so bad.
Don’t have access to a nephrologist yet, and likely won’t for many months, so I’ll just roll with it till then. Interestingly, I’m now on flecainide for a weird cardiac rhythm. 🤷🏻‍♀️ it’s helps.
Heart mostly anatomically ok - scan showed it still works as expected in terms of muscle, it’s only developed a weird electrical issue (recent persistent HR ~35 bpm), unchanged with high dose magnesium.
In terms of increasing haemoglobin, I eat tons of red meat, which seems to work a lot better than the supplements (when I can access it).
🌺

@gingerw
Thank you for sharing. You have been so helpful. Last night I had no cramping issues but peed like crazy (with less water in my system!) I think I will need to add salt to water today, prob take another iron supplement (I'm going to try for every other day because of constipation issues) and continue the multi vitamin. I feel a little shaky this morning. Have to be on top of things today because very active 5 yr old grandson spending the night 😁❤️. Do you have lupus as well Ginger ? Just curious because it seems a lot of lupus patients also have kidney issues. And yes! We have become label readers and that is a good thing !

@laurie6
Just out of curiosity, have you seen a neurologist for the memory issues? Maybe have a brain MRI to see if it might be neurological ? The thing is there are so many issues where memory and falls and other cognitive issues are symptoms that it's hard to figure out where it comes into play.