Lowest discount prices for chronic kidney disease drugs
Already have a chronic kidney disease prescription? Use GoodRx to compare prices for dapagliflozin, sevelamer, and losartan at pharmacies near you.
Welcome! You’re in GoodRx for healthcare professionals. Now, you’ll enjoy a streamlined experience created specifically for healthcare professionals.
GoodRx Guide
Chronic Kidney Disease: Your GoodRx Guide
Comprehensive information for you or a loved one — including treatment options and discounts on popular medications.
Written by Sarah Pozniak, MD | Reviewed by Mandy Armitage, MD
Published on September 17, 2021Chronic kidney disease (CKD) happens when your kidneys are damaged, and they aren’t working as well as they should. Your kidneys are important in keeping other parts of your body running smoothly. They help balance the levels of key nutrients like sodium, potassium, phosphorus, and calcium.
Their main job is to filter waste and excess fluid from your blood. The kidneys filter about a half cup of blood per minute. They hold on to the fluid and nutrients your body needs, and they turn excess fluid and waste into urine.
When the kidneys don’t work as well as they should for 3 months or more, it’s considered CKD. This time period distinguishes it from acute kidney injury, which is a temporary decrease in kidney function.
CKD is serious because it can progress to the most severe type of kidney damage — end stage renal disease (ESRD) or kidney failure. Without treatment, ESRD can be life-threatening. That’s when dialysis or a kidney transplant may be needed.
In the U.S., about 37 million adults have CKD. According to recent data, it’s more common in people over age 65, and it affects men and women about equally. CKD is more common in Black adults than in white, Asian, and Hispanic people.
SPECIAL OFFER
Save over 40% on Qsymia with GoodRx
Discover the once daily Qsymia for weight management. Qsymia is for adults and children 12-17 in combination with a healthy diet and regular exercise.
Causes
The cause of CKD isn’t always clear. This is because there are many factors that can affect your kidneys over a lifetime.
The most common causes are diabetes and high blood pressure. Both conditions are very common, and they often occur together. Having diabetes or high blood pressure can damage the kidneys’ blood vessels, which leads to CKD.
Other causes of CKD include:
Obesity
Heart failure
Infection (like recurrent UTIs)
Kidney stones
Glomerulonephritis (a type of kidney disease)
Autoimmune disease (like lupus nephritis)
Medications that are toxic to the kidneys
Toxins (lead, pesticide exposure)
There are also genetic causes of CKD that can be passed down through families. Examples include:
Sickle cell trait and sickle cell disease (increased risk in people of African descent)
Symptoms
CKD may not cause any symptoms, especially in the early stages. When CKD is first diagnosed, it’s usually found on routine blood or urine testing. For this reason, most people don’t have any symptoms when they first find out they have CKD. In fact, up to 90% of adults with CKD don’t know they have it.
That said, CKD can cause symptoms such as:
Blood in the urine
Foamy urine
Nighttime urination
Lower back or flank pain
Decreased urination
In later stages, CKD can cause:
Fatigue
Weight loss
Nausea and vomiting
Leg swelling
Shortness of breath
Itchy skin
Promotion disclosure
Kidney Disease MedicationsCompare prices and information on the most popular Kidney Disease medications.
Diagnosis
Tests used to diagnose CKD are the estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and the albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR).
The GFR estimates kidney function. It’s easy to find out your GFR – it’s part of a basic blood test called a metabolic panel. CKD is categorized into five stages based on your GFR. A higher stage means a lower GFR and worsening kidney function.
The ACR is a urine test that estimates urine protein (albuminuria). Urine protein is a sign of kidney damage, and it plays a role in determining the stage of CKD. A urinalysis may also be used to look for blood or abnormal cells in your urine.
CKD is diagnosed when you have an estimated GFR less than 60 mL/min/1.73 m2 or signs of kidney damage for more than 3 months. These signs can include:
Urine protein (ACR ≥ 30 mg/g)
Abnormal blood or urine tests that suggest kidney damage
Abnormal kidney appearance or tissue
Prior kidney transplant
Your kidney function may need to be checked more than once over a few months to make the diagnosis. You may also need an imaging test like an ultrasound to look at your kidneys.
Treatments
Featuring Lawrence Phillips, MD
Reviewed by Alexandra Schwarz, MD | November 29, 2024
Treatment for CKD involves treating the cause and managing other health conditions that affect kidney function. For example, the following health conditions can lead to worsening kidney function over time:
Heart disease
High blood pressure
Diabetes
Treating and staying on top of these conditions can prevent CKD from getting worse.
It’s also important to monitor your kidney function when you have CKD. Your healthcare provider will help you do this using the same tests they used for diagnosis. At first, your primary care provider may do this. In later stages of CKD, you may need to see a kidney specialist or nephrologist. Current guidelines recommend seeing a nephrologist when your kidney function reaches later stages or when the cause of your CKD is unclear.
Moderate to severe CKD can lead to complications (or problems) such as anemia, high potassium levels in the blood, and other mineral problems like low vitamin D and high phosphorus. These complications are often detected with blood testing and can usually be treated with medications, diet changes, or supplements (more on this below).
Medications
CKD isn’t curable, but medications can help slow progression of the disease and treat complications.
Providers often recommend medications called ACE inhibitors and ARBs for people with CKD who have high protein in their urine. They’re more well known for treatment of high blood pressure. But providers often prescribe them (off label) for treatment of CKD even in people with normal blood pressure. Examples include lisinopril (Zestril) and losartan (Cozaar).
The FDA recently approved another medication, dapagliflozin (Farxiga), which slows progression of CKD in people with increased urine protein. It belongs to a class of medications called SGLT2 inhibitors, which are used to treat diabetes.
CKD can cause complications that need treatment with medications. Below are some examples:
Elevated phosphorus in the blood can be a complication of CKD. Medications called phosphate binders, like sevelamer (Renvela), are used to bring down the level.
Anemia can be treated with an erythropoiesis-stimulating medication like epoetin alfa (Procrit). In CKD, the kidneys might not make enough erythropoietin, which is a hormone that helps the body make red blood cells.
Metabolic acidosis is when the blood becomes too acidic because the kidneys can’t keep the blood’s pH in balance. This can be treated with sodium bicarbonate (available over the counter), which raises the pH and makes the blood less acidic.
Living
Living with CKD can be very difficult. This is because CKD needs regular monitoring and long-term care. It can also be hard to cope with a disease that often has no symptoms but a big impact on your overall health.
It can help to remember that you’re not alone. Your healthcare team can be a great source of knowledge and support. Also, there are many people in the U.S. and around the world who have CKD, and several national kidney organizations offer support groups and services. Examples include:
Common concerns
How fast does kidney disease progress?
CKD usually progresses slowly, and not everyone with CKD will develop kidney failure. How quickly CKD progresses depends on individual factors, including the cause, your age, and whether you have other health conditions.
If you have CKD, you should have your blood and urine checked at least once a year to monitor your kidney function. This is usually done more frequently in later stages. Having a low GFR, or more protein in the urine, increases the risk of disease progression.
How long can you live with chronic kidney disease?
People with CKD can live for many years with the disease. Life expectancy with CKD depends on the cause and whether you have other health conditions. Generally, younger people with less severe kidney disease are more likely to live longer than older people with more severe kidney disease.
What foods are bad for your kidneys?
There aren’t any foods that are bad for your kidneys, but people with severe CKD may need to make dietary changes if they have certain complications. Adjusting your diet can help you make sure you don’t get too much or too little of certain nutrients. For example, you may need to eat less protein and sodium. This is because the kidneys filter waste from the protein we eat, and CKD impairs this filtration process. Eating less sodium can help prevent fluid retention in severe CKD.
How much water should a patient with kidney disease drink?
How much water or other fluid you can drink per day depends on what stage of kidney disease you have and whether you have other health conditions. For example, having heart failure could affect your recommended fluid intake. People with more severe kidney disease, or those who need dialysis, can retain fluid more easily and may need to be more cautious about how much fluid they drink per day.
Why do you itch with kidney disease?
Persistent itchy skin is possible with CKD. It’s more common in more severe stages and in people with ESRD who are treated with dialysis. In fact, about 40% of people with ESRD experience itching from their kidney disease. The exact reason why this itching happens isn’t well understood, but it can be severe, interfering with sleep and daily activities.
References
American Association of Kidney Patients. (n.d.). Support groups.
American Kidney Fund. (n.d.). Acute kidney injury (AKI).
View All References (29)
American Kidney Fund. (2021). Kidney failure, end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) or end-stage renal disease (ESRD).
American Kidney Fund. (2021). Meet your treatment team: Nephrologist.
American Kidney Fund. (2021). Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) symptoms, treatments & causes.
American Kidney Fund. (2021). Stages of kidney disease.
American Society of Hematology. (n.d.). Anemia.
Carney, E. F. (2020). The impact of chronic kidney disease on global health. Nature Reviews Nephrology.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). What is sickle cell disease?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). What is sickle cell trait?
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Chronic kidney disease in the United States, 2021.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Chronic kidney disease basics.
Endocrine Society. (2022). Hormones and endocrine function.
Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes. (n.d.). CKD evaluation and management.
Kidney Kitchen. (n.d.). Fluid. American Kidney Fund.
Lupus Foundation of America. (2021). What is lupus nephritis?
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (2014). Renal artery stenosis.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (2016). Albuminuria: Albumin in the urine.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (2018). Your kidneys & how they work.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. (2020). Financial help for treatment of kidney failure.
National Kidney Foundation. (n.d.). Alport syndrome.
National Kidney Foundation. (n.d.). Creatinine.
National Kidney Foundation. (n.d.). Dialysis.
National Kidney Foundation. (n.d.). Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).
National Kidney Foundation. (n.d.). Kidney transplant.
National Kidney Foundation. (n.d.). Nutrition and early kidney disease (stages 1-4).
National Kidney Foundation. (n.d.). Online communities.
National Kidney Foundation. (n.d.). What is glomerulonephritis?
National Kidney Foundation. (n.d.). Which drugs are harmful to your kidneys?
U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2018). Understanding unapproved use of approved drugs "off label".
Verduzco, H. A., et al. (2020). CKD-associated pruritus: New insights into diagnosis, pathogenesis, and management. Kidney International Reports.
GoodRx Health has strict sourcing policies and relies on primary sources such as medical organizations, governmental agencies, academic institutions, and peer-reviewed scientific journals. Learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate, thorough, and unbiased by reading our editorial guidelines.
