Beyond the Pill - How Lifestyle Transformed My Health (and Medication List)
My personal journey living with chronic kidney disease
In the excerpts from my book, "My Dog, My Healer," I share my journey navigating Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and the surprising path to significant health improvements. A central theme that emerged from my experience is the profound difference between managing symptoms with medication and addressing the root causes through fundamental habit changes.
When I was diagnosed with CKD, I was prescribed eight different medications. These drugs were primarily aimed at managing comorbidities often linked to kidney issues, such as high blood pressure, thrombosis, chronic inflammation, high cholesterol, and high triglycerides. While essential for immediate symptom control and potentially slowing the initial progression of my condition, medications alone weren't solving the underlying problems stressing my kidneys.
I began to feel a growing need to find an alternative path that could potentially reduce my reliance on these medications because I discovered that they were also bad for my kidney, but without them it was worse and that's why I had to take them. My background in data analysis led me to investigate how different factors influence CKD progression. While initially searching for a cure, my perspective shifted to finding ways to slow the disease. This new focus revealed patterns suggesting a strong correlation between habit change, specially diet, and disease regression or stabilization.
This insight led me to decide that my first habit change would directly target the issues my medications were designed to manage. I focused on one medication at a time, diving deep into research about how lifestyle and diet changes could improve conditions for cholesterol. I crafted a plan, committed to a one-month experiment with specific habit changes, and repeated my tests. The results were encouraging: my cholesterol improved, moving in the right direction. Based on this progress, my doctor and I agreed that I could stop this medication once normal levels were reached.
Encouraged, I expanded this approach to other medications. This process wasn't always smooth, and I quickly realized the complexity of changing habits and sustaining them long-term. It involved not just the science of diet and health, but also the psychology of change, recognizing the internal resistance and the battle between rational goals and emotional comfort. This understanding prompted me to study the science of habit change in depth, including enrolling in a Health Coach training program.
Applying what I learned, I discovered that changes had to feel easy and almost imperceptible to my brain to be sustainable. Instead of radical elimination, I focused on modifying habits gradually, aiming for consistency rather than perfection. This included changing how I prepared foods I enjoyed, focusing on awareness and intention behind choices, and finding physical activities that aligned with my natural preferences, such as walking more consistently. Specific changes like cutting out meat, increasing organic foods, improving sleep, and managing stress played crucial roles.
After a year of dedicated, gradual habit change and self-experimentation, the results were transformative. My CKD condition stabilized and even reversed, moving from stage 4 back to stage 3a, and in one test, to stage 2. Beyond kidney function, I lost a significant amount of weight and, notably, I stopped taking 7 of the 8 medications I was once prescribed. While the medication for high blood pressure remained necessary due to its impact on kidney damage, I was able to reduce its frequency to alternate days instead of daily.
My goal wasn't solely to eliminate medications, but rather to slow or reverse the progression of my kidney disease. However, the outcome demonstrated that by addressing the root causes of contributing conditions through sustainable lifestyle changes, the need for symptom managing medications was dramatically reduced.
This experience reinforced my belief in the power of listening to my body and understanding how different factors influence my health. Monitoring key indicators was essential in seeing the impact of these changes and making adjustments.
Ultimately, this journey highlighted that while medications are vital tools for managing acute or severe conditions, focusing on building sustainable, healthy habits directly addresses the root of many problems and can lead to profound, lasting health improvements, often reducing the need for pharmaceutical intervention.
My mission now, through projects like MetaSano, is to help others become more aware of their own bodies and empower them to make habit changes that support their health goals, moving towards a future where personalized lifestyle approaches are prioritized.
Discover the full story of transformation, hope, and healing in
My Dog, My Healer: My path to overcoming chronic kidney disease
👉 Click here to get your copy now and start your own path to healing.
Ewerton Lopes Pereira,
CEO of MetaSano
Kidney Health Coach
Member of the Société québécoise de nephrologie
Gerontologist
10 years of experience living with CKD