Find out about different medications that can help manage your symptoms of ADPKD (autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease), slow its progression and reduce your risk of complications.

This information is about pregnancy in women with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). It is intended as a general guide for women and their partners about planning for pregnancy, what to expect during pregnancy, and what to do if you are already pregnant. We will briefly cover fertility issues for men with ADPKD too.

No specific diet or lifestyle measures have been shown to prevent cysts developing in people with ADPKD. However, a healthy lifestyle may help to protect your kidney function and reduce your blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular problems, such as stroke. Keeping your blood pressure down is especially important, as high blood pressure can damage your kidneys if you have ADPKD.

Living with chronic kidney disease can be overwhelming, but life can seem especially challenging if you have ADPKD. You may well have seen how the disease has affected your relatives and worry that your own kidney function may slowly get worse or about your children’s future.

This article is a general guide for parents or carers of children and young people (up to age 18) who are at risk of, or have been diagnosed with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD). It contains advice and tips to help you explain ADPKD to children and young people.

Many medicines are wholly or in part removed from the body by the kidneys. So it makes sense for everyone with ADPKD to avoid any medicines that could harm the kidneys or make other treatments less effective. This applies not only to medicines prescribed by a doctor or in hospital, but also to remedies you buy over the counter from the pharmacist or supermarket. 

The term ‘complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)’ covers any medical and healthcare practice that is not part of mainstream or conventional medicine