Should CKD Stage 4 Patients with Edema Limit the Amount of Water

A:

Swelling is a typical symptom of kidney disease. Kidney is a blood purification organ. When blood flows through your kidneys, waste products and excessive fluid in blood will be removed out of your body. When your kidneys fail to work, waste products and fluid will retain in body, leading to swelling and some other problems. Besides, when you have massive proteinuria, it is likely for you to suffer from swelling as well. Because massive protein leakage results in low blood protein. And then plasma colloid osmosis pressure decreases so that fluid flows to tissue space, leading to edema.

In CKD stage 4, your GFR is as low as 15-30 ml/min. Your kidneys are not good enough to filter the excessive fluid. In such case, if you drink a lot of water, it will increase the workload of kidneys so as to speed up kidney damage. And because of low GFR, your kidneys can not expel the excessive water so that your edema will be worsened. Therefore, it is necessary for you to limit the amount of water. But it does not mean you should avoid water. How much water you can take depends on many factors, such as urine output, remaining kidney function, etc.

Apart from water restriction, you should limit the intake of sodium, which can retain water in your body to worsen edema as well. Food high in sodium should also be avoided, such as processed food, pickles, bacon, etc.

If your edema is associated with proteinuria, you should reduce protein leakage as early as possible with medicine, such as steroid and immunosuppressants. In diet, you should limit the intake of protein.

Should CKD stage 4 patients with edema limit the amount of water? Yes, they should. If you still have any question about CKD stage 4, please feel free to contact online doctor or leave a message below. We can help you improve kidney function and keep dialysis away.