CKD

[noahschild]

I have been a diabetic since 1995, I have always taken Metformin as as of Monday my Doctor has told me that I have Chronic Kidney Disease and told to stop taking the Metformin. So how and what is my next course of action?  I read on the web that I could control it by losing some weight and changing my diet.  Any thoughts?

[SUNRIYZMT]

Hello.........you are not alone...I have been having effects of metformin and glipizide since May 27, 2015.  I am going into the clinic tomorrow.  My pharmacist said "oh there is a bug going around". This is clearly not a bug this is either the meds are in too warm of a temperature and not being as effective or I've got another kidney infection. Been up with abdominal pain, bloating, gas ..just can't get comfortable and my numbers are not coming down as fast as they were. Soooooooo it's time to get it checked out and see what the tests say.  I have been on metformin for years but they just changed companies (I hate when pharmacist do this and don't tell you). Glipizide used to pick up the slack time of metformin..not happening lately. So I am not gonna analyze this in my head no more time for a visit. Good Luck  to you. I would do the same...check out any changes in the brand or your habits.

[Super_sally888]

Hello,

welcome here.

One of the most important factors for controlling or even potentially reversing Chronic Kidney Disease, if it is caused by diabetes, is to have excellent control of blood sugar.

So questions are:

1. What is your Hba1c.  A normal hba1c is < 5.0.  If you want to control your diabetes well you should be aiming for an hba1c as close to 5 as you can safely manage.

2. Are you monitoring your blood sugars?  What is your typical fasting and post eating numbers?  Ideally fasting blood sugar is < 95 (ideal is in the mid 80s).  Post eating should be < 140, but ideally < 120 (people who are totally non-diabetic will tend not to have much if any rise in blood sugar above 90 regardless of what you eat.  I am telling this so you know what normal is and what your targets ideally are.

If you cannot take metformin (and presumably none of the other oral meds), the best treatment choice will be insulin.

3.  To control your blood sugar naturally, you need a combination of diet, exercise and weight management.
- optimize weight
- exercise daily with light to moderate intensity (at least).  It may be helpful if you exercise after eating.
- follow a low carb, moderate protein diet.  This will necessarily involve increasing your fat intake so you have enough calories, and nutrition.  

use your blood sugar meter to determine which foods don't have impact on your blood sugar.

Eat as natural a diet as you can, minimizing grains, sugars, fruits, and with plenty of non-starchy veges.  Fruits such as olive, avocado are ok.