r/kidneydisease

My Efgr is at 23. I do not have any quality of life. My doctor was dismissive today when I brought up disability because I’m still young (31 F). I’m also on Medicaid and dealing with the changes that are being rolled out. I’m now in a spot where if something happens health wise I can’t even get it taken care of without losing insurance. This disease has messed with me mentally over the years navigating this and now I’m exhausted. My family is dismissive over my diagnosis. I truly do not know what to even do anymore. I’m done

I’ve been struggling with CKD for longer than I can remember. My right kidney was taken out when I was five because it was stage 4 and gradually failing. My left kidney is still there at stage 2-3a. I’ve lately began to see the entire treatments as pointless because one way or another it will move to stage 3b-4. Has anyone else had these thoughts? How do you keep going?

They say cauliflower.cucumber.blueberries.apples.olive oil.lemon juice.etc...does it really help?

I know it could lead to pulmonary edema in late stages, but what about blood tinged cough? 5-6 times in the span of 2 months. I have pulmonology set up in 2 weeks.

Hi, I am highly uneducated in my CKD (stage 2-3a, one kidney and I’ve had it since birth) and I didn’t know that smoking worsens CKD. I bought a vape recently (yesterday, before I was informed) and now I’d like to know if it can actually cause significant damage? I’ve only recently started and I have spent a lot of money on the thing:( Idk if I should throw it out, use it and not buy another one or something. Does anyone have any experience of smoking/vaping with CKD?

Hello everyone,

First of all, thank you for your time reading this, I really appreciate any help or experience.

My father was diagnosed with stage 5 kidney failure. The doctors have put him in on dialysis yesterday and I'm panicking.

We are based in the UK, he was stage 4 last year in November but stage 5 now.

To people who are going through dialysis, have done a kidney transplant or any other solution, or if you know anyone with the same issue, how are or were your experiences?

I am desperately trying to find any type of donation, live donor or deceased donor, but seeing the waiting time brings me further down.

I am also considering giving my kidney to my father. What is the process for that? Who do I talk to and what procedures do I have to go through?

Apologies if anything doesn't make any sense, I'm open to answering questions.

Thank you again.

34(M). Lived a lazy life and brought this upon myself. I am just so depressed rn and I am not sure what to even eat. Google isn’t really all that helpful. Waiting for my bloodwork to know my CKD stage. Hopefully not the later stages

Bonjour à tous,

Je suis un homme de 34 ans et j'ai rendez-vous pour ma première biopsie rénale le 2 juin. Je suis assez anxieux à l'idée de l'intervention et de la convalescence.

J'aimerais beaucoup connaître vos expériences : comment cela s'est-il passé pour vous ? Était-ce douloureux ? Combien de jours de repos vous a-t-il fallu avant de reprendre vos activités normales ? Avez-vous des conseils pour le jour de l'intervention ?

Pour vous donner un peu de contexte sur les raisons pour lesquelles mon néphrologue souhaite une biopsie, voici un bref résumé de mon cas et de mes derniers résultats d'analyses. Mes résultats sont actuellement stables/en amélioration, mais mon médecin souhaite exclure une néphropathie à IgA ou une hyalinose segmentaire et focale secondaire.

Mes résultats d'analyses et leur contexte :

DFGe : 109 ml/min (fonctionnement parfaitement normal).

Albumine sanguine : 44 g/L (Normale).

Hématurie : Négative (7/mm³).

pH urinaire : 7,0.

Autres affections : Pas de diabète, pas d’antécédents familiaux de maladie rénale. Cependant, je souffre de fortes douleurs dorsales mécaniques dues au syndrome de Bertolotti (Castellvi IIIb).

Chronologie de la protéinurie :

Novembre 2024 : La protéinurie totale sur 24 h était de 0,56 g/24 h.

Je prenais alors de fortes doses d’AINS pour mes douleurs dorsales et j’avais un léger surpoids. Février 2026 (Pic) : La protéinurie totale a atteint 0,92 g/24 h. Ceci est survenu juste après un traitement intensif de 10 jours par AINS (diclofénac) pour une nouvelle crise de lombalgie.

Mai 2026 (Actuellement) : Après avoir arrêté complètement les AINS, perdu du poids et adopté un régime hyposodé très strict (natrémie urinaire confirmée à 65 mmol/24 h), mon albuminurie des 24 heures a chuté à 434 mg/24 h (environ 0,43 g).

Malgré l’amélioration nette et le lien évident avec les AINS et mon poids précédent, mon néphrologue souhaite réaliser une biopsie pour s’assurer à 100 % qu’il n’existe pas de problème glomérulaire chronique sous-jacent à l’origine de cette fuite basale. Quelqu'un a-t-il déjà présenté un tableau clinique similaire (DFGe normal, absence de sang dans les urines, protéinurie légère à modérée répondant aux AINS) ?

Merci d'avance pour vos réponses rassurantes et pour le partage de vos expériences de biopsie !

If so, I guess I just wanted to know to make sure it was ok to continue. Thanks.

Hello! I don’t really know which subreddit to ask this but I think asking it here may be fitting. My dad had just gotten tested for numerous of things, but his doctor is pointing it towards to kidney or liver disease. We don’t know the exact diagnosis yet, but my dad has already been making a lot of changes to his diet.

I want to be able to be as supportive as possible, and seeing his meals just be boiled chicken or steamed fish without any condiments seemed so sad and I know he’s silently struggling too.

So, I wanted to ask if there are any meals that are low on sodium and sugar you guys eat?

I’ve been trying to research on this, most of it is just the actual food like spinach and leafy greens and whatnot. Maybe I’m just searching wrong, but I was hoping to look for meals not just ingredients to a meal.

If you guys have a blogspot for these kinds of things or any recipes in mind that would be great:)

thanks in advance:D

I’ve been dealing with this for a very long time now. I’m 28 years old, and I was diagnosed with CKD when I was 13. I allowed it to stop me from doing a lot in my life. I didn’t graduate high school, my social life took a massive hit, and I wouldn’t even go outside.

A couple of years ago—maybe in 2024—I hit a very low point. I contemplated ending it all. I felt like I hadn’t accomplished much in my life and that I wasn’t going to accomplish anything.

But then my social worker convinced me to try nursing school. I had talked about wanting to do it before, but I didn’t think I could. I gave it a shot, and it was the best thing I could’ve ever done.

It was really hard balancing dialysis, going to school, and keeping up with schoolwork, but I got through it. I recently graduated—my walk across the stage was on May 15—and I’ll be taking the NCLEX on June 10.

I’m writing this because, for a long time, I allowed this disease to rule me. I want people to know that this isn’t the end. Sure, it’s hard—really hard—but you can still accomplish great things despite all the bullshit this disease brings.

i used chatgpt to generate banh mi ideas for my dad with eskd. the light sauce meant to flavor the banh mi was so vinegary and awful (1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp water, 1/2 tsp sugar, minced garlic), i just tossed it out.

used what i had with cilantro, cucumbers, and eggs seasoned only with garlic powder and black pepper. that cilantro was working so hard to make the dish enjoyable. the banh mi was fucking awful

vietnamese folks or vietnamese food lovers with ckd or eskd, please help me out here. my dad watches tourists in vietnam eating the food he can't have on youtube all day. please let me make this man's day

NOT PROMOTION. Looking for free users to test!

Hi CKD,

I was diagnosed with IgA nephropathy at 18 years of age, I am now 32. Thankfully I have been able to manage it since then, and I am still in stage 1.

Over the years, I have always been awful at diet. I am fit, in great health (apart from the fact), and I can say that is hasn't inhibited my life in much, other than a bit of worry when I go for my check up.

I am aware that diet can significantly slow down the progression of CKD, and I have been consuming healthy food that fits my condition for some years now. But it is such a hassle, we all know this.

With my knowledge in apps and software, I have built an app that knows my levels, limits and stage and basically tracks what I consume with intellegence.

The app has a few cool features that I built based off my needs/wants and experience.

SCAN/TRACK DIET
- It allows you to scan any barcode/food/shelf and it will tell you the Potassium, Phosphorus, Sodium and Protein inside.

As it has knowledge of your levels so it peronsalises your limits to your stage and bloodwork. Most generic diet apps don't actually help anyone with CKD. So this app was tailored and built specifiscly for thos with CKD. E.g, those in stage 5 have different diet limits to those in stage 1.

AI CHAT
- It has an Ai chat that has context of your bloods/stage etc so you can ask it anything related to food. E.g, I want a snack, what can I eat? The chat will tell you a variety of options you can consume with context of what you have consumed that day.

COMMUNITY TAB
- Just like this group, it has a community chat where users can ask questions, post any big wins, or post about any new food recipes they've found. Users can show love, comment or just like it!

RECIPES
- We update CKD friendly recipes daily, and depending on your stage, these will reflect that. E.g those in stage 1 will see different recipes to those in other stages.

I have been using the app for about 2 months now, and I am looking for others to test in exchange for some feedback.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

This was my first post, so thank you for reading to the end if you're still here!

Hi,

I am in IT and the market is rough. I actually like my job a lot and the company knows about my situation and has been flexible with appointments and understands transplant. I'll have FMLA and short term disability at my disposal come transplant. (On the list, have potential donors getting tested and I am trying not to get my hopes up, but I expect it to come sooner rather than later.)

Something I have been debating for a few months is whether or not it's safe for me to leave my employer for another. As I said, they have worked with me and I am afraid of losing that. I also feel it is dishonest to start at a new employer then start leaving early two times every four weeks (once for labs once for followup), probably a little more often for random stuff as well like this recent cardio referral, or a PCP or dentist.

The reason I am considering moving is because currently, I make $70-$80K/year, but I am thinking my next hop could take me to $100K, which would significantly help our financial situation, assuming they don't decide to fire me for something else once they learn of my condition.

Something else I have been considering is trying to grab another remote job on top of my current one, and just doing both until one becomes unmanageable, but then I'd be worried about the 2nd one calling the first one for verification and then I'm out of both.

Any insight or advice would be appreciated. I'm young, got a lot to learn.

My BP was averaging 120/70 before this, BUT I was experiencing multiple random periods of low heart rate (bradycardia). He attributed it to my heavy cannabis use (dry flower vape and edibles). My heart rate would periodically go down to the 40's and sometimes in the 30 beat per minute range.

I agree that it was the THC and I quit the next day after he told me. I have not taken any form of THC for 5 days now and I am wondering if I my kidneys can survive three more weeks of this high blood pressure until I see the doctor again. My BP is so high I am worried about my kidneys. I am stage 3a ckd already.

I got myself into this mess by abusing the weed (heavy user), and I understand that I have to pay the price for that in my heart and kidneys, I just would like to know if this level of high blood pressure can be tolerated for a three more weeks. I don't want to annoy my doctor by returning just one week after he told me to stop my BP pill for a month to reset my heart rate. I trust my doctor to not put me in danger, but I am looking for specific info about how the kidneys can endure this level of high blood pressure. Or is three more weeks not the end of the world for my kidneys in the bigger picture. thanks

hi im 38 years old male i just recently received my Lab results as follows urine creatinine -14.26, UARC - <49.09, hemoglobin 13.8, CMP is WNL. should i be worried for having low proteins in my urine? my BP 130/85 during check up with the dr.

I think I've established my average numbers here. Yesterday, I went 36 hours without taking my blood pressure meds (I'm resistant to them and got hopeless, but still, don't comment on how dumb I am) and my blood pressure went to 260/200. I've only seen my bottom reach 200 a few times. 😳 Plus 260/200 is the highest my machine can register, so it could've been the 300s (at least that's what it felt like). I retook my meds and I'm checking my BP in a few minutes.