Great timing! For the first 10 to 15 years, my diabetes was treated without too much consideration for my kidneys, although my eGFR was reported every test. My urologist referred me to a nephrologist, who made no significant remarks about my then eGFR nor medication regime, and I don't remember what they were then.
When I moved to a new area in 2018, my first visit to a new GP resulted in his advising my to get off 3 x 1g Metformin daily, and get onto insulin. My endocrinologist advised against this. My first visit to the new nephrologist repeated the same advice, but with a lot more weight and concern. After some to-ing and fro-ing between my two specialists, they agreed on a medication regime of 1 x 1g Metformin, Jardiance, Januvia, Rosuvastatin. As soon as Ozempic was available, I was prescribed it by my Endo, and Januvia was dropped. Only recently has my eGFR become a cause for concern, as it is hovering around 30, or Stage 3B Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). More recently, my Potassium levels have spiked, causing my Nephrologist to reduce my Candesartan from 32mg to 8mg for a trila period, which worked well but caused my blood pressure to increase slightly - from 120/60 to 140/70 approx. He reset my Candesaratn and then added a new medication - Veltassa - which is available on a complimentary basis to recommended candidates. I am awaiting the first results after a 4 week trial period.
Tony
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Tones48
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-09-2023 15:40
From: Diabetes Australia Community team
Subject: Kidney Health Australia - new pilot program
More than 330,000 Australians are living with diabetes and kidney disease including around 10,000 people who are living with kidney failure who require dialysis or a kidney transplant to stay alive.
At the moment, kidney checks are too complex and time consuming. We need to make it easy for people to get kidney checks when they need them.
That's why Diabetes Australia is calling for a Diabetes Kidney Disease Screening Program to raise awareness of the checks and make them more convenient. This would help Australians living with diabetes get the checks they need to prevent kidney failure. You can share your experience by heading to Spark Change via this link.
Diabetes Australia also recently released a new report on the massive impact of diabetes -related kidney disease, you will find that here.
Our friends Kidney Health Australia have also recently launched a pilot program you may be interested in participating in. If you're new to kidney disease, you might find yourself needing answers to questions like: "Do I need specific medication? Should I be following a particular diet? Where do I go for help?" If this sounds like you, then you might be interested in the Kidney Health 4 Life Research Study.
Kidney Health 4 Life (KH4L) is a pilot program tailored for people at different stages of kidney disease to self-manage their condition. The program is being conducted as a research study to evaluate the effectiveness of KH4L in supporting people to self-manage their conditions.
If you have been diagnosed with early to mid-stage CKD or started dialysis within the last 12 months, you might be eligible to take part. The study is completely free to take part in and participation is voluntary.
Register your interest today by visiting kidney.org.au/kh4l or call their KH4L Hotline on 1800 328 965.
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Natasha, Ange and Anna
Membership and Community Team
community@diabetesaustralia.com.au
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