Chronic Kidney Disease Stages 2 & 3

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rajathwalharris
rajathwalharris Posts: 101
in Introduce Yourself
Hi all,
I am just wondering if there is anyone else out there that is struggling with compromised kidney functions. I have been a T1 diabetic for 23 plus years and have mild kidney damage and in order to preserve their function and remain at stage 2, I am following a strict renal diet. However, this limits my proteins, sodium, potassium, and a whole slew of things.....which kind of sucks for me because I am quite active so as all my MFP pals know....my calories are never met and I burn way more than I eat. I feel fine, but I just can't seem to lose that last little bit of weight... I am happy with who I am at the moment and I guess,....but at the same time I want to make sure I am not harming myself. If you are a person with kidney issues, I'd love to hear from you....to know what triggers things like sore muscles, swelling....unexplained weight gain....I am really interested to know about and leg cramps and such as that's what I am battling at the moment. Thanks for listening to me gripe, day in and day out about all my issues everyone...I know by now, everyone knows I am a T1 diabetic with kidney issues....LOL...

:)

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  • jodym124
    jodym124 Posts: 3 Member
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    Hi there. I have chronic kidney disease, stage 2. I have IgA Nephropathy (Berger's disease), an autoimmune disease which causes "good" antibodies to get stuck in my kidneys. Basically, my immune system is in overdrive and is attacking my kidneys.

    I was diagnosed earlier this year, and I'm still trying to adjust to everything. I was fortunate because I didn't eat red meat before my diagnosis, so I've always only eaten poultry and fish. I've had to cut back on those, generally to once a day instead of twice a day. In the beginning, I thought the renal diet was hard to follow, but it's really not that hard. I try to look at it as a "natural way" of eating, and that's helped me a ton. It's hard, though, because I tend to eat when I'm stressed, and this disease causes me SO much stress.

    The swelling is caused by high protein spillage. Mine is ridiculously high (anywhere from 3.5 to 5 grams in my past few tests), but I don't have any swelling in my legs or ankles like most people with nephrotic syndrome, for whatever reason. I do have a lot of bloating in the stomach, though, and I put on a lot of weight quickly when I first started showing signs of my disease (ie. the high protein spillage). I also tend to get puffy eyes (which is always worse if I eat more sodium than I should). It took me a long time to find a diet and workout plan that actually seems to be working, though I've only lost a few lbs so far. I find it so difficult at times because when I always lost weight in the past, it was going to low-carb, which is pretty hard to do when you also have to eat less protein, too.

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