Take care of your kidneys | Arthritis Information

Well, I had a bit of a scare last week with my lab work showing renal
failure. I did a lot of reading on this subject and learned some things and
want to share with you so that we can all avoid any problems. First of all,
kidneys are an organ in our bodies that once destroyed, cannot be fixed.
Another thing, once kidney function is reduced to a point that it starts
showing up in our lab work, the damage is done, irreversable and if
enough nephrons are destoyed, it tends to continue until the person
enters complete renal failure and dialysis or transplantation is required to
sustain life. Once dialysis starts, the person can live for only several
years unless they receive transplantation. When we have autoimmune
disease, we can potentially have damaged kidneys, either from the
disease, or from the treatments we receive. The use of NSAIDS and
narcotics can damage our kidneys but we need to be on these to maintain
our quality of life so there are some other measures we can take to make
sure our kidneys last. One is, never become dehydrated, as it takes a toll
on kidney function and is probably why it showed up in my labs. I'm
terrible at drinking but will from now on. Another thing we can do is take
antioxicants like vit c, b and e and fish oil, or omega supplements to
help detoxify our kidneys. And most importantly, get the weight off,
especially if you have trunkal obesity, eat a good diet, control diabetes
and hypertension as these two diseases are the leading cause of kidney
disease/failure. Also, I learned that once kidney disease sets in, it
directly affects the health of the heart and causes a huge increase in heart
disease and failure. This has been a wake up call for me so from now on,
I will do things different and take better care of myself and this monster
that lives in me. I hope some of this info will help some of you. great info. Thanks!Lorster, thanks for your post. I've actually been doing a little research about renal failure and have just recently changed some of my habits. The most important one is to increase fluid intake. This is really good advice for all of us. I'm sorry that you went through this and thanks for sharing.

Excellent info! RA already hurts our kidneys so we have to be more careful.

lorster, you've good heart to share your knowledge about kidney failure with others.

To nurture back the initial damaged kidney, I believe is a challenge but not without hope.

The belief, mindset, and correct herb like wild lingzhi and natural foods can be of great help. I believe your organ needs to revitalize. Start to learn what not to eat like citrus fruits, banana etc. that may aggrevate the problems.

Wish you can explore and find the solution instead of going to dialysis.

Lorster, Thank you so much for your post. I am like you, I forget to drink water. I just get busy with one thing or another and then the day has gone by. I am trying to correct this.

Lorster~What's next for you now? Since your blood work reveals this; what is the next step? Will that stop a particular medication? Is this something you would contribute to a medication? If so, what. How long have you had RA?

Sorry for all the dumb question; but I've always been worried about Kidney's. Kidney stones and kidney infections seem to run in my family. I'm not sure if that's something that is gentic or not; but my doctors always seem to question me about the relationship.

Kokako~Citrus Fruit and Banannas? Are they bad for you? I stopped mid-bite of my monring bananna when I read that. Here I was thinking that was a far better breakfast than my beloved Frosted Cherry Pop-Tarts that I was addicted to two months ago.

I will say I've been drinking a lot of water recently. I totally cut out sodas at work. And since I've been brining my lunch and not eating out everyday......I don't even drink my daily Sweet Tea anymore. Bottle after Bolttle after Bottle of water. I've gotten to where I'd prefer it over soda if given a choice anyway. (Course a Jumbo Sweet Tea is still a favorite!)

Lovie, you too, I quit drinking my daily 2 sodas. Thankfully they finally came out with the 6oz. cans of Coke and I allow myself 1 of those per day. It's just enough to stop my Coke a Cola craving and not so much as to hurt me.I love those little cokes! Their adorable.

Bananas and oranges are good for you. Just don't eat a ton of them. Just like soy is good for you, just not a ton of it. People need to stop saying all the stuff about certain foods being bad for you (aside from the obvious, of course). Everything in moderation, people!

If your doctor tells you to avoid something, then avoid it. I understand that high potassium foods are to be avoided for people with kidney failure. But Lovie, don't worry about it.

Redheadtheresa39196.3331481482Lovie, I never paid attention to how my kidneys were functioning. I have
rarely had UTI's, don't drink, dont take alot of medication, don't have
diabetes or hypertension. When I first found out my GFR was low, I
thought that maybe I had Lupus and it was messing with my kidney but I
think mine was a case of acute renal failure caused by dehydration. My
doctor has not called me about this so I'm assuming she is not worried
about it. But it did make me do some research on it. I guess I figured
that the kidneys would just recover from anything...sort of like the liver
but it just is not the case. It was scary to read that kidneys can reach a
point of no return and once that happens, you cannot stop the
destruction of nephrons. Another thing I do all the time is take my pills
with a sip of water. There is a reason we are to take them with a full
glass or more of water. Everything I read, emphasized the importance of
weight control, diabetes control and hypertension control. Also, the
number of Americans that have kidney failure is growing all the time due
to our rates of obesity. Another thing that people need to be aware of is
the GFR is calculated based on the creatinine level. And it is adjusted for
weight. What people don't realize is, that by the time the GFR gets to a
point where it is considered low (below 60), that person is in the 3rd of 5
stages of renal failure. The lab does not have to report this levl until it
reaches stage 3. That is a huge disservice to people. I had no idea this is
the way it was. The national kidney foundation is trying to change this.
Anyway, I'm hoping I don't get a phone call from my doctor about this.
Then I will just have to deal with it. One day at a time, lol.

That's the spirit girl; One day at a time.

Hope everything goes smoothly and this is just a slight wake up call to pay more attention and nothing more come of it. Please keep us posted; as I mentioned it's definately a topic I'm concerned about as well.