Most people will have to take medication to control blood pressure. Excellent blood pressure control has been shown to slow down the progression of chronic renal failure, in addition to the benefits to the heart and blood vessels elsewhere in the body. Epo is produced by the kidney and in renal failure there is insufficient production. Epo stimulates red blood cell production from the bone marrow and a deficiency of epo leads to anaemia. However, often the anaemia of renal failure can be helped by taking iron.
Some people remain short of iron even when taking iron tablets.
If so, you might need a course of intravenous iron injections. This is usually done at the hospital as an out patient. A few people with more severe anaemia will be prescribed erythropoietin, which has to be given as injections, usually once or twice a week. You can learn to give this to yourself quite easily. Bones Renal bone disease can be a serious problem for people who have had chronic renal failure for a long time.