Phosphate Binders

[Bajanne]

My nephro continues to prescribe Phoslo for me.  However, it is very expensive here.  My friend who started dialysis in the US uses Tums.  I used it for a while, but I am about to get Phoslo back.
My problem, I think, is not the binder - it is remembering to take it.
Let me know what it is like for you.
Do people on PD need binders?

[goofynina]

hi bajanne,  i am on PD and i still need binders,  i currently take 2 HUGE GIANT chewable chalky disgusting with every meal and snacks.  i have a small container on my table, on my counter and they even gave me a keychain to carry them.   I just consider them an "after dinner mint"    I usually have one in the middle of my meal and one at the end but i always save a bite of food for after i chew the last one to get the taste out of my mouth (that is if i dont have a mint to throw down my throat)   PD allows a little more freedom on the fluid and the pottasium but not the phosphorus,   at least that is what my dietician told me.

[Ginger]

Hi Bajanne,
I am also on PD.  I take Renagel. 2 Big tabs with each meal and 1 with snacks (that is if the snack has lots of Phos in it).  I have a large container on the table and a small bottle of them in my purse(for when I snack and am not at home). Sometimes if I know that I am eating too much phos at any meal will take 3 tabs instead of the 2.

On PD the diet is more liberal on everything except phosphorus!! Here in the US, Fosrenol is the most expensive as it is the newest, Renagel is next expensive, then Phos-lo and tums very cheap!
Ginger
PS--You really should remember to take your binders.

[kitkatz]

Me too. I need to take the binders regularly. I have them in my purse, but at work I get so busy I forget.

[Bear]

Ah yes, on P.D. and on H.D. (daytime) I had to take binders - originally 3x2 Caltrate tabs....then they decided my calc. was too high, so 3x1 Caltrate & 3x1 Alutabs. Caltrate are available over-the-counter in Oz pharmacies & are as 'cheap as chips' as we say here. I think when I bought them off-script a few times they were about $6 or $7 for about 60 tabs. So check out your pharmacies, Baj
I used to carry a small pot from a run-out script in my pocket with a day's worth of binders, plus one day's other tablets, in case I forgot to take them before leaving the house.
On nocturnal, all I take are Mult-B, B6 and ...the digestion tabs I've forgotten the name of. 

[tamara]

Caltrate for me too, currently on four tablets three times a day, believe me having fun with that !

[mark j]

  I take both Phoslo ( 3 pills) and 1 Fosrenol chewable tab (1000mg) with my meals and have finally gotten my Phosphuros to a manageable level.  I keep containers of each in my work truck , in my car, at home, and in my wifes purse ( probobly the most important place!)

[babi68]

I take caltrate too. Aren't they horrible. BLAH....... Liz

[Len]

when I was at the clinic I had to take two tums before each meal  but now on home nocturnal 6 days a week  I have to add phosphate  to my dialasate bath each run   no more tums

[hephziba]

I started off on calcichew a powdery peach flavoured pellet. awfull things. I then told the dr I wouldnt take them as I would throw up my food every time, they moved me to Phosex you dont chew it and its lemon flavoured, I take 3 with every meal and 1 with a snack.... bearable.......

[Panda_9]

Im not on any binders anymore, which is good because I always used to forget to take them. I had no trouble downing 3 horse pills at a time. After taking them for years and years I got used to it. I got caltrate on a script, it cost me $4.60 (now $4.70) for 120 tablets. I get all my pills for $4.70 except magnesium which is $9 for 50.

[goofynina]

ummmm Amber, can i have the name and number to your pharmacy, lol,  i would love to pay those prices for my meds....

[Panda_9]

Goofinya, its not the pharmacy, its the price we get them for when you are on a pension 
And for those that you buy over the counter, we have a great discount chemist up the road. Most of the things are way cheaper than your usual chemist. For example, they have magnesium for $8.69, where as most others have it for $13.

[Rerun]

I'm on Renalgel and I take 2 tablet with meals and 1 with snacks and my Phos is still high.  So they put me on sensipar which is supposed to shut down my parathyroids.  We'll see.

[Panda_9]

Doc said yesterday there is a new drug out to lower PTH. Cant remember the name, but there is only approval for 5 people to use it, and I may be able to take it. Wonder why they would only approve 5 people?? 

[Bajanne]

I noticed that 2 people have voted in the section "What's a phosphate binder?"  I didn't want to answer since my answer would be totally in layman terms.
What I understood is that there must be a balance between phosphorus and calcium in our system.  If the phosphorus gets too high, the body tries to balance by taking calcium from the bones, which then leads to other complications.  Phosphate binders bind the phosphate in our food so it can be eliminated and at the same time add calcium to the system.
Can someone more professional add to this, clarify it, correct it, or whatever.....?

[AJ1963]

Hi bajanne2000, newbie AJ1963 here. I was in the test phase for Fosrenal in this area (S.E. U.S.A.) and I chewed four of those pieces of chalk with each meal. I'm on 4 Renagel per meal now and I like them much better.

[AJ1963]

aMbEr79, are you talking about sensipar? I have a hard time keeping my phos down and my doc put me on one pill a day in addition to my binders.

[Bajanne]

I was just watching and listening to a very clear tutorial concerning phosphate and the kidneys - a link from the website of our newest member 'angieskidney'.  It showed me that I had got the general idea.
Now if I could only remember to take those things all the time!!

[Epoman]

I noticed that 2 people have voted in the section "What's a phosphate binder?"  I didn't want to answer since my answer would be totally in layman terms.
What I understood is that there must be a balance between phosphorus and calcium in our system.  If the phosphorus gets too high, the body tries to balance by taking calcium from the bones, which then leads to other complications.  Phosphate binders bind the phosphate in our food so it can be eliminated and at the same time add calcium to the system.
Can someone more professional add to this, clarify it, correct it, or whatever.....?

LOL! I'm sure the two people who voted "What's a phosphate binder?" were being sarcastic. I know I was, I was one of them. 

 

- Epoman

[Panda_9]

aMbEr79, are you talking about sensipar? I have a hard time keeping my phos down and my doc put me on one pill a day in addition to my binders.

Im not sure, I really cant remember what he said. It may of been that  I didnt see my normal doctor so I was a bit put out of whack, which annoys me. He usually sticks his head in for a sticky beak but didnt this time. Every time I see a new doctor I usually forget to get scripts, and they usually dont ask either, sooo annoying! Its pretty much your only chance to get them, unless you want to wait a few weeks. Thank god for the lovely Dx nurses, they gave me a bottle to tide me over.

[Bajanne]

Now, now Epoman!  A rap on the knuckles for that!

[deej]

I take 9 Renagel a day - 3 per meal. And we get them for free down here!  In fact, we get all our medicine for kidney failure for free from the government and the dialysis, too.  But in compensation, our clinics are in need of better quality.

[angieskidney]

I take Tums

[SpeedFleX]

My Doc gave me this plan on taking Phosphate Binders depending on what I'm eating.


So lets say I eat

Pizza (Very Bad) = 7 Pills
Coke ( Medium) = 3 Pills
2x Hamburges ( Not Too Bad) = 4 Pills

My Potassium is never high and the rest ist good just my phosphate WAS high now since I have this plan it's been very good!