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What are four signs of kidney trouble?

As chronic kidney disease progresses to end-stage renal disease, signs and symptoms might include: Nausea. Vomiting. Loss of appetite. Fatigue and weakness. Changes in how much you urinate. Chest pain, if fluid builds up around the lining of the heart. Shortness of breath, if fluid builds up in the lungs. More items... •

mayoclinic.org - End-stage renal disease - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

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Overview

End-stage renal disease, also called end-stage kidney disease or kidney failure, occurs when chronic kidney disease — the gradual loss of kidney function — reaches an advanced state. In end-stage renal disease, your kidneys no longer work as they should to meet your body's needs. Your kidneys filter wastes and excess fluids from your blood, which are then excreted in your urine. When your kidneys lose their filtering abilities, dangerous levels of fluid, electrolytes and wastes can build up in your body. With end-stage renal disease, you need dialysis or a kidney transplant to stay alive. But you can also choose to opt for conservative care to manage your symptoms — aiming for the best quality of life during your remaining time.

How kidneys work

Show transcript for video How kidneys work One of the important jobs of the kidneys is to clean the blood. As blood moves through the body, it picks up extra fluid, chemicals and waste. The kidneys separate this material from the blood. It's carried out of the body in urine. If the kidneys are unable to do this and the condition is untreated, serious health problems result, with eventual loss of life.

Symptoms

Early in chronic kidney disease, you might have no signs or symptoms. As chronic kidney disease progresses to end-stage renal disease, signs and symptoms might include:

Nausea

Vomiting

Loss of appetite

Fatigue and weakness

Changes in how much you urinate

Chest pain, if fluid builds up around the lining of the heart

Shortness of breath, if fluid builds up in the lungs

Swelling of feet and ankles

High blood pressure (hypertension) that's difficult to control

Headaches

Difficulty sleeping

Decreased mental sharpness

Muscle twitches and cramps

Persistent itching

Metallic taste

Signs and symptoms of kidney disease are often nonspecific, meaning they can also be caused by other illnesses. Because your kidneys can make up for lost function, signs and symptoms might not appear until irreversible damage has occurred.

When to seek care

Make an appointment with your health care provider if you have signs or symptoms of kidney disease. If you have a medical condition that increases your risk of kidney disease, your care provider is likely to monitor your kidney function with urine and blood tests and your blood pressure during regular office visits. Ask your provider whether these tests are necessary for you. There is a problem with information submitted for this request. Review/update the information highlighted below and resubmit the form. From Mayo Clinic to your inbox Sign up for free, and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips and current health topics, like COVID-19, plus expertise on managing health. Email ErrorEmail field is required ErrorInclude a valid email address Learn more about Mayo Clinic’s use of data. To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail. Subscribe! Thank you for subscribing! You'll soon start receiving the latest Mayo Clinic health information you requested in your inbox. Sorry something went wrong with your subscription Please, try again in a couple of minutes Retry

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Causes

Healthy kidney vs. diseased kidney Open pop-up dialog box Close Healthy kidney vs. diseased kidney Healthy kidney vs. diseased kidney A typical kidney has about 1 million filtering units. Each unit, called a glomerulus, connects to a tubule, which collects urine. Conditions such as high blood pressure and diabetes take a toll on kidney function by damaging these filtering units and collecting tubules and causing scarring. Polycystic kidney Open pop-up dialog box Close Polycystic kidney Polycystic kidney A healthy kidney (left) eliminates waste from the blood and maintains the body's chemical balance. With polycystic kidney disease (right), fluid-filled sacs called cysts develop in the kidneys. The kidneys grow larger and gradually lose the ability to function as they should. Kidney disease occurs when a disease or condition impairs kidney function, causing kidney damage to worsen over several months or years. For some people, kidney damage can continue to progress even after the underlying condition is resolved.

Diseases and conditions that can lead to kidney disease include:

Type 1 or type 2 diabetes

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High blood pressure

Glomerulonephritis (gloe-mer-u-low-nuh-FRY-tis) — an inflammation of the kidney's filtering units (glomeruli)

Interstitial nephritis (in-tur-STISH-ul nuh-FRY-tis), an inflammation of the kidney's tubules and surrounding structures

Polycystic kidney disease or other inherited kidney diseases

Prolonged obstruction of the urinary tract, from conditions such as enlarged prostate, kidney stones and some cancers Vesicoureteral (ves-ih-koe-yoo-REE-tur-ul) reflux, a condition that causes urine to back up into your kidneys

Recurrent kidney infection, also called pyelonephritis (pie-uh-low-nuh-FRY-tis)

Risk factors

Certain factors increase the risk that chronic kidney disease will progress more quickly to end-stage renal disease, including:

Diabetes with poor blood sugar control

Kidney disease that affects the glomeruli, the structures in the kidneys that filter wastes from the blood

Polycystic kidney disease

High blood pressure

Tobacco use

Black, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander or American Indian heritage

Family history of kidney failure

Older age

Frequent use of medications that could be damaging to the kidney

Complications

Kidney damage, once it occurs, can't be reversed. Potential complications can affect almost any part of your body and can include: Fluid retention, which could lead to swelling in your arms and legs, high blood pressure, or fluid in your lungs (pulmonary edema) A sudden rise in potassium levels in your blood (hyperkalemia), which could impair your heart's ability to function and may be life-threatening

Heart disease

Weak bones and an increased risk of bone fractures

Anemia

Decreased sex drive, erectile dysfunction or reduced fertility

Damage to your central nervous system, which can cause difficulty concentrating, personality changes or seizures

Decreased immune response, which makes you more vulnerable to infection

Pericarditis, an inflammation of the saclike membrane that envelops your heart (pericardium)

Pregnancy complications that carry risks for the mother and the developing fetus

Malnutrition

Irreversible damage to your kidneys (end-stage kidney disease), eventually requiring either dialysis or a kidney transplant for survival

Prevention

If you have kidney disease, you may be able to slow its progress by making healthy lifestyle choices:

mayoclinic.org - End-stage renal disease - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

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