Question about BUN and Kt/v

[briellegazzara]

Hi All and hope you had a nice long weekend!
My question is about BUN and Kt/v. I have been doing home hemo now for almost a year. My Kt/v has always been between 2.4 and 2.6. My BUN has been creeping up on me all of a sudden. I have been working out more and not gaining much fluid between treatments. Also, I carry more muscle and some what lean. I eat protein with every meal and my albumin run always a 4.2 to a 4.7. I feel great, have a lot of energy and not experiencing any nausea, vomiting or side effects of high BUN. Could some patients just have a higher BUN? My nurse told me that if my Kt/v is over a 2.0 or higher that I will be fine but my renal doc always gets on me about my BUN. He doesn't really explain to me about it. Just give me more tubes to fill again and say "lets check it again this month" and " are you sure you are doing all your treatments?" which i am very compliant. I am doing my treatments every other day with 30 liters. My dry weight is 49.0 kilos. I have a graft in my thigh and had my last clean out or "rotter rooter" at the end of April. I am wondering if my BUN is high because of all the muscle I have? Or maybe I need to cut down my protein? Thanks in advance for your reply !!!!

[Zach]

A higher BUN may be caused by the kind of protein —low biological value as opposed to high biological value.

Low biological value proteins include nuts, legumes and grains.
They tend to give off more nitrogen when they are metabolized.
These are also know as incomplete proteins due to the fact that they do not contain all the essential amino acids by themselves.

Meat, seafood and dairy are considered high quality protein.

Here is more information:
http://www.davita.com/kidney-disease/diet-and-nutrition/lifestyle/15-kidney-friendly-protein-foods-for-keeping-albumin-up/e/7804

http://lifeoptions.org/catalog/pdfs/news/icv4n1.pdf

Hope this helps.

 

[briellegazzara]

Thanks Zach! I have been eating more sunflower seeds, almonds and drinking almond milk because my phosphorus was on the low side. I will stick with the leans meats and low fat dairy like cottage cheese. Thanks again for the tip!:)

[Zach]