Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) Support Group

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is a progressive, genetic disorder of the kidneys. It occurs in humans and other organisms. PKD is characterised by the presence of multiple cysts (polycystic) in both kidneys. The disease can also damage the liver, pancreas and rarely the heart and brain.

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librarylil 02/25/2010

My labs almost always come back showing low sodium, sometimes way below normal. I know most people with PKD have the opposite problem, with sodium being too high and having to restrict it from the diet. I thought my problem was just some anomaly, some weird way my body was reacting to the PKD.

But I've also got Crohn's Disease (and MS) and have been having problems with it lately, so I've been researching again. And I discovered that Crohn's leaches sodium and water from the bowels. So, I think that's way more likely where my low sodium problem comes from, rather than the PKD.

Just a reminder that not everything that is "wrong" with our bodies is caused by the PKD--

deleted_user 02/26/2010

thanks for the reminder "Lil", all too often we blame everything on PKD when there can be other reasons for strange symptoms.
at the same time we have to remember that the most typical thing about PKD is that it is different in everyone, even people in the same family experience it differently.

deleted_user 02/26/2010

I do find myself turning into a bit of a hypochondriac sometimes and trying to associate every little twinge with PKD. But you have a very good point. Thanks!

deleted_user 02/26/2010

I find that sooo many things can be related to something like dehydration. Like, the symptoms of dehydration are so similar to so many other things. (I'm not saying everything is caused by simple things, just that sometimes it's simpler than we think).

Plus, I have also realized that most of our foods don't have as much nutrients as we think. We don't know how long food has been in a store (and fresh produce loses vitamins fairly quickly). Most of the meat we eat is fed basically only what is needed to let them survive long enough to be what they consider a good size - they don't really eat their natural diets, which is not only good for them, but us too (we would recieve nutrients from them that they got from what they ate). Plus between all the pesticides and pollution. Not to mention, a lot of the pretty looking foods we get are injected with dyes to make them look more appealing. No wonder we have so many problems with getting the right amount of nutrients.

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