Slowing the Progression of Kidney Disease

[MuddyGurl]

I do believe that a pre-Dialysis-patient can do a lot to slow down the deterioration of their kidney-function...
...even if they are left without a doctor or specialist to go to, as I am ... but it comes at a price and involves lots of discipline...
...and lots of checking-up on the Internet... and at times that can be extremely boring, very trying and tiresome...

but it certainly is well worth all the effort!

HI, i am here to learn as much and DO all I can to slow my slide.   I am most impressed by many of you ALREADY doing and sharing what will work..but am just beginning.
When the Nephrologist tells me I CAN"T help my kidney with diet now, I rebel,  I feel, to the core, that he is wrong. I don't see how moving to a GREAT diet, good sleep, mild excercise and DROPPING all the many things that HURT the poor kidney  can't but HELP?  am I delusional?

ATHENA..I am also figuring out what can help me, and am afraid to take one too many things.. self medicating can be dangerous., if we are  renal fragile already.

I took a hard look at every single thing that went into my mouth- food and meds and sleep aids, and supplements..and what was MISSING,, and am trying to make the  ideal environment to DEstress my filtering ability. I can't grow new nephrons… but total body improvement even in the tinniest ways might help?

OK I am obese by their rules, a high BMI, very high, and very short too..age, weight, other medical issues don't help. 

But the promise of improvement if we help ourselves is  motivating me.

I have a new Renal test next week..and I am HOPING with all my heart my 3 point  eGFR drop in just 30 days was a fluke, and I am now back to bottom of Stage 3b, or skimming the top of Stage 4.

[PaulBC]

It seems like a no-brainer to me that you would want to preserve your natural kidney function as long as possible. You'd even want to preserve residual kidney function to mitigate some effects of dialysis. My experience (exclusively with pediatric nephrologists) has been a great deal of flexibility and discussion of options, which I appreciate (though sometimes it's more confusing than just being told what to do). In fact, a transplant is more important for a child because of the effects on growth, but our doctors' view seems to be that as long as the growth curve looks OK, there is no urgency.

I really like reading about people who have kept a transplant for decades, but my impression is that for most people, the clock starts ticking once surgery is over, so even if you figure you will eventually be in ESRD, there are advantages to putting it off as far into the future as possible. (I'm also very inspired by longterm dialysis champions like Zach, but again I think for most people, the clock starts ticking once dialysis begins.)

But, I dunno, maybe I don't think like your nephrologist. It may be that your nephrologist is saying you can't fix the problem with diet, and you will eventually be in ESRD. Whether that's true in your case, it is a common circumstance. If you take the long view of extending the life of your prospective transplant, diet can help a lot. I'm not cynical enough to think that nephrologists intentionally neglect preservation to support the dialysis industrial process. However, they might want to avoid offering false hope. If you make it clear that you aren't expecting a cure, just an indefinite deferral, maybe they'll be more helpful. Or maybe you should look for another doctor. I have read numerous threads here about preserving kidney function, and diet can definitely make a difference.

[MuddyGurl]

Yes, possibly the false hope thing.

But the person giving the advice is Dr. Nason Fung…wildly popular  Neph. "curer" of diabetes in obese patients with severe kidney issues.

He promotes LOW CARB and IF..which I am doing.  but it may be my current weight is just too much pressure, like a 5 gal fish tank pump in a 200 gallon tank. I get that.

But one of your member ( will find name) has a huge long post on ALL the same things I am doing- diet, etc AND avoiding ESRD..so I was looking to that as the positive..it may be I MUST accept dialysis in some future time, but I also see MANY here who are in eGFR of >15 and doing well to avoid it. I hope I can too.

since I feel well ( except for fatigue needing a long nap daily to rest the kidney) I have lost 17 lbs <7% of my total weight, and LDL/trig. and such are good.

so when I see the NEW nephrologist at the VA hosp.- who will likely have NO nutrition training-- I will see what she says.  my past experience is she wasn't worried when i was 40-37 egfr, and I was not FLAGGED to see her in last 3 years as I dropped either…so now at 29-26 egfr it feels like an emergency, and I wonder what she will say.  prolly "watch me" 

 [my thought is all Nephs are so busy starting people on dialysis that they dont see keeping you  healthy as their job..that is up to the generalist as Dr. Berns of NKF says.

Nephs  just wait til you circle the drain to see them.  I may be in denial, but I am also proactive, and yes ALL I can do myself will help in the long run, hoked to a machine or not.