writeleft
07-17-2009, 04:06 AM
I have stage 4 Kidney disease, GFR 24. Although I am 48 years old, my skin looks worse than my 78 year old mother. It has become so delicate, and paper thin. The least little bump, and it bruises, or leaves "grandma marks", those instant red spots on the arms, that take weeks to heal.
My hair looks dead, dry and thin and damaged.
I attribute these things to my kidney disease, am I right?
My hair looks dead, dry and thin and damaged.
I attribute these things to my kidney disease, am I right?
Sponsor
Coravh
07-17-2009, 10:05 AM
Most likely. Don't forget that you have a lot of waste material floating around in your system. It can't be good for any part of your body. My hair fell out a lot when I started dialysis, but then grew back.
flowergirl2day
07-17-2009, 12:35 PM
Hi, :)
I have skin problems as well. My skin is darker that it has ever been, for one thing. I have dark circles under the eyes from anemia. Also, my trunk -abdominal area- is covered in red marks of various sizes. They have now started to appear on arms & legs. A few marks might be a normal part of an aging process, but mine definitely are not!!! (in my opinion). There are numerous "spider webs", mostly on the trunk and legs. Those could be from high blood pressure and unrelated. Lastly, just like last year, my forearms are showing the blood vessel patterns a few shades darker than my already darkened skin. I had skin discoloration (dark brown) on both sides of the neck last year as well. I almost forgot to mention frequent rashes. They could be from the meds though.
flowergirl
I have skin problems as well. My skin is darker that it has ever been, for one thing. I have dark circles under the eyes from anemia. Also, my trunk -abdominal area- is covered in red marks of various sizes. They have now started to appear on arms & legs. A few marks might be a normal part of an aging process, but mine definitely are not!!! (in my opinion). There are numerous "spider webs", mostly on the trunk and legs. Those could be from high blood pressure and unrelated. Lastly, just like last year, my forearms are showing the blood vessel patterns a few shades darker than my already darkened skin. I had skin discoloration (dark brown) on both sides of the neck last year as well. I almost forgot to mention frequent rashes. They could be from the meds though.
flowergirl
feelbad
07-17-2009, 01:27 PM
hey flower girl. just what IS the reason for you kidney problems? have they EVER taken a good look at the possibility of liver involvment too? i am only asking because you mentioned the 'spider web" like cappillary breakage which can be indicative of some level of portal hypertension/liver involvement in some cases. tho there can be other reasons too. do ANY of the spider web areas actually also have some kind of a red dot in the middle as well or 'just" the spider web appearance only? just something that would be very helpful to know. have you ever actually had an ultrasound done on the abdominal that would just allow that more in depth 'look' into the abdominal organs like those kidneys and the liver too? they would also be able to check overall bloodflow velocity just using that doppler tool they have to do just this. i have a yearly US just for this very reason. Marcia
writeleft
07-17-2009, 09:02 PM
Flowergirl,
After hearing of your issues, I feel as if my skin is not bad at all. How unfortunate for you.
After hearing of your issues, I feel as if my skin is not bad at all. How unfortunate for you.
flowergirl2day
07-18-2009, 02:47 AM
Writeleft,
sometimes it is difficult to figure out what's causing what. Some of my skin issues could be from high blood pressure, some from medication, others from anemia or kidney problems. So, it is hard to tell exactly what is responsible for what. I have not had any hair problems yet. Your concerns are legitimate and I too would like to know what types of kidney-related skin problems people like us run into. It is very helpful to share this type of information. With the exception of the forearm/neck discoloration, I have not shown or talked to any doctor about this. It does't hurt so I figure it isn't that bad. From what I've read, it could be worse.
flowergirl
sometimes it is difficult to figure out what's causing what. Some of my skin issues could be from high blood pressure, some from medication, others from anemia or kidney problems. So, it is hard to tell exactly what is responsible for what. I have not had any hair problems yet. Your concerns are legitimate and I too would like to know what types of kidney-related skin problems people like us run into. It is very helpful to share this type of information. With the exception of the forearm/neck discoloration, I have not shown or talked to any doctor about this. It does't hurt so I figure it isn't that bad. From what I've read, it could be worse.
flowergirl
flowergirl2day
07-18-2009, 03:17 AM
Marcia,
to answer your question: I have considerable hypertensive nephrosclerosis, as well as infarcts on the kidney and arterial disease. I have had all types of tests, including a renal and a mesenteric arteriograms, ultrasounds, biopsy, the works. My liver function is tested often and seems OK so far. The spider veining appeared when my hypertension was at its worst at the 250/160 level, and would not come down. This is when the arterioles started to rupture everywhere and why I think they are from high blood pressure. I had many initially, some have since disappeared. They do not have red dots in the center. I attribute the other red marks to high blood pressure, but, of course, they could be from aging or something else entirely. I am not too sure of why I have those. It's almost like some sort of bleeding under the skin, looks like many, many red polka dots, some tiny, some larger. Luckily, they are where they can't be seen. They thought I had a specific type of vascular systemic inflammation, but this has been disproven. I have been having problems so would imagine that the abdominal area will continue to be checked on regular basis.
flowergirl
to answer your question: I have considerable hypertensive nephrosclerosis, as well as infarcts on the kidney and arterial disease. I have had all types of tests, including a renal and a mesenteric arteriograms, ultrasounds, biopsy, the works. My liver function is tested often and seems OK so far. The spider veining appeared when my hypertension was at its worst at the 250/160 level, and would not come down. This is when the arterioles started to rupture everywhere and why I think they are from high blood pressure. I had many initially, some have since disappeared. They do not have red dots in the center. I attribute the other red marks to high blood pressure, but, of course, they could be from aging or something else entirely. I am not too sure of why I have those. It's almost like some sort of bleeding under the skin, looks like many, many red polka dots, some tiny, some larger. Luckily, they are where they can't be seen. They thought I had a specific type of vascular systemic inflammation, but this has been disproven. I have been having problems so would imagine that the abdominal area will continue to be checked on regular basis.
flowergirl