What to do if EGFR is 19?

Posted by anet @anet, May 11, 2023

My husband has been seeing a nephrologist for several years since he had aortic aneurysm repair. His kidney function has been stable until now. The dye possibly damaged his kidneys and his egfr is now 19!

His metabolic panel numbers have been mostly normal, but now his creatinine is up. His urinalysis is normal, no protein or albumin in it. His sodium and potassium levels are normal. He has recent blood work and we received the reports but have not talked to the doctor. However the PA has sent a message referring him to a Davita Kidney Class mentioning dialysis. He has slight anemia iron level 11.7 and is on iron and vitamin D. I don’t understand all of the tests, but his doctor has been saying he is stable and in stage 4. He dies not have a lot of energy, but he walks a mile a day, mows grass, plays nine holes of golf a couple of times a week. And helps with housework by vacuuming. We are watching salt and he is not diabetic. I know this is rambling, but I am hoping someone can help me make some sense of it u til we see his doctor. His next appointment is not u til August, but I am going to call for a sooner one. Thanks for any comments.

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@randyr

While all CKD can be different, I’d suggest drinking 3-4L of water a day as a start. I’m mo Dr, but was diagnosed with Stage 4 CKD in 2018 due to severe oxylate damage ((GFR of 15). After increasing my hydration as above and going to a low oxylate diet, my GFR has improved to 42 today. Hope this helps some.

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Do you see a renal dietician? They advised me to lower my protein and go plant based. I am also in stage 4 and my eGFR has declined from taking Farxiga, not sure what to do.

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@luvmydog1231

Do you see a renal dietician? They advised me to lower my protein and go plant based. I am also in stage 4 and my eGFR has declined from taking Farxiga, not sure what to do.

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No, because I haven’t found one who specializes in oxylates, which caused my damage. I won’t go plant based, as many of those foods are high in oxylates. I’m on a low oxylate diet, which limits my protein sources to chicken and eggs.

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He is in stage 4 CKD. My advice is to go VEGAN AND DRINK 64 ounces pf water daily. Right now Push water, He will pee a lot. I slipped into stage 4 and overnight Pushing water got me back in stage 3, where I am now. I am 95. Stage 3 is a good place to be.

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@sammyloue

He is in stage 4 CKD. My advice is to go VEGAN AND DRINK 64 ounces pf water daily. Right now Push water, He will pee a lot. I slipped into stage 4 and overnight Pushing water got me back in stage 3, where I am now. I am 95. Stage 3 is a good place to be.

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Hello, this is Jeffrey, I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for the hugs and I’m glad that I was able to find a platform outside of social media that I can speak with like-minded people and it’s very much appreciated if you have any somebody talk to them here.

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@jbc44strongest

Hello, this is Jeffrey, I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you for the hugs and I’m glad that I was able to find a platform outside of social media that I can speak with like-minded people and it’s very much appreciated if you have any somebody talk to them here.

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I hope I helped.

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@sammyloue

He is in stage 4 CKD. My advice is to go VEGAN AND DRINK 64 ounces pf water daily. Right now Push water, He will pee a lot. I slipped into stage 4 and overnight Pushing water got me back in stage 3, where I am now. I am 95. Stage 3 is a good place to be.

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My experience is similar to that of @sammyloue. My eGFR dropped to below 10 from the 30s after shingles, I went on dialysis. Already was on a vegetarian diet then went closer to vegan - exceptions were free-range eggs for the protein and the occasional milk product in bread if I couldn't find any without that) and after 6 months got back to Stage 3 and was able to get off dialysis. Another setback 2 years later when diagnosed with gastroparesis and went to Stage 5 once more though not so far down as needing more dialysis. Tried to combine gastro diet with diabetic diet and renal diet best I could and after 2 hospitalizations for GP am in Stage 3b once more. Everyone is different, of course, but adequate hydration, a soft and vegetarian/vegan diet, appropriate medications (no aspirin for renal patients, for instance,) and a great pcp and neph, am doing better, at least for now. I wish you well.

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@kamama94

My experience is similar to that of @sammyloue. My eGFR dropped to below 10 from the 30s after shingles, I went on dialysis. Already was on a vegetarian diet then went closer to vegan - exceptions were free-range eggs for the protein and the occasional milk product in bread if I couldn't find any without that) and after 6 months got back to Stage 3 and was able to get off dialysis. Another setback 2 years later when diagnosed with gastroparesis and went to Stage 5 once more though not so far down as needing more dialysis. Tried to combine gastro diet with diabetic diet and renal diet best I could and after 2 hospitalizations for GP am in Stage 3b once more. Everyone is different, of course, but adequate hydration, a soft and vegetarian/vegan diet, appropriate medications (no aspirin for renal patients, for instance,) and a great pcp and neph, am doing better, at least for now. I wish you well.

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Is milk bad for CKD?

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My creatinine started rising in 2014. eGFR steadily getting worse. I have PKD and nephrogenic diabetes insipidus. I'm not sure if my way of eating helped me make it this far. eGFR is 26 but fluctuates. I do a time-restricted eating plan. Eat for an 8-hour period and fast for 16 hours. Just water during the fasting time. My diet is mostly vegetarian, with lots of beans, vegetables, fruit, and some sweets. Thankfully, I have an appointment at Mayo next month with a PKD specialist. My Neph locally, tells me it's all just numbers, I'll live to 100, don't worry..etc. I need more information than that. Hopefully, Drs at Mayo will provide a clear picture of what lies ahead and how to manage theses diseases.

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@sammyloue

Is milk bad for CKD?

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@sammyloue, Dairy milk has a lot of potassium and phosphorus so since I already didn't tolerate dairy well, it was easy for me to eliminate it from my diet. I do eat very small portions of vegan cheese (only a couple of times a week since it's higher in sodium per portion than is good for me) and sometimes eat bread products containing small amounts of dairy milk but otherwise simply don't consume dairy products. Once in a great while I will have a very small portion of vegan ice "cream" made with coconut milk but not much and not often because of the fat content. But we're all different - what works for me might not work for anyone else. I will say that most good kidney websites say to limit dairy.

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@kamama94

@sammyloue, Dairy milk has a lot of potassium and phosphorus so since I already didn't tolerate dairy well, it was easy for me to eliminate it from my diet. I do eat very small portions of vegan cheese (only a couple of times a week since it's higher in sodium per portion than is good for me) and sometimes eat bread products containing small amounts of dairy milk but otherwise simply don't consume dairy products. Once in a great while I will have a very small portion of vegan ice "cream" made with coconut milk but not much and not often because of the fat content. But we're all different - what works for me might not work for anyone else. I will say that most good kidney websites say to limit dairy.

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@kamama94 I have grown to like almond milk. I do limit my dairy to greek yogurt a few times a week. Never have been a big cheese consumer. Label watching is just part of what we do as kidney patients, now!

Funny that probably due to taking furosemide, I am on potassium supplements. In fact, my medical team gave me the go-ahead to eat a banana a few times a week, eating oranges/drinking orange juice, and eating healthily prepared potatoes without leaching them! Wow! I went for over 10 years not eating these goodies! First thing I did was buy a small bottle of organic orange juice and sat in the car savoring it!
Ginger

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