Symptoms
The symptoms of chronic kidney disease can
sometimes be challenging to identify initially. “One of the major issues with
kidney disease is a lot of time, patients have no symptoms when it starts out,”
Rovin says. “It’s sort of silent. The kidney has a great capacity to compensate
for the loss of function,” and it may take a while before symptoms build to a
noticeable level.
For people who are at higher risk of developing
kidney diseases, such as diabetics and those with a strong family history,
screening tools may help spot the disease early. “A urine dipstick that looks
for blood and protein in the urine” can help screen for the disease, Rovin
says.
Other early warning signs of chronic kidney disease
may include:
- Nausea and
vomiting.
- Muscle
cramps.
- Itching.
- Loss of
appetite.
- Swelling in
the lower extremities.
- Changes in
volume of urine output.
- Difficulty
sleeping.
- Breathlessness.
As the disease progresses and you proceed into
kidney failure, more severe symptoms may develop, including:
- Severe
abdominal and back pain.
- Diarrhea and
vomiting.
- Fever.
- Nosebleeds.
- Rashes.
Rovin notes that if you have “high blood pressure
that’s unexpected or difficult to control,” that might also be a sign that your
kidneys are struggling to do their job. But it’s difficult to notice sometimes
because high blood pressure is “such a common disorder in the U.S.”
While it’s widely recognized that high blood pressure can cause kidney disease, may not be as well-known that this relationship can go both ways and that kidney disease can cause high blood pressure too. “High blood pressure or abnormalities in your lab work, anemia and electrolyte imbalances are the kinds of things we look for,” Rovin says.
Complications of
Chronic Kidney Disease
Because chronic kidney disease is a progressive
disease, it can also lead to other complications, including:
- Bone disease.
- Heart
disease.
- Excess
calcium and potassium in
the body.
- Fluid buildup
and swelling.
- Anemia, or a
lack of iron.
These complications can be serious problems in
themselves that need to be addressed.
