Tiredness

Stage 3. Dr thinks he can get me to a stage1 with new blood pressure meds.. I stay completely drained of energy all the time! Not sure what to eat to help except to keep the salt intake down as low as possible! Any suggestions would be helpful since it’s all new to me!

No anemia .. stage 3 ..caused from dr not being able to keep my BP down for over a year!  I'm 75

Bonnie,

Glad to hear you don't have anemia. I did develop anemia when my renal function dipped to Stage 3a. 

I definitely feel sluggish is I don't drink enough water/fluids. (I only drink water.) I also have to be sure I'm eating consistently throughout the day.

How are your electrolytes? My potassium became elevated as my renal function deteriorated to Stage 3b. That causes some changes in my heartbeat if I don't keep it in check. Do I follow a low sodium diet and take a potasdium binder daily.

I'm also receiving treatment for my severe anemia--but fortunately you don't have anemia.

And finally, I, too, am over weight; although, I'm working on that issue with some success. Anyway, I find that doing some moderate exercise daily really helps my energy level.  So I walk 2 miles a day at a moderate pace-/I have a dog so I take her for a 1 mile walk twice a day. I also do a 24 minute workout (moderate level) on my recumbent elliptical machine. 

So for me it's about balancing my food intake throughout the day, drinking enough water throughout the day, and engaging in regular moderate daily exercise. And I'm now in the middle of Stage 4.

Hope you figure out what's causing your sluggishness and are feeling better soon!

Marj

Thank you Marj, hope you get better.. it’s hard here not knowing how to start on low sodium diet.. I don’t cook much anymore, don’t really feel strong enough to stand for over a few minutes.. I’m 75.  Can you recommend over the counter low salt foods!

Bonnie,

This is my daily diet:

breakfast: Greek yogurt with fresh blueberries (no cooking)

Lunch: high protein steel cut oatmeal (recipe below) (microwave cooking)

Dinner: lean cuisine (most around 500 mg sodium) (microwave cooking)

Snack: raw veggies (cauliflower, cucumber, red bell peppers, broccoli)

HIGH PROTEIN STEEL CUT OATMEAL

1/3 cup cinnamon applesauce (no sugar added)

1/4cup steel cut oatmeal (McGann)

1/4 liquid egg white

1/2 cup almond milk

1. Mix together in microwave safe bowl. (Use a large bowl as contents will overflow smaller bowl when cooking.)

2. Cook on high 1 1/2 minutes.

3. Stir.

4. Cook on high 2 minutes.

5. Stir.

6. Cook on high 1 1/2-2 minutes.

You cadd more cinnamon if you like more of that flavor.

There is an app I use to help me track my daily dietary intake. It's free and available for use on any iPhone. The app is called HealthWatch 360.

You can check out sodium levels in prepared foods like lean cuisine. You can also add your own recipes and see how they come out. This app tracks potassium, phosphorous, and other stuff I have to track for my kidneys with accuracy. Also, when I go to the grocery store I can take a picture of the bar code on any item and then look up the full nutritional data for that item--it's linked directly to the USDA data base in the USA. )I live in the USA.)

I also purchased a. Uisinart 4 in 1 slow cooker. It has a steel rather than ceramic insert that is dishwasher safe. It will heat up to 500 degrees F. So I can brown meet in it, roast meat in it, steam vegetables in it or use it as a slow cooker. It has a timer on it and will automatically shut off should I fall asleep wil my food is cooking.

Since I live alone and have had really severe anemia with my CKD I've had to figure out how to do all this when not feeling well. So what I do now is buy vegetables that are already cleaned and chopped up (fresh) or frozen vegetables with no additives. (This is more expensive but it's what I have to do at this point.) o then just use my 4 in 1 slow cooker to fix my main meal. I usually just have to brown my meat, then add my veggies, add some low sodium chicken broth and herbs, then set it to either roast or slow cook. I then leave it as it cooks.

So, that's the basics regarding how I've adjusted and what I'm doing to manage all of this. I cook when I can. But I also rely on lean cuisine meals. Since I eat such minimal sodium throughout the day the lean cuisine meals work for me with the sodium level. My phosphorus levels have been no problem so I can steel eat stuff like yogurt and oatmeal. I can also have a snack of saltine crackers with peanut butter.

Marj

Thanks again Marj this is a great help!! Thanks for sharing !  Do you have a daily amount of sodium that you are allowed? Ty!

Bonnie,

Yes, 1500 mg sodium daily or less, if possible. I'm usually able to come in at 1300 mg of sodium daily. I take one medication that has 378 mg of sodium in it. But the rest of my daily sodium intake is from my food.

The Greek yogurt I eat has 75 mg sodium. The high protein applesauce steel cut oatmeal I make has 211 mg sodium.  That leaves me a little over 600 mg of sodium I can have with dinner. Most lean cuisine meals have between 500 and 600 mg of sodium per serving. So lean cuisine frozen entrees are one frozen meal I can eat.

I do keep 6-8 lean cuisine meals in my freezer for nights when I don't feel well enough to cook for myself. I also have cooked boneless skinless chicken breast and thighs in my freezer. I freeze these cooked in single serving sizes. I can then use them to make fresh salads quickly in the evening too. 

Chicken fajitas are another dinner I make fairly frequently. The bell peppers and onions in them are really good for those of us with CKD. I take one serving of my cooked frozen chicken breasout of my freezer and put it in my refrigerator the night before. I chopped my vegetables at lunch time. I then just cooke the vegetables in some canola oil until they are crisp tender, add the chicken and cook until it is heated. I then put this filling into a four tortilla with a tablespoon of sour cream. This is one of my favorite dinners during the summer.

But I eat a lot of salads with meat for dinner in the summer. For me, if I eat very consistently for breakfast and lunch, it gives me enough sodium and potassium left for dinner that I can eat a fairly normal dinner. (I'm only able to eat 2000 mg of potassium daily.)

I'm fortunate to still be able to eat the normal amount of phosphorus on a daily basis. That allows me to start my day with a serving of Greek yogurt and some fresh blueberries (or sometimes strawberries). This yogurt is a high protein food option so a good, no cook way for me to start the day

And I really live steel cut oatmeal but needed to ramp up the protein in it to make it a decent meal option. My kidneys seem to handle egg whites well. So I tried adding them to my steel cut oatmeal. I definitely like this high protein version of my oatmeal with the innamon applesauce.

Anyway, it has taken me some time and lots of trial and error to get this into a habit that works for my kidneys, my energy level, and myself. I used to eat a lot of vegetables. So cutting back to only 2000 mg of potassium intake daily has been difficult for me. However, it has, finally, become my new normal. I no longer struggle with all of the dietary constraints. Thankfully, I'm a very robotic eater by nature so eating the same foods over and over again doesn't bother me.

Marj

Jane why do you think being at stage 3 at 75yrs does not make sense?  You said here levels would be normal for her age.  What numbers?  I do not see any, perhaps they were deleted.  

Hi Rick

Stage 3 is from 59 to 30 egfr.

Bonnie didnt give numbers but said her Dr could get her renal function back to normal with BP meds. So I am guessing this is not a sudden onset with rapid decline.

I would love to be 75yrs old with a CKD 3, unless the egfr is rapidly declining 59-30 for 75yrs is acceptable.

An egfr below 60 can be considered as normal in adults over 70yrs old = ckd3. This is from research I have read not my own opinion.

Jane

thanks...I follow what you were telling her.  Rick