Definitely ! When I found out how bad my kidney failure was, I was horrified. I knew I had heart failure, but never thought about it affecting my kidneys, plus all of the medication. I started reading about what foods are okay and what are not, and have made changes in my diet. Since protein has to be limited, I have been gradually transitioning to more of a vegetarian, and getting more of my protein from plant sources , and just having meat as more of an enhancement and not the main part of my meals. What foods did your doctor recommend for you to eat and which to avoid, @Cody Fousnaugh ? I noticed that you said your wife was getting you foods that are beneficial for your kidneys, and assumed that the doctor must have suggested what to have in your new diet regimen .
^^ This. @Cody Fousnaugh , I believe you take pain medication for arthritis frequently. That is likely why your doctor recommended the change to Tylenol; it is easier on the kidneys. Naproxen works very well to control my gout and even helps with the inflammation of lymphedema... but unfortunately it has adverse affect on kidney function so I have to use it sparingly. Kind of a double-edged sword.
Having no teeth and unable to wear dentures, if I may, I suggest you consider getting the 20% all veggie protein shakes from Costco. Also the low sodium V8 might be kidney friendly. Unsweetened applesauce, 4% cottage cheese, scrambled eggs, and creamy peanut butter work well and are kidney and dental issue friendly and easy to eat and digest. Also have you had a PSA test recently? I have known a couple of men that had kidney problems and then found out the underlying problem was prostate cancer. Kidney failure is many times an indication of other issues. I hope it all comes out good for you and it was all just dehydration and fighting an infection. Note: Tylenol can also be hard on the kidneys so be careful how much you use. Also if you drink alcohol even occasionally, that is a must to avoid.
I have bad teeth as well, and I use my food processor and blender a lot now. I am adapting to eating more foods that require less chewing, while still getting necessary vegetables, fiber, and proteins. I enjoy salads, but have a terrible time with lettuce, and have to chop it really small; but coleslaw is fine because the food processor chops up the cabbage and carrots just the size I need. I try to avoid inflammatory foods, which helps lessen the need for pain medication , since inflammation causes pain. Some foods, like raw pineapple, have a natural painkiller in them; so this is my first choice, and i only use actual pain meds Like Alleve when I am in a lot of pain. Once the doctor tells Cody what his kidney function level (GFR) is at and if it is coming back up now, he will have a better idea of whether this is chronic or just something because of the dehydration from the tooth problems.
Like @Beth Gallagher said, don’t take Aleve (Naproxen) too often. My friend’s ex-mother-in-law took Aleve every day for her arthritis because her doctor told her to. I think she took the maximum dose each day. She did this for years!!! She had kidney failure and died from it. Now, what I don’t recall is if she did this on her own, or if the doctor failed to tell her not to take Aleve indefinitely. But she was the type of person who always did what her doctor told her to do without questioning anything.
Won’t see my VA doctor until this coming Thursday. He is my PCP. Hospital doctor didn’t tell anything of what and what not to eat. He just told me to stop using Ibuprofen and (obviously) stop my two blood pressure meds for high blood pressure since I no longer have high blood pressure (with the 15 pound weight loss). The food my wife bought is what I read online to have with possible kidney disease.
From my blood lab, done last Thursday, my GFR was 54 and my wife’s was 58 (from her blood lab taken same time mine was). She got hers done for her upcoming doctors appointment. I’m pretty sure my VA doctor will schedule me for blood lab with VA. The one I got was ordered from hospital doctor. We/I have to change our diet, but we’re not going to cut meat out completely. Don’t have to.
NO Aleve. Only Tylenol. But, I still take 50mg Tramadol every other day for my shoulder osteoarthritis. On days I don’t take Tramadol, I take either Tylenol 8hr for Arthritis or Extra Strength Tylenol.
Your kidney functions are decreasing and the doctor still allows you to take Tramadol? That stuff is known to be extremely harmful to one’s liver and kidneys and from my understanding, only those patients with good or better kidneys can take it for any length of time. Could be that most of your loss might be due to using it to begin with. Anyway, I noticed in your posts that you’re preparing for the worse. Getting a walker a bath seat and thinking about the boat are all good things but that said, if you use your maladies as a challenge instead of as defeat, you could very well make your life a lot easier. A good diet is an excellent start but strength doesn’t come from a good diet. Challenge yourself and build some muscle so you can be as mobile as you can be. Maybe the VA can assign you to some physical therapy classes and at the same time take some pain management classes too. By the bye…..Milk Thistle is an excellent supplement that helps clean all the filters in your body especially the liver and kidneys. You won’t notice any difference by taking it but your blood work and UA will undoubtedly show a difference.
I’ve been taking 50mg Tramadol for a number of years now. I’ve had two VA doctors approve it for me. And, the hospital doctor said it was fine. Bobby, some people just have to take a pain med, like Tramadol, for their pain. There are members on this forum that take some kind of pain medication. VA doctor doesn’t want me to build muscle, only physical strength thru walking. Nothing at all to do with gym exercise. A Physical Therapist and Occupational Therapist stopped by my hospital room last Sunday and had me walk around with a walker. They told me I done great and there was no reason I couldn’t be discharged (physically speaking). IOW, I’ll follow what my VA doctor tells me, but thanks for your suggestions.
I can believe that. My pain and general discomfort is tolerable most of the time without medication. However, I can easily imagine where pain simply becomes the dominant aspect of one’s life and a time finally arrives to do something about it, even if it is not in one’s best long term interest; can’t just live our remaining days feeling miserable.
Why does discussing anything with you always have to be a contest? Gaining physical strength is the exact same thing as building muscle. I didn’t write “building muscle mass” nor did I write anything about using a gym for a reason. I did write however, that you might ask your VA doc about having physical therapy classes which I’m sure that he or she will approve of. If you’re using a cane and headed for a walker, it only makes sense to use all available resources to avoid having to depend on those devices as much. Now, so far as the med thing goes, there’s something I can’t understand. You can take EXTRA strength tylenol but you can’t take Aleve and yet both of them are NSAIDS. You can’t take Ibuprophen but you can take Tramadol but yet Ibuprofen is the lesser of two evils when it comes to liver and kidney damage. Note: I have a history of liver and kidney damage and it almost killed me about 19 years ago because both of them totally shut down but yet, with proper care and a lot of faith, my scans and all subsequent blood work showed everything is back to what it should be.
I was prescribed tramadol and meloxicam for pain, but in all honesty I don't think they do anything for me except act as a placebo. Self medication with OTC meds can lead to unintended consequences as mentioned. My mother had to have part of her stomach removed from the handfuls she took.
I don’t remember the specifics but I seem to recall that tramadol didn’t do much for me either. Hydrocodone worked wonders though the few times I’ve been able to take it.