47 replies to this topic

[fishinghat]

Well started developing stomach issues a few weeks ago. Not bad at first but slowly went downhill. Last Saturday I went into kidney failure. GForsed fluid and got them going again. Spent all day yesterday at drs and hospital. My dr though it might be pancreatitis that set things off but test results were good for pancrease function. Blood tests indicate poor kidney function. Not all tests are back yet so I will keep you all updated. Nothing like kidney failure while going through lorazepam withdrawal. lol 

[TryinginFL]

FH,

 

I am so sorry to hear this.  This must be horrible for you - and all the while trying to get off the Lorazepam...

 

My prayers are with you, dear friend.

 

Please do keep us posted,

 

Liz

[gail]

Fishinghat,

Also sorry to hear this. With ativan withdrawal.
Prayers from this side of the planet.
Keep us posted.

Kidney failure, not familiar with this. What are the symptoms?
While I am at it, where are you at with the lorazepam?
Thinking of you.

[FiveNotions]

oh, Fishinghat, what a kick in the butt! Whatever could have caused this !?

 

Please do keep us posted, but only as you feel up to it.

 

Be assured, you are in my prayers!!

[fishinghat]

Thanks everyone.

 

Kidney failure is where the kidney reduces or stops filtering the waste material out of or blood. This can be from kidney stones, fat deposites in the kidney (like  cholesterol or triglycerides) or kidney infections. The buildup of waste material and fluids causes a person to become very sick and can even kill them if untreated. Of course dialysis can be done to artificially filter the blood but first we need to know what is causing it. Kidney stones for example would be easy to fix.

 

In my case I would assume that mine is from build up of triglycerides in the kidney. This is a type of fat that plugs up the filtering part of the kidney. Normal triglycerides are 150 or below and my last test was 2000!!!  Unluckily I inherited this condition so I am sort of stuck with it. There are several statin drugs that can be used to lower triglycerides but I turned out to be allergic to them!!! What a bummer.

 

I will let you know how it comes out.

 

I am currently at 26% off the lorazepam. I am not pushing it right now with the kidney issues going on.

[FiveNotions]

Holy Crapalta, FH ... 2,000 !!! I've never heard of them running so high ...

 

if statins aren't an option, is there anything else that is? Draino?

 

and yeah, forget the benzo weaning for the time being ... your system needs as minimal stress on it as possible ... "fishing" season is just around the corner, and we want you to be in tip-top shape to get out there and not catch anything ...
 

[fishinghat]

They also use Niaspan (concentrated niacin) and omega 3 but both of them caused nausea and vomiting with me. Natural remedies include garlic tablets. I tried them too but they did not help.

 

Yea my dr was pretty surprised at 2000!!  Oh well, what to do?

[gail]

My goodness, good explanation here, thanks!

Could kidney stones affect the triglycerides? Or is it only from fat deposit?

When are you expecting the results?

What to do? Wait for the results and if dialysis is the answer, well it is what it is.

A friend of mine has been going for years, had kidney transplant five years ago. Much older than you and done great.

You are in my thoughts, ♥♥♥

[fishinghat]

Either kidney stones or triglycerides (a fat) could cause the kidney problems. Probably will get the cat scan results after the holiday.

 

Thanks for your well wishes Gail. We just wait and see.

[equuswoman]

Well started developing stomach issues a few weeks ago. Not bad at first but slowly went downhill. Last Saturday I went into kidney failure. GForsed fluid and got them going again. Spent all day yesterday at drs and hospital. My dr though it might be pancreatitis that set things off but test results were good for pancrease function. Blood tests indicate poor kidney function. Not all tests are back yet so I will keep you all updated. Nothing like kidney failure while going through lorazepam withdrawal. lol 

 

Oh my so sad to hear this. Please keep us posted and how you're doing. Are you type 2 diabetic? Remember I'm not just a nosy person but a nurse, retired. However my best friend from nursing school developed chronic renal failure and her father had this as well. Glad to hear it wasn't something going on with your pancreas. Prayers for you my sweet friend. From TheEquusWoman

[thismoment]

fishinghat

 

I am so sorry to hear about your kidney problems. You are always in my thoughts, and now even more so. 

 

Take care my friend.

[fishinghat]

Thanks all.

 

No, EW, I am not diabetic. Just had a physical about a nonth ago and all my blood tests came back normal so whateve it si has just fired up. My kidneys have reduced output again this morning so back to pushing fluids. Time will tell.

[brzghoff]

dr hat,

 

i just now saw this. that's terrible! i am so sorry to learn you are now having to struggle with the function of your kidneys. is there any other way are you able to get the tri levels down? i would guess diet, are you having to change anything radically there?

 

all the best and please keep us posted!

[ShadyLady]

Oh my, FH I just saw your post. So sorry for what you are going through:( You are in my thoughts and prayers. God bless you, friend.

[fishinghat]

Thanks everyone. My diet has always been geared to reducing the tiglycerides. when my values came back at 2,000 I went through my fridge right away. One of the parts of my low fat diet has been eating skinless chicken breasts. I was surprise to find high cholesterol and fat on the dietary info. It had been soaked in chicken broth. I spoke to the man in our meat department and he said companies had been using a salt solution on the chicken until recently, This causes the chicken to swell and increase in weight, and increases their profit. They have now determined that the meat will absorb salty chicken broth even better than the salt water. It took the wife and I about a week to find a local store that handles fresh slaughtered chicken. Not only less greasy but not salty at all. Tastes great!!My triglycerides have dropped to 1000 already (which is still too high).

[TryinginFL]

FH,

 

Even though not the optimal, it's wonderful that the count is down to 1000!  Over what period of time did that take place?

 

You remain in my thoughts and prayers and I know that you will handle this - your knowledge and diligence are admirable!

 

Take care,

 

Liz

 

PS What interesting info regarding the chicken - we really DON'T know what we are eating most of the time, do we?

[FiveNotions]

un-freaking-believable ... soaking the chicken in broth to inflate the weight ...

 

May I please return to the 1950s now? I believe my "ticket to the future" has expired ... what? I didn't buy a Round Trip ticket? you mean I'm stuck here?

 

[thismoment]

Oh dear. We are such predatory creatures toward one another! How sad.

[fishinghat]

Well said This Moment. As they say "buyer beware".

 

Liz - It took 4 weeks to drop that much. I am hoping my next one will still be a little lower.

[fishinghat]

Well results are in on CT scan.

 

Liver - Moderately infiltrated with fat (probably my high triglycerides). Can lead to liver failure. Reveresed by diet and exercise. They recommend 30 minutes exercise a day 4 to 5 times per week and a 1,000 calorie diet. Normal diet for my age and sex is 2200. I currently exercise 1 hour per day and eat a 1500 calorie diet.

 

One very small tumor on liver and they recommend an outpatient biopsy. They believe it to be benign.

 

Pancreas is totally fat replaced except small area of functional tissue at very end of pancreas. This can lead to acute pancreatitis and or pancrease failure.  Treated the same as liver fat buildup.

 

Three small cysts on kidney. Believed to be benign. Will do 6 month follow up.

 

It is going to be hard to eat less and exercise more than I already am but I guess no choice. If I wasn't so poor I would just hire someone to do it for me. lol

[FiveNotions]

Oh FH, that's quite a load of health information to have dumped on you all at once ... I gotta' read up on the pancreas and the liver a bit to be able to fully understand the implications of all this ...

 

One thing for sure, I am increasing my prayers for your health!

[TryinginFL]

Fh,

 

Thanks for the update...

 

Good to hear that tumor and cysts are believed to be benign.  Wow - you sure won't be eating much, will you?

 

At least it's a decrease in the exercise - small consolation! 

 

You remain in my thoughts and prayers, 

 

Liz

[brzghoff]

Dr Hat (and anyone else for that matter),

 

please consider reducing carbs. such as avoiding grains, processed foods and sugar as much as possible - most whole fruits okay. its not really about reducing fat in your diet. reduce the carbs and the fat takes care of itself. i just finished the book "Go Wild", look it up on amazon.  written by psychiatrist john raney and  journalist richard manning. they outline how diet, sleep, motion and awareness affect our physical and mental health. much of it is not new. they discuss how there have been few evolutionary changes in our species in 50,000 years, but agriculture, industry, technology and the pace of modern life has become the source of most disease in modern man. they suggest that most diseases are really "injuries". our ancestors were hunter gatherers not farmers, most of the carbs we eat were not introduced into the diet until our agrarian society 10,000 years ago.  its about the whole connection between our brain, central nervous system and our organs. there is an interesting discussion about the vagus nerve and the whole mind/body connection.  the book discusses diet, but it is not about "a diet". there is no calorie counting. there are no recipes. similarities to the paleo diet will be obvious, but that is not what the book is about.  the book is not a "how to" it is more of a "heads up". while the book does not explain how to eliminate carbs from the diet, there are plenty of resources on-line that do.

 

as i am sure you are already aware, carbs are sugar, even "complex carbs". the body burns sugar before it burns fat.  as long as sugar is in the blood stream, not much fat gets burned. i don't know what you currently eat, but triglycerides won't burn go down much until the carbs/sugar is reduced. processed foods are full of sugar and carbs. given your background, i am sure you are already aware of that impact on insulin resistance as well.

 

the authors explain how they apply the principals in the book to their life but leave how the reader chooses to proceed up to them. they make clear it is an individual pursuit. there is no doubt some people would find the suggestions more challenging than others due to "demands" of daily life. its not about living life as the authors but using the info in the book as a guide towards making better life choices. as someone with a background in physiology i think you will enjoy it. its an easy 250 page read. 

 

the implications for mental health and living "med free" are inspiring to me.  

[fishinghat]

brzghoff

 

I have ate a low fat, low sugar diet since I was a kid. The only carbs I eat are whole grain wheat bread. Homemade so no sugars and only 1/2 the fat of regular bread and it is olive oil. I use to eat a lot of fruit but due to sugar and carb content in the fruit I had to stop that as well. That helped my triglycerides some. The only fruit I am allowed is strawberries and pure orange juice one a week. Unluckily since being a kid I have had vegatable intolerance. Vegatables cause severe gastric pain and bloating. I have irritable bowel so veggies really do a job on me. All the seed veggies (corn, peas, beans, etc.) are off limits anyway as they are loaded with carbs. Onions and potatoes are loaded with starch which is the easiest carb to convert to sugars. My father had the same situation as I do so I guess it is inherited. I have tried V8 fusion which is a blend of fruit juice and veggie juice. I drank 4 oz a day and it caused diarrhea and vomitting as well as bloating. I have even tried freeze dried veggie tablets. They still made me sick at my stomach. The drs have put me on low doses of vit E and B complexes to try and help me but I had the same reaction to those (nausea and vomiting) bad enough to go to the hospital).. I have even tried low dose baby vitamins but once again got sick at my stomach. The most important fat to avoid is saturated fats that is why we use olive oil.

 

On top of this I have never been a sugar person in my life, I do not nor have ever liked candy, cake, pies etc, never had an alcoholic drink (this can make the triglyceride issue worse) and never had a smoke.

 

They have fibrate medicine to lower triglycerides. I had an allergic reaction to them as well (more ER visits). I have also tried Niaspan (concentrated niacin), omega 3 and garlic (which is suppose to lower the triglycerides). The niaspan and omega 3 made be sick at my stomach and the garlic did not help. I do eat some sardines and salmon though so I guess I get some O-3 that way.

 

I am sure that a lot of my obesity (40 lbs overweight) is due to my meds. As I have anxiety most of my meds slow down my metabolism in one way or another. I was never overweight until I had my nervous breakdown and went on the psych meds. I run 3 miles per day so I guess I will up that to 6 miles over the next few weeks. Uggh

[brzghoff]

run three miles a day! wow! that's awesome. i am jealous. i walk and hike a lot, but arthritic knees prevents me from running. 

 

yeah, the meds do a number on us don't they? when i was on depakote i went from 115 to 160 on a 5'4" frame. nothing i could do would get the weight off. when i switched to lamictal i dropped to 140 in 3 months. when i dropped the C i lost the rest of it and am back to 115. quitting my job helped too. no more sitting 8 hours a day! i have always been very active, hiking, biking, walking daily and well, lots of heavy yard work around here 24/7/365, but still the weight wouldn't come off until i dropped the meds. i've never been a carb person, not into bread pasta cakes cookies, my downfall was always plain old simple candy. not even chocolate, just the hard candies. my blood work always looked good re;ative to LDL HDL and the tri - like you, olive oil few saturated fats. never trans in the house in the past 20 years - restaurants, not much control there. 

 

thats tough regarding what impact the veggies have on you. if you are able to keep your carb intake down - the "thinking" is, with science to back it up, fats aren't as much of an issue - even saturated. one big prob with meat in this country is as you discovered with the chicken, factory farmed anything is terrible. i don't don't eat much red meat - but grass feed cattle is best - but expensive! fresh slaughter chicken you mentioned sounds awesome! i bet it tastes way better. friends of mine have chickens they keep. real free range ;-) they call them "yard birds". 

 

if they have "Go Wild" at your library, check it out. i would really be interested in your "professional" opinion its really about all aspects of our design, our biology, our physiology and the impact modern life has on us mentally as well as physically. 

 

i am glad to hear that your kidney cysts are benign. hopefully the liver and pancreas issues will reverse as you pursue a course of treatment with your docs. i hope you are not in any discomfort or pain because of this. 

[ShadyLady]

Wow FH, your post is a lot for the village idiot here to process and down right depressing to me:( I know you mention the possibility of hereditary influence, but do you feel the Cymbalta and other anti-d's could be a contributing factor to some of the the results of the ct scan? I have read endlessly about insulin resistance in people who take anti-d's. Seems like a catch-22 of lose the meds & lose your mind & weight!

I, too, am sure the extra 40 lbs is due to the meds as you exercise a lot & eat very healthy, certainly more than most of us;). Have you ever heard about Red Yeast Rice for lowering cholesterol/triglyceride levels? Also, what about a good Krill oil as opposed to Omega 3 supplementation? Just a thought, as after reading and researching tirelessly and trying to remember what I read;(, I have seen my numbers change dramatically from my initial labs in August (2 months off the crap) to last labs at the end of November after implementing those two supps. I also take a pretty high dose of Vitamin D (runs low for some reason) and Chelated magnesium which seemingly has cured my restless leg syndrome. I know your are very sensitive to supplements, but just wanted to add something that might be of help:/ I am sorry for your suffering and pray for healing in your body. The tapering/stopping of benzos is indeed another factor in slowing our metabolism. Will I ever be completely rx med free without suffering through withdrawal and discontinuation as a lifestyle?!

Be well & God bless

[thismoment]

fishinghat

I'm sending a carload of hope and good cheer your way my friend! Be well.

3 miles a day! I'm in awe of that.

Hope you have a great day!

[fishinghat]

Thanks SH and TM

 

SH - The red yeast rice is on my list of things to try. I am going to se how far my diet change and exercise carry me first and then I have about 5 or 6 homeopathic things to try (after I check out the safety of them). The Krill oil is a good idea. I have not thought of it as an alternative to O-3. Maybe my stomach will handle it better.It is certainly worth a try.

 

I totaled up diet last night and I am running around 1,250 calories per day. That is not much for a man 6' 3". I don't think I am going to trim that any.

[brzghoff]

FYI: red yeast rice is a natural source of lovastatin and there is a potential for it to be hard on the kidneys

[Laurahokie]

1250 woah! I eat 1500 atleast and im 5'6 150 trying to get to 140. I have been losing. Will your body think it is in starvation mode?

I am late to the post, but sorry to hear about your health issues of late.

Brz- Go Wild is on my list. My nephew is 11 and in the hospital with Crohn's. No one else on either side of our family has it.