what are the signs?

There are many signs of kidney failure. Blood in the urine, cloudy or smelly urine, chronic pain. See your GP if you are concerned.

some having swelling ,some have pain
alot of things
might look it up on the net

what are the signs?

They can be very subtle. My symptoms were incredible fatigue, and that's about it. I also has excessive itching, and some memory loss, which I attributed to stress and fatigue, but it was permanent. It may include swollen ankles, excessive itching, fatigue, changes in urination. It can be related to heart disease and/or diabetes, or a family history of kidney disease.
Mine was caused by an allergy to ibuprofen, and I nearly died, but they fixed me up and I never even had to do dialysis. My message: if you're concerned, get a blood test right away and find out!

Arggg,

I have read that sometimes there are no signs at all. People are not even aware of being in kidney failure.
When you mention itching, what type of itching? All over your body or in specific areas only? I have started having a burning feeling in my lower back so of course said to myself it's only a strained muscle. It it keeps coming back and sometimes other muscles feel as if they are on fire.

FG

My husbands blood pressure went up because the kidneys help regulate the blood pressure.Also when he urinated it would stop and start several times.

It's true about the silent part for some.
I had noticed slight changes but never thought anything was wrong.
I just thought it was because I'm a female and hormone problems and UTI's now and then.
I noticed a burning started when I urinated and afterward and the burning would go away about ten min. after. I thought maybe a UTI was coming my way.
then I noticed at work I had to urinate all the time and I could barely hold it to reach the bathroom on time and when I did go, It was hard to urinate at times, to push it out, it would go and stop too right in the middle of when I'd go.
I also had a stabbing senstation that hurt like heck at times when I first started going. It was like a knife stabbing me in my urethria.
I thought maybe because I was drinking too much water at work that I had to go so frequently. It was as if the water would go right thru me.
and when I did go at times, my gosh, the flow would go on and on and on.... wondering when the heck it was going to stop and being so surprised there was that much liquid coming out of me.

once when I was leaning up against the doorway waiting for my friend to get her things togther at the end of our work day and I leaned on the right side of my back area and felt such a horrible pain go right through me.

I thought for a quick instant that I should maybe get this thing ck'd out, but I was afraid they'd think I was a being a hypocondriac because of all the times I"d run to the dr and they couldnt' find out what was wrong.. and I was losing a lot of weight for no reason. I was eating ALOT of food too. I lost 30 lbs. total within a matter of months.

Months had gone by and one day while out with my sister on a shopping spree, we were having lunch together and I felt a horrible pain that was only escalting as the hours progressed. it's when I sat down for lunch that I really knew the pain was not going to stop. I woke up that morning with tings of pain that was cyclic. I felt weak and horrible but had to go Christmas shopping and pushed myself to go.

well, I wound up in the emergency room and they did a ct scan with contrast and found out that my right kidney was swollen, they call it (hydronephrois) and the ureouter too was enlarged, but they didn't see a stone. they said maybe I had passed a tiny tiny one. because after they gave me pain medicine and the hours went by, the pain stopped.
they told me I must follow up with a urologist and get a particular test performed to ck the kidney. I had no insurance so I couldnt' get a follow up on this.

I only talked to a urologist being it wouldn't cost that much money compared to a test. he only charged me $20 becasue he knew my financial situation. I will never forget his kindness to me.

this same dr months before I had the attack that sent me to the ER had performed in his office a test where he had to pass a tube up my urethra and see inside the bladder to see if I had this painful thing that causes the bladder to be inflammed and scarred inside it which causes the same feelings of a UTI but there's never a sign of having a UTI when they tested the urine.
all I know is that I suffered with horrible symptoms of having a UTI after going to the bathroom which drove me nuts.

he couldnt' find anything wrong with my bladder. we never thought of checking my kidneys.
I guessed afterwards that this was the culprit that caused my symptoms all those months before and it was months, not just a couple weeks.
because after the attack, I never had those symptoms ever again.

oh, and itching. I did mention the itching to my old general practioner who I left because of her lack of caring. when I told her I had such an intense itching on my upper arms and inner legs and back and everywhere after I took even the slightest hot showers, I couldnt' stop the deep itching.
you know what she said to me? she said: " oh! it happens to me too" it's just dry skin and to rub some lotion on after you get out of the shower.

little did she know I had to practically take luke warm water showers so I wouldn't rub and scratch my skin open after my showers.

that was another sign I should've known something was going on internally.

On the ct scan they also said they see a small stone in the left kidney.
I still have it I guess.

it's now a year or more later now and I'm beginning to get subtle symptoms again. I don't know whether to go back to my urologist and ask him if we should perform some tests?

another thing I forgot to mention about another symptom is the odor of the urine. It had like a strange odor to it upon first urine in the morning. not during the day, and sometimes it had a rubbery, burnt like odor.
that's why I thought maybe I was getting a urinary tract infection.

so to answer your question on symptoms of kidney problems, this was all my symptoms.

I hope I was able to help you.

:)
Linda

mine have been about like yours

Linda,

thank you very much for sharing your story. It might help others identify their subtle and not so subtle symptoms. I laughed when I read about your doctors' comments regarding the itch. My doctor happens to have that same answer to everything. No matter what my concerns happen to be, he always has the exact same problems. Therefore, they are not a big deal and I should not worry about them. He certainly doesn't.
How are things with you now?

flowergirl

I forgot to say i itch all the time also
mainly on my back and have dry skin with it

Lintek45, Did any of your blood work come back showing that your kidney function was down? The blood test is an EGFR. Also what was your creatine level? I don't know how accurate this EGFR test is, but mine shows that I am in moderate kidney damage stage. My number is 37. 60 is a normal range. I go to see a kidney specialist next month. Right now I am a nervous wreck. How did my dr. see my level coming down and not question it? I had to have severe pain for 3 weeks and then pass a 6mm stone before he sent me to a urologist. Have more stones, but the urologist said let them be for now and drink plenty of water. I insisted that I be evaluated by a kidney specialist. What are all these drs. waiting for my kidney function to go down even more.

Buzzy,

Unfortunately the wait-and-see approach appears to be quite common. I too think our doctors just stand back and wait for our kidney function to worsen. What's one supposed to do without any guidance? I also wonder if the doctors use the same approach with every patient or only those with chronic kidney disease. My nephrologist is super nice yet isn't doing anything at all to help. So I figure perhaps there isn't a whole lot he can do for me. I could be wrong.

flowergirl

Flowergirl, Thanks for the reply. Do you know what your EGRF score is? I am reading and reading articles about kidney function and I believe there is a medicine that can help to stop the EGRF level from falling. I am on pins and needles waiting for my April 11th appointment with the kidney specialist. My level is 37 and that is pretty bad. Stage 3 in 5 stages of kidney failure.

Buzzy,

your eGFR as estimated from your values might not be entirely accurate. You have to keep that in mind. Try to remain calm. You doctor might want to do the 24 hr urine collection for more accurate testing.
My calculated GFR was at 58 three months ago. It might sound great. It is not. It seems to be less after each testing so it would appear to be progressing fast. I really need the 24hr urine test to see where I am at.
People with additional complications -such as heart disease, diabetes or anemia- develop symptoms of kidney failure at higher GFR levels than people without these problems. Some of my lab values sucked when last tested. My symptoms could be from an electrolyte and other imbalances, or worsening kidney function. I should know more within a few weeks. I am hoping it's the electrolytes because they can be corrected. I hope all goes well for you and that a consultation with your nephrologist will prove helpful. Please make sure to update us about your situation.

The medication that can slow the progression of kidney disease are ACE inhibitors, ARBs and even calcium channel blockers. I just read about the CCBs in one of my books. I didn't know that they are used in kidney disease in certain situations. I am not aware of any medication that can stop the progression of chronic kidney disease entirely.

best of luck,
flowergirl