My GFR

[LightLizard]

my GFR has been fairly steady at 10 for a while now, but my most recent bloodwork shows it has now dropped to 7.
what happens at zero?

[LightLizard]

do i like, get a prize, or somethin?
does anybody know?

[Ginger]

You should be on dialysis or have a transplant before your GFR goes to 0. At 0, you are in complete, total renal failure.  Most people are started on dialysis when their GFR reaches 10. Diabetics are often started when theirs gets to 15.

P.S. NO prize at 0!!!

[tweetykiss]

My husband is now at 14 since his creatinine is now at 4.8 so what usually happens at 14 and he is not diabetic.....

[LightLizard]

i'm not diabetic, either...
last october, my wife and i were beginning our morning on pender island. a cup of coffee on the front deck, a nice, sunny autumn morning.
the phone rang. it was my nephrologist's office. aparrently, my gfr was now 13, and the message was, 'get to town, get on dialysis, or die.' it was the first that i had heard of me going on dialysis.
it was not the happiest of days.
so, ginger, as far as you know, does that mean that as long as i stay on dialysis, my gfr can still drop to zero without killing me?

no prize? damn!

[RichardMEL]

I agree with your GFR is around 10 you "should" be starting dialysis.

Having said that I started with a GFR of 6 because I did this trial thing regarding starting dialysis sooner or later and effect on life, health etc... luckily I wasn't feeling sick at all (well tired, but not vomiting or anything else they told me to look out for) when I started. Some others are not so lucky.

I think if your GFR is 7 you should be close to starting but I guess it's up to your neph.

How come they let you off at 13 if they wanted you to start?

[LightLizard]

i guess you haven't really read my posts. i began on dialysis in october of last year. hemodialysis, with a neck catheter. in april of this year i began peritoneal dialysis with the belly-tube. now, i am on home dialysis, using the cycler at night. so, i 'began' dialysis months ago.
my question is, can dialysis keep me from deteriorating to a vegetable state if and when my GFR drops to zero? my question is not, 'when should i start dialysis?'
i hope that's a little clearer.

[Joe Paul]

There are many on this site who have been on dialysis for many years, and so far as I know, none are "vegtables".

[lola]

My husband's GFR was at 0 when he started dialysis a few years back but he had other things going on also but he was not a vegetable. Maybe more of a fruit HEHEHE

[LightLizard]

thanks for that. me? i'm more nuts than fruit or veggie. but i was that way before, so i can't blame dialysis, really.

[RichardMEL]

Sorry LL!! So many posters... so many stories... I guess you got me a bit confused with your initial post in this thread. Sorry about that

I believe the whole point of dialysis is to keep you at a nominal GFR that is above 0... since if your kidneys totally stop functioning the treatments will replace that function to a small degree perhaps giving you a "relative" GFR that is above 0. Obviously no replacement for good kidneys though.

So no I don't think you'd end up like that. I believe if dialysis couldn't help you and you had no functioning kidneys (ie: GFR 0) you'd be dead.

[LightLizard]

thanks richard. sorry about the confusion.

lucky (?) for me, dialysis seems to be working, so far. i feel better now than i did last year, when my GFR was twice of what it is now, before i went on dialysis.

it's hard for some of us to not take it all so personally. but, the fact is that there are way too many humans on this planet. i think kidney failure, along with the host of other diseases and conditions that abound at this time, are nature's way of weeding out the crop, so to speak.

having said that, i still feel that i'd like to continue living for a while, yet. as long as there is a chance of having a good day, now and then.

blessings to all!

love

~LL~

[Ginger]

LL,
The function of your own kidneys can drop to 0, but as long as you are on dialysis you are still getting the toxins out of your body.  It is when the toxins build up too much that the rest of your body systems become compromised and shut down that you become 'comatose' (vegetative state). 

[LightLizard]

thanks ginger.

[RichardMEL]

LL I understand what you're saying about overpopulation and natures natural removal of crap... that's fine except when you realise that makes us "nature's crap" ! And I know there are many wonderful very much non-crappy people who are on IHD... so i think nature has it slightly mixed up. We're the good bunch who should be saved.....

That's some LSD trip mother nature must be on to get it so wrong!!!

[keefer51]

LL, I'm at 0 and have been for around a year. My fluid intake has been a real problem for me. I was told that as long as i don't skip any treatments i will be OK. I think of the same thing, will i become a vegtable or not. They didn't tell anything except; "Your function is 0 watch your fluids. I remember sitting in the dialysis chair and thinking this machine is keeping me alive.

[LightLizard]

LL I understand what you're saying about overpopulation and natures natural removal of crap... that's fine except when you realise that makes us "nature's crap" ! And I know there are many wonderful very much non-crappy people who are on IHD... so i think nature has it slightly mixed up. We're the good bunch who should be saved.....

That's some LSD trip mother nature must be on to get it so wrong!!!

nature doesn't play favourites, as much as that might bother us. she doesn't have it wrong, we do when we take it personal. baby birds get eaten, mountains crumble into the sea.
it all works out, somehow.

love

~LL~

[tweetykiss]

There are many on this site who have been on dialysis for many years, and so far as I know, none are "vegtables".

More than that.....all of you have more energy than me.....I am the lazy one here and I am not even on dialysis.....ha ha....

[tweetykiss]

LL,
The function of your own kidneys can drop to 0, but as long as you are on dialysis you are still getting the toxins out of your body.  It is when the toxins build up too much that the rest of your body systems become compromised and shut down that you become 'comatose' (vegetative state). 

Ok, my husband's creatinine is at 4.8 which is a GFR of 14 and they still have not put him on dialysis nor has the social worker even called us.....do I need to worry that the doctors will let the GFR go below 5 and no dialysis yet and that social worker won't call.......what I am reading here tells me that according to my husband's GFR, he should already be on dialysis or am I just fretting......I refuse to wait till he is comatose......

[LightLizard]

in my experience, i was not told i needed to be on dialysis until my GFR dropped to 13.
if i were you, i'd contact the docs and get some clarity about the near future.
it'll save you some worry, perhaps, but you have a right to know what's up.

love

~LL~

[lola]

Otto's creatine was at 9 be for 1st transplant and he was never on dialysis be for it (transplant) try to stay calm and remember to breath (as hard as that may be at times)

[rimbo74]

I started taking lots of pills when my GFR was 12, then a couple of months later I started PD and my GFR was at 8 at that point.  I was tired and getting sick in the morning with blood pressure out of control.  My GFR is now at 6 but could be less now.  My creatinine was at 10.1 when I started dialysis.

[Wattle]

I was dragged kicking and screaming onto dialysis with a GFR of 5 and my creatinine at 840.