Posts by Justin Bishop58

Five months ago, I lost my brother to a stroke at just 27. That night, when the news broke, the doctors asked if we wanted to donate his organs. My dad and I agreed. He didn't have a donor card, but I was certain it was what he would have wanted—and I still feel that way today. He donated his liver, I believe his pancreas, and—what’s been hardest for me personally—his eyes. I couldn't bring myself to see him after it happened; I just knew I wouldn't be able to handle it. What has actually brought me some peace, though, is an article I read about organ transplants. It talked about how recipients sometimes claim to experience, remember, or sense things they never lived through themselves. My brother was a wonderful person with an incredibly positive outlook on life. A true optimist who embraced everything, even when things weren't going great. The idea that someone out there might see the world through his eyes, with that same positivity, gives me a strange kind of comfort. So, yes, I am firmly in support of organ donation.

William Robinson11 said:Hey there,
just so the admins don't get the wrong idea, I wanted to mention right off the bat that I’ve spent quite a bit of time scouring this forum and doing a ton of Googling, but I just couldn't find a single thread that hits on this exact topic (only some things that are somewhat similar, I guess).
About six months ago, I started digging into all these symptoms I've been having—and honestly, they aren't going away—so I've been researching for months, maybe even years now. They didn't really bother me that much at first, but I suppose they've become way more noticeable lately.
-My blood pressure usually sits somewhere between 140-150 systolic and 90-100 diastolic when I'm just resting. It tends to spike whenever I'm active, too.
-Waking up at night to pee (that's actually my oldest symptom, it's been going on for nearly four years). I wake up because it feels like my bladder is full, though it isn't always, but most of the time it is. At first, I could get about seven hours of sleep, then it dropped to six... and now I'm averaging maybe five to six hours a night.
-Because of all that, I've been feeling pretty irritable and nervous, and I frequently deal with these tension-type headaches.

I've gone through a whole mountain of tests; most of them came back fine, but a few were definitely off.
The imaging was okay: kidney ultrasound, heart scans, and an MRI of my brain.
For my urine tests, the elevated values were: urates, creatinine, and my aldosterone is slightly above the limit.
Everything else seems fine (VMA, catecholamines, and stuff like that).
-I wore a 24-hour blood pressure Holter monitor, and the readings were basically what I mentioned above, except for one weird thing: the values while I was lying down were totally normal (even though I wasn't actually asleep during that part of the day, I was just lying there).

My internist/cardiologist gave me a diagnosis of nephrogenic hypertension and prescribed a medication called "VAL" to bring my pressure down.
But the instructions say you shouldn't use it if there's any kind of kidney disease present or if someone has high aldosterone levels (mine is only just barely over the line, though). I guess I'm just worried because I'm not entirely sure if I should be taking it, since I still don't know what's actually going on with my kidneys...
-I'm 22 years old, I don't smoke, I don't drink (well, maybe a beer here and there), and I'm not overweight (though I probably could drop a few pounds). But the amount I sweat is definitely not normal for my age and build. Even when spring starts hitting, I begin sweating excessively just from stepping outside.
The internist told me I absolutely need to see a nephrologist, but the waiting list is two months long, and I really don't feel like waiting that long, so I was wondering:
Does anyone know of a private nephrologist in San Francisco or the surrounding area where the wait wouldn't be nearly as long?
And if anyone out there has had similar experiences or symptoms, I would truly appreciate any info you could share!🙂

Hey. I'm 26 with polycystic kidney disease, which causes my hypertension. I'm currently on Val. This is my fourth or fifth time trying a pill like this, and honestly, this one works best for me. Most blood pressure meds carry a warning about kidney issues, but a doctor friend explained things to me. He basically said a nephrologist wouldn't even put me on this if they thought my kidneys couldn't handle it. My kidneys are damaged, sure, but the healthy tissue is apparently strong enough to filter everything out.
So, find out how much damage we're talking about. Mine are pretty bad—I'm actually on bed rest right now because a cyst is bleeding and could cause complications if it ruptures—but I handle Val just fine. If yours are severely compromised, ask your internist for something that's filtered through the liver instead. But from what I've seen, Val isn't that heavy-duty, so it shouldn't be an issue. Good luck. 👍