I got my kidney function test back. It's somewhat concerning

She said i have non alcoholic fatty liver disease. Also I saw that my EGFR is 88. That means my kidneys are functioning at 88 percent i am guessing right? Is that a bad EGFR for someone who is 30 like me? My doctor didn't seem concerned about the kidney function though. She is mostly concerned about the liver disease. Because it can get worse if I don't go on a diet. And they are also concerned about my glucose because they said that I am close to getting diabetes. Then my cholesterol is sorta high too, so that is bad as well. I am kinda concerned about the kidney function, but i'm guessing that the 88 EGFR isn't serious. I guess i just need to go on a diet so that my liver disease and kidney disease doesn't get worse than it already is. I am guessing that i don't need to see a kidney doctor though would I? 

Megan,

First of all, I am not a Dr. Second, I am so glad to hear you went to the Dr and had labs done. Great first step!

Megan, read your own post you wrote to me. Read it. You said your Dr is concerned with your fatty liver and you are close to being a diabetic, right. Concentrate on your liver and glucose. Which means you need to get a diet from your Dr., not from us. IF and WHEN you get CKD your Dr will send you to a Nephrologists and a renal dietitian. YOU NEED TO GO BACK TO YOUR DR AND HAVE HIM PUT YOU ON A DIET, you are morbidly obese and it's causing you health problems.

Next step, go back to your Dr.

Megan, go to my profile and look for a post I made: normal gfr by age. I posted like 4 comments on the subject, also posted the site that you can actually go to yourself and find woman, 30 years of age and find normal gfr. You seem to like to Google so I'm sure you can find it. Our gfr goes down gradually with age. You can't expect to have a gfr of a 20 year old.

Also, Google morbid obesity.

Set a goal of loosing 20lbs by the 4th of July. That's a good start.

Yes that's true. I know that my biggest problem is that i have fatty liver disease. And the fact that I am close to having diabetes is very concerning too because if I do get that then it could damage my kidneys. I also am going to start losing weight as well. I am going to go back to the doctor tomorrow too. I will ask her what kind of diet I need to be on. Maybe she can also refer me to a dietitian who could give me tips on what to eat and what not to eat. I will ask her that tomorrow too. And i am sure they could give me tips on foods to avoid that could harm my liver. i do realize that im in more danger of dying from liver failure than i am of kidney failure. Because i know if my liver gets worse then i could die. Also i did just look at your post for normal GFR by age. So maybe my GFR isn't that bad then. It's probably normal for my age since i'm 30. I just looked online and saw that they classify people with a GFR of 88 at kidney disease stage 2.  I guess i was just worried that i could be in danger of kidney failure when I get to be in my 60s or 70s. I know that i can take steps now to get healthier though so that i don't have kidney problems in the future though, which I will do. I am going to go on a diet and i will exercise so i can lose weight. I probably need to lose 220 pounds. Which is hard but i am sure i could do it in 3 or 4 years if I work hard. 

Megan,

So glad to hear you're going back to see your Dr again. Just be honest with him, let him know that you want to improve your health but don't know how and need his help. You do need to find out how to get that kidney healthy again and how to control your sugar so I'm so happy to see you are on the right path! Good job!

It is really hard to stick to all my diets. Renal, diabetic, low cholesterol and low sodium. The way I deal with it is that I allow my self to cheat, on purpose, from time to time, not big but something I know I shouldn't have. Every once in a while I say it's OK. Then I plan what I will have next month for keeping my diet for so long. I diet for my health, you will diet for your health also. You can do it, I know you can. Keep it up Megan!!

Thank  you so much for the advice. And i do want to keep my kidneys healthy too so that they can remain stable around 88 percent function. But i surely do need to try to get my liver healthier since the doctor was most concerned about my liver function. I talked to the doctor today and she was saying that I just need to be on a healthy diet and eat alot of fruits and vegetables. And she was saying i should really try to avoid fast food like Mcdonalds and all of that stuff. Then she was telling me i should try to avoid sugar as much as possible so that my glucose doesn't get any worse than it is already. i am guessing that i need to be on a low sodium, and low cholesterol diet too though because the doctor said my cholesterol is high. And that type of diet might help my liver too. She was also saying that she thinks i should see a nutritionist. Because they can do a better job of helping me figure out what to eat and not eat based on my health problems. I guess the doctor didn't know all that much about the nutrition part of it. It's hard to figure out what foods to avoid and what not to avoid. But maybe the nutritionist can help me. The doctor also told me i should try weight watchers since I need to lose alot of weight as well. But i'm not sure if weight watchers has a low cholesterol and low sodium diet, which i probably need too. I guess i should check it out and see what kind of foods people eat on weight watchers. Thanks for the advice on cheating on the diet too. i will try to allow myself to cheat sometimes if i am doing a good job and losing weight. but i will try my best not to cheat on the diet that often. 

Megan,

The nutritionist will give you a diet that has an appropriate daily calorie intake so you will begin loosing weight. He or she will also give you weekly meal plans you can follow as you learn how to eat following the dietary restrictions you now need to follow. In addition, the nutritionist should help you set a weekly meal plan that incorporates foods you like so you won't miss those you can no longer eat so much.

I'm wondering if you would also find it helpful to see someone who can help you develop an exercise routine too. That together with an appropriate diet will maximize the health benefits for you. Your exercise program should be customized to your current health condition as well as your physical conditions and your interests.

Marj

Marj

If you choose to avoid foods that will harm your liver, fat, refined sugar, salt and alcohol, your health will improve.  The dietition will also help you learn about food portions. Healthy snacks between meals will keep you from going CRAZY from hunger. When that doesn't help drink a bunch of water or ice tea without sugar. Tea is good for the liver anyway.

Thank you so much for the advice. I am definitely going to follow your advice too because I don't want my liver to get worse. And i also want my kidney function to stay around the same too since it is a little bit low for my age. I am mostly concerned with my fatty liver disease though. But hopefully eating healthy and exercising will help both my liver and my kidneys. My doctor did give me a referral for a dietitian too so hopefully i can see her in the next few weeks. that would probably help me a lot too.

Yes hopefully i will be able to see a nutritionist in the next few weeks. And hopefully they would know what kinds of foods i need to avoid and what would be good to eat. Because my doctor was saying she is pretty sure I have fatty liver disease. I guess the symptoms i was getting must be from the liver disease then. Now that i have been to the doctor i see what you and everyone else meant when you all were saying that i should not worry about something when i'm not even sure that it's my issue. Even though my kidney function is probably alittle bit lower than normal for my age, but my biggest problem is the fatty liver disease that i probably have. And now i realize i wasted my time doing all that research on kidney disease too. Because the doctor wasn't worried about my kidney function at all. She is just really worried about my liver because i had high liver enzymes on one of the blood tests. And i spent all that time researching kidney disease when what i should have been researching is liver disease. Because i know nothing about liver disease at all. But at least i learned that i can't diagnose myself by reading things online. Because some of the symptoms that i have can occur with other diseases as well. And i am guessing that my symptoms that i have been having must be from the liver disease. So i'm sorry again for getting all upset and making all those comments about having kidney disease when that isn't a big problem for me. And i'm sure my kidney function will be fine as long as i start losing weight. I'm not sure how bad the liver disease is though. I still have to go get some more liver blood tests and get an ultra sound on my liver. I certainly will start exercising and i already started on a diet. I am betting that i do need to be on a very strict diet since the doctor is thinking that i do have fatty liver disease. I would think my diet is probably going to be as strict as the diet for people with kidney disease. I am also going to exercise though too because i bought a treadmill for my house. I will use that every day. Oh and my blood pressure is doing better now. I had to go back to the doctor this week on Wednesday so they could check to see how my blood pressure is and they said it was 132/80. I have been taking it at home too and the other night it was 123/78. I'm not sure if it's accurate when i do it though because i have to use one of those wrist blood pressure monitors. I tried using the arm blood pressure monitor but i can't get the cuff around my arm by myself. Hopefully the wrist blood pressure monitor is accurate enough though. Thank you so much for all of the advice too because i sure do need to lose alot of weight so that my liver doesn't get worse. and also so my kidneys can remain at a stable function for along time too.

It sounds like your blood pressure may resolve with the other lifestyle changes you'll need to make for your liver. If so, that is also very good news. So, the visit with the dietitian will be critical. And, of course, working closely with your doctor will be critical too.

It will be most helpful if your dietitian will give you daily meal plans for 1-2 weeks including the recipes you'll need to cook them. It may take some time to adjust to the new way of eating, but if you stick to it you'll feel much better within 3-4 months.

The weight loss is definitely going to take time. I suspicion you may find it helpful to join a weight loss group of som sort for social support. 

For me, I found it easier to just eliminate all bad foods from my diet immediately. I stuck to my renal diet, which was a major change as I used to eat 6 servings of vegetables and 1 serving of fruit a day. I have to follow a low potassium diet now. So I now eat many fewer vegetables a day. I have learned how to eat this new way and so no longer struggle with it. However, for me, trying to transition more gradually into this new diet would not have worked. Going "cold turkey" and just suddenly eliminating all the high potassium veggies and fruits as well as suddenly decreasing my veggie intake was actually much easier.

But we are each different people. So you and your dietitian will need to figure out the best approach for you. Whatever it is, I hope you'll be able to embrace it and adhere to it for every meal on a daily basis. That will give your liver the best chance possible!!

Marj

Yes i do take the blood pressure medicine now. But maybe once i lose alot of weight I won't need the blood pressure medicine anymore. I found out that i am 220 pounds over weight. I originally thought i was 300 pounds over weight. So it wasn't as bad as I thought. I know being 220 pounds over weight is still not good either though. I know it will take about 3 or 4 years to lose all that weight too. But I am sure i can do it if i exercise every day and follow my diet. I know i will need to stop eating all the fast food and other junk food like candy, cookies, cake and all that stuff. I probably have to be on a low salt and low sodium diet too because of my liver disease. And i sure hope that my liver won't get worse since i am following a diet and i will start exercising too. I just hope the liver disease isn't already in the late stages. If it is then I think i can only slow down the progression of it with a diet and exercise but it will still eventually turn into liver failure. But if it's in the early stages then i still have a chance to make sure it won't turn into liver failure. It sure is scary so i know how everyone in the kidney disease forum feels. I know these kinds of health problems are really stressful and scary at times. Like i am very worried that i could die of liver failure in a few years. Well i guess i could if it's in the late stages. I will do whatever i have to do so that it doesn't get worse if it's in the early stages though. And thanks so much for all the tips and the advice too. Because all of the advice you all give me will surely help.