chronic kidney disease

[Funkymover]

Has anyone been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, if so how do you deal with it in thailand and how did it affect any health insurance, 

[Sheryl]

If you truly have chronic kidney disease to a significant extent, it will preclude getting health insurance if you are not already insured.

 

But what extent of "chronic kidney disease" are you talking about? What stage, what creatnine level?.

 

Many people get misdiagnosed here based on unreliable eGFR calculations/ unreliable self-diagnosis.

 

Management of chronic kidney disease varies greatly depending in stage, and any underlying cause (diabetes, hypertension. lupus etc).

 

 

 

 

[Funkymover]

I am not in thailand yet, was planning to retire next year,, I have just been told I have mild chronic kidney disease.. so looks like this has thrown out the window my plans to retire overseas  

[Sheryl]

51 minutes ago, Funkymover said:

I am not in thailand yet, was planning to retire next year,, I have just been told I have mild chronic kidney disease.. so looks like this has thrown out the window my plans to retire overseas  

I would certainly not advice living fulltime in Thailand with this unless you are very, very wealthy with plenty of cash to self fund medical costs (which if your kidney disease progresses, may be extreme;y high here).

 

You could consider spending up to 6 months of each year here while maintaining a base in your home country, in that scenario would need only travel insurance and there are some policies which will cover "acute exacerbations" of chronic conditions.  This also has some tax advantages i.e. if you keep it below 180 days you would not be tax resident in Thailand.

[connda]

CKD is staged.  My guess is that most people in their 70s or older have CKD in one form or another.
So the important question here is:  What stage of CKD do you have.  Then you can begin to have a discussion.

 

[Sandboxer]

Not medical advice, just MY personal experience:

 

CKD can be somewhat reversible IF you have hard core discipline. I (age 52) went from being diagnosed stage 3.....3.5 back to stage 2 lab levels within 6 months of starting a complete and extreme lifestyle change (stopped smoking/drinking, eat kidney healthy food only, exercise a lot, weight control etc.)

 

Saw a total of three nephrologists at "top tier" private hospitals in BKK, Phuket and Korat, none of whom had very good communication skills. In the end, I educated myself. IMO, do NOT rely solely on doctors and assembly line insurance mill private hospitals here that seem to have zero interest in a proper patient/doctor relationship.

 

Having said that, I could not have done it without the help of my dietician. 

 

Hardest/longest part was getting the massive amounts of protein out of my urine.

 

Feel like I did as a 30 yr old now, so the CKD was ironically/arguably the "best" thing that's happened to me.

 

Best of luck.

 

 

[Sheryl]

16 hours ago, connda said:

CKD is staged.  My guess is that most people in their 70s or older have CKD in one form or another.
So the important question here is:  What stage of CKD do you have.  Then you can begin to have a discussion.

 

EFGR is not the only basis for diagnosing CKD.  eFGRs as low as 60 can still be considered normal if there ate no other signs of kidney disease.

 

However sounds like OP was diagnosed in his home county so presumably proper workup was conducted leading to  his diagnosis. 

[Funkymover]

9 hours ago, connda said:

CKD is staged.  My guess is that most people in their 70s or older have CKD in one form or another.
So the important question here is:  What stage of CKD do you have.  Then you can begin to have a discussion.

 

 

9 hours ago, connda said:

CKD is staged.  My guess is that most people in their 70s or older have CKD in one form or another.
So the important question here is:  What stage of CKD do you have.  Then you can begin to have a discussion.

 

I  have been told my kidneys are working at 69% , took them 6 months of me hassling them to get the scan,  also found a large cyst on it, but they say that's no problem and they are leaving it there. 

[jerrymahoney]

What to Know About Stage 3 Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)

 

Can stage 3 kidney disease be reversed?
The goal of CKD stage 3 treatment is to prevent further progression. There’s no cure for any stage of CKD, and you can’t reverse kidney damage.

 

However, further damage can still be minimized if you’re at stage 3. It’s more difficult to prevent progression in stages 4 and 5.

 

https://www.healthline.com/health/stage-3-kidney-disease#reversal

[bkk6060]

Did you have a UACR?

 

I bet the many over 70 year Olds here have mild CKD.  Google says 35 million adults in the U.S. have CKD, many don't even realize it.  I would not let it change plans to come to Thailand. Just try to stay healthy with diet, exercise, little or no booze and get frequent tests.  If it progresses, a person can return to their home country.

As far as insurance, for sure it will affect it here.  Most likely no coverage for any current or future issues.  If in fact, they give you a policy at all.

[Sheryl]

7 hours ago, Funkymover said:

 

I  have been told my kidneys are working at 69% , took them 6 months of me hassling them to get the scan,  also found a large cyst on it, but they say that's no problem and they are leaving it there. 

If that is a GFR if 69%, it equates to kidney disease only if there are other indications of kidney damage.  Presumably there are e.g. albumin in urine, abnormal urine albumin:creatnine ratio etc.  

 

Kidney cysts are a common incidental finding and usually need no treatment. What else did the scan show? 

 

Assuming it is accompanied by other signs of kidney damage, an  eGFR of 69%  equates to Stage 2 chronic kidney disease 

 

 https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/kidney-disease/diagnosis/

 

 https://www.kidney.org/what-criteria-ckd

[Funkymover]

On 1/26/2025 at 11:57 AM, Sandboxer said:

Not medical advice, just MY personal experience:

 

CKD can be somewhat reversible IF you have hard core discipline. I (age 52) went from being diagnosed stage 3.....3.5 back to stage 2 lab levels within 6 months of starting a complete and extreme lifestyle change (stopped smoking/drinking, eat kidney healthy food only, exercise a lot, weight control etc.)

 

Saw a total of three nephrologists at "top tier" private hospitals in BKK, Phuket and Korat, none of whom had very good communication skills. In the end, I educated myself. IMO, do NOT rely solely on doctors and assembly line insurance mill private hospitals here that seem to have zero interest in a proper patient/doctor relationship.

 

Having said that, I could not have done it without the help of my dietician. 

 

Hardest/longest part was getting the massive amounts of protein out of my urine.

 

Feel like I did as a 30 yr old now, so the CKD was ironically/arguably the "best" thing that's happened to me.

 

Best of luck.

 

 

So how do you pay for the tests and checks,, did it cost  a lot  and how about future health insurance ?

[jerrymahoney]

According to The Cleveland Clinic:

 

How can I prevent kidney failure?
Though kidney failure and CKD aren’t reversible, you can take steps to help preserve your kidney function. Healthy habits and routines may slow down how quickly your kidneys lose their ability to function.

 

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17689-kidney-failure

 

So I will guess the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic would be greatly interested in anyone who has documented evidence of reversal of kidney damage as described above this topic.

[jerrymahoney]

Once you have CKD, it and the accompanying kidney damage cannot be reversed. However, diagnosing and treating CKD early may help stop it from advancing. There are new treatments in the past few years that have been described as “game-changing” for their ability to slow the progression of CKD for years and possibly even decades, Dr. Luciano says.

 

https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/why-is-chronic-kidney-disease-ckd-on-the-rise

 

However it seems -- based upon a reasonable search -- that the only claim to have reversed kidney damage occurred right on this very forum and topic,

 

Whoda thunk

[ignis]

2015 taken to A&E, had CKD Stage 5, lots of talk about going on/having to go on Dialysis  [well out of my price]

Spent 5 days in Hospital on drips and pills

 

Got it down and so far kept it down myself

Now steady on stage 3, change of diet  No Salt, No soft drinks Diet Pepsi/Coke, red meat maybe 2 x week

 

Tested every 3 months  -  Age 74, + Diabetic 1.5 Lada for many years

[Mark Nothing]

On 1/26/2025 at 6:57 PM, Sandboxer said:

Not medical advice, just MY personal experience:

 

CKD can be somewhat reversible IF you have hard core discipline. I (age 52) went from being diagnosed stage 3.....3.5 back to stage 2 lab levels within 6 months of starting a complete and extreme lifestyle change (stopped smoking/drinking, eat kidney healthy food only, exercise a lot, weight control etc.)

 

Saw a total of three nephrologists at "top tier" private hospitals in BKK, Phuket and Korat, none of whom had very good communication skills. In the end, I educated myself. IMO, do NOT rely solely on doctors and assembly line insurance mill private hospitals here that seem to have zero interest in a proper patient/doctor relationship.

 

Having said that, I could not have done it without the help of my dietician. 

 

Hardest/longest part was getting the massive amounts of protein out of my urine.

 

Feel like I did as a 30 yr old now, so the CKD was ironically/arguably the "best" thing that's happened to me.

 

Best of luck.

 

 

Good work Sandboxer.  I had a similar experience and attributed the success soley to my change in diet and exercise regimine too.

 

But then dug deeper.  Some of the natural healing books talked about the extreme importance of the mental aspect of health and the affects on the physical body.

 

In other words we have a physical component as you describe and a nonphysical component to our immune system.  By properly combining the two we can give ourselves the best chance at health and vitality to enjoy life.

 

Some of the strategies I found helpful in the nonphysical realm were to have an overall positive attitude knowing my human body was designed to be healthy, a goal for full health, connecting  emotions to feel good about it, then saying daily prayers to reinforce and amplify the affect. Knowing God is in the loop really works well, the immune system really kicks into full power by doing this.

 

These invisible wavelengths of energy have profound affects on health, significantly more then diet and exercise.  The natural healing books say it is a symphony orchestra of health stimulatng your immune system fully.  I have been practising for years with these strategies and have been pleased with the results.  It is such a pleasure waking up in the morning confident that everything will function correctly.

[impulse]

Along the same lines, what are the recommended facilities for kidney treatment in Thailand?  When my Chinese GF used to visit me before her kidney transplant, I took her to Bumrungrad to talk to the doctors and figure out where to go and what to do if she needed dialysis in Thailand.  Fortunately, she never needed it on her short visits.  And she got the transplant in China a couple of years into my work assignment in Bangkok.  Afterwards, she was able to stay for weeks instead of a few days.

 

I'd be interested in recommendations of doctors and facilities (pro and con) from people who have that experience in LOS.

 

[Sheryl]

5 minutes ago, impulse said:

Along the same lines, what are the recommended facilities for kidney treatment in Thailand?  When my Chinese GF used to visit me before her kidney transplant, I took her to Bumrungrad to talk to the doctors and figure out where to go and what to do if she needed dialysis in Thailand.  Fortunately, she never needed it on her short visits.  And she got the transplant in China a couple of years into my work assignment in Bangkok.  Afterwards, she was able to stay for weeks instead of a few days.

 

I'd be interested in recommendations of doctors and facilities (pro and con) from people who have that experience in LOS.

 

By "kidney treatment" what do you mean? Dialysis  or just medical follow up? All the large hospitals offer both but for dialysis one needs to be mindful of the cost.

[impulse]

2 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

By "kidney treatment" what do you mean? Dialysis  or just medical follow up? All the large hospitals offer both but for dialysis one needs to be mindful of the cost.

 

I guess I was looking for guidance all along the process.  For example, where would you go for a diagnosis and to formulate a game plan?  Where would you recommend a dialysis patient to go if that was part of the treatment plan?  Even a transplant patient...  Especially keeping costs in mind.  Are there specialized public hospitals, or are foreigners pretty much limited to Private?