Symptoms of Kidney Disease

What Are the Symptoms of Kidney Disease?

Most people with kidney disease do not have symptoms and so they do not realize that they have something wrong with their kidneys. When someone does have symptoms, it may be hard to know if it is due to a problem with the kidneys or not. If you think you might have symptoms of kidney disease, you should be sure to let you doctor know so you can be screened.

• Changes in Urine

  Most kidney diseases do not cause a noticeable difference in the urine until very late in the disease. However, certain changes in the urine can be seen earlier and some can suggest a problem with your kidneys or urinary tract. The most important changes are finding blood or protein in the urine or starting to make very little urine.

  More Details | Protein in Urine | Blood in Urine

• Pain or Discomfort

  In most cases, kidney disease does not cause pain or discomfort near the kidneys.

  This is because there are very few nerves that sense pain in the kidney. There are some in the area surrounding the kidney. Most of the time when there is pain, it comes from elsewhere in the urinary tract system, particularly the bladder and the tubes connecting the kidneys to them (ureters).
  More Details | Urinary Infections | Kidney Stones | Kidney Cancer

• Salt and Fluid Retention

  The kidneys try to keep body’s fluid at just the right level. In certain kidney diseases, especially if there is heavy protein loss in the urine or severe kidney failure, the body may accumulate too much salt and fluid. This can lead to high blood pressure and swelling.

  More Details | High Blood Pressure

• Symptoms of Anemia

  The kidneys are responsible for making a hormone called erythropoetin, which tells your body to make red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen from your lungs to the rest of your body. As the kidneys fail, they make less erythropoetin and cause low levels of red blood cells (called anemia). However, a lot of other conditions can cause anemia or the symptoms of anemia.

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• Symptoms of Uremia or Blood Poisoning

  The kidneys work hard to remove numerous toxins from the body. When the kidneys fail, the toxins can build up and cause uremia or blood poisoning. Since uremia can affect almost every system in the body, its symptoms are nonspecific. This means that a lot of other conditions other than advanced kidney failure can cause them. So, if you have advanced kidney failure, you can expect to have many of these symptoms. However, if you are experiencing some of them, the odds are that you don’t have kidney failure.

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