Pain Spasms And Other Sensations
Far from only affecting excretion, failing kidney function affects every system, organ, and gland of the body.
Some of the more noticeable symptoms include:
- Pain in the side or mid- to lower back: When only one kidney fails, the pain will occur on the side of the bad kidney. CKD can also cause kidney stones and fluid-filled cysts to develop, which can worsen the pain.
- Muscle cramps and/or twitches: As with athletes, these symptoms are thought to be caused by fluid and electrolyte imbalances, but they also may be the result of nerve damage or blood flow issues.
- Persistently itchy skin: Called pruritus, or uremic pruritus, this may be felt all over the body. It is due to the buildup of wastesespecially excess phosphorusthat the kidneys can no longer filter out. Pruritus is common in end-stage kidney disease .
- Feeling cold all the time: This is a symptom of anemia.
What Happens In Nephrotic Syndrome
Glomeruli are balls of tiny blood vessels that help remove waste products from the blood. When the filters stop working correctly, too much protein gets into pee.
Protein helps hold fluids in the blood. With less protein in the blood, fluids can move to other parts of the body and cause swelling in the face, belly, hands, arms, and feet.
Many things can damage the glomeruli and cause nephrotic syndrome. But in kids it’s usually due to minimal change disease. The damage to the glomeruli is so small that it can be seen only under a strong microscope called an electron microscope.
Why kids get minimal change disease isn’t always known. It is believed to be due to an immune system problem. Often, it happens after an infection. Most kids outgrow minimal change disease by their teen years, with no kidney damage.
Rarely, kids can get other types of nephrotic syndrome due to things like:
- cancer and tumors
Kidney Stones Water Retention And Face Reading
Bronwyn, who suffered from a kidney stone four months ago, reports: It feels like another one is forming. Kidney stones cause intense, wincing pain and may require medical intervention.
Do It Yourself
While an ultrasound is one scope for assessing kidney health, Face Reading is another and you can do it yourself. In this Mini Face Reading well examine two facial indicators that indicate kidney issues and how to prevent them.
A few weeks after passing a stone from her left kidney, Bronwyn noticed: Now Im always puffy under my eyes, especially on my right side.* It feels like fluid retention. Id never ever noticed it before, and Im very observant of my face. Its a little upsetting, and nothing seems to help. I just dont know what to do.
There are multiple causes of kidney stones as well as water retention , and you can have one without the other. With any kidney issue, youll see facial irregularities in the eye region and especially under the eye . The right eye area corresponds to the left kidney and vice versa. So lets zoom in on her eyes.
Eye Region Tone
Bronwyn further reports, If I press near the outside corner of my right eye, the puffiness sticks out.
In comparison, the puffiness on the right is uninterrupted, more pervasive and even extends above her eye. That she noted water retention a few weeks following the kidney stone makes a strong case that the two are related.
Under Eye Skin Color
Face Reading Payoff
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When Should I See A Health Care Professional
See a health care professional right away if you are unable to urinate or have severe pain in your abdomen. Acute urinary retention can be life threatening.
If you have any of the other symptoms of urinary retention, such as trouble urinating, frequent urination, or leaking urine, talk with your health care professional about your symptoms and possible treatments. Chronic urinary retention can cause serious health problems.
Determining The Cause Of Nephrotic Syndrome
The doctor investigates possible causes of nephrotic syndrome, including drugs.
Analysis of the urine and blood may reveal an underlying disorder. For example, the blood is tested for evidence of previous infections that could cause nephrotic syndrome and for antibodies directed against the body’s own tissues that indicate an autoimmune disorder.
or diabetes mellitus, Diabetes Mellitus Diabetes mellitus is a disorder in which the body does not produce enough or respond normally to insulin, causing blood sugar levels to be abnormally high. Urination and thirst are… read more drug treatment often stabilizes or decreases the amount of protein in the urine. However, some people do not respond to drug treatment and developchronic kidney disease Chronic Kidney Disease Chronic kidney disease is a slowly progressive decline in the kidneysâ ability to filter metabolic waste products from the blood. Major causes are diabetes and high blood pressure… read more that progresses to kidney failure within a few years.
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Medication To Reduce Cholesterol
Studies have shown that people with CKD have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks and strokes. This is because some of the risk factors for CKD are the same as those for heart attacks and strokes, including high blood pressure and high levels of cholesterol in the blood .
Statins are a type of medication used to lower cholesterol levels. Cholesterol causes narrowing of the arteries that can lead to a blockage of the blood supply to the heart or the brain . Statins work by blocking the effects of an enzyme in your liver , which is used to make cholesterol.
Statins sometimes have mild side effects, including:
- constipation
- headaches
- abdominal pain
Occasionally, statins can cause muscle pain, weakness and tenderness. If you experience any of these symptoms, contact your GP. You may need to have a blood test or change your treatment.
If you have kidney disease, you may be asked to reduce your daily fluid and salt intake. You may develop a build-up of fluid as your kidneys will not be able to get rid of fluid as well as they did before.
If you are asked to reduce the amount of fluid you drink, you must also take into account fluid in foods, such as soup and yoghurt. Your GP or dietitian can advise you about this.
The excess fluid that occurs as a result of kidney disease often builds up in your ankles or around your lungs. You may also be given diuretics , such as furosemide, which will help get rid of the excess fluid from your body.
Fluid Weight Gain Investigate The Cause When You Have Kidney Disease
Provided by DaVita® Dietitians
Are you a dialysis patient who has been struggling with weight gains that are too high? If so, its time to investigate the cause.
For dialysis patients, there are two types of weight: dry weight and fluid weight. Dry weight refers to your weight when your blood pressure is controlled and there is no excess fluid in your body. Fluid weight is the weight you gain between dialysis treatments from the foods and fluids you take in.
Healthy kidneys remove excess fluid from the body when you eat or drink liquids. When kidneys do not work well, they do not make enough urine to remove the extra fluid from the body, causing fluid weight gain.
What are the symptoms of too much fluid?
Between your dialysis treatments, gaining too much fluid can cause:
- Shortness of breath
- Swelling
If you gain too much fluid between treatments, you may experience the following symptoms during dialysis:
- Cramps
- Headache
- Nausea
Anything that is liquid at room temperature is considered to be fluid. This includes ice, gelatin, Popsicles® and soup. Be careful that you dont consume foods high in sodium, or salt, because they will make you thirsty, and you are likely to then consume more fluids.
What causes fluid weight gain?
If you are gaining too much fluid weight, some detective work is needed to uncover the cause. The following clues will help you solve the case.
Are you using salt or eating salty foods? These are examples of salty foods you may be overindulging in:
Summary
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Blockage Or Narrowing In The Urethra Or Bladder Neck
For you to be able to urinate normally, all parts of your urinary tract need to work together in the correct order. Urine normally flows from your kidneys, through the ureters to your bladder, and out the urethra. If a blockage or narrowing occurs somewhere along the urinary tract, you may have difficulty urinating, and if the blockage is severe, you may not be able to urinate at all.
Medical problems that may narrow the urethra and block urine flow include
Blood And Urine Tests
If your doctor thinks you might have chronic kidney failure, they will order blood and urine tests.
Blood tests for kidney function measure the levels of electrolytes and waste in your blood. They measure waste products such as creatinine and blood urea. Creatinine is a byproduct of muscle metabolism. Blood urea is leftover when your body breaks down proteins. When your kidneys are working properly, they excrete both substances.
Urine tests will be performed to check for abnormalities. For example, protein is normally only present in trace amounts in your urine. An elevated protein level might indicate kidney problems months or even years before other symptoms appear. Your urine sediment and cells found in your urine will also be examined in a laboratory.
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What Are The Dangers Of Excess Water Retention
Water retention occurs when fluid builds up in the body. In most cases, fluid retention does not cause serious problems. But sometimes, fluid retention causes dangerous effects on the body. Conditions that cause fluid retention include heart failure, cirrhosis of the liver, kidney failure, premenstrual syndrome and preeclampsia. Discuss water retention with a physician if you are concerned about the dangers of this symptom.
How To Reduce Edema From Kidney Disease
Luckily, there are ways of reducing edema.
The most common precautions and remedies include:
- Reducing salt intake
- Using diuretics to help remove the extra fluid
- Using compression therapy garment. In the case of leg edema, compression socks, and stockings.
A solution we can offer you is our Hydrating Medical Grade Compression Socks.
The compression material will squeeze the swollen area, micro-massage it, and help break the fluid buildup. They will also help to normalize blood flow and to return the blood from your limbs to the heart. Compression therapy helps prevent injuries, reduces heaviness from the legs, and helps normal functioning.
Compression socks are the number one help with swollen feet and bad circulation, and they help the overall quality of life. By reducing one problem, we cannot solve another, but we can stay more positive and more willing to fight other problems.
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How Much Protein Does Your Body Need
People who do not yet need to have dialysis should be careful to get the right amount of protein not too much, but also not too little. Several studies have shown that in some people, a low-protein diet can delay the progression of chronic kidney disease and prevent complications. There is not yet enough to say whether other types of diets might also have these positive effects. But it’s important to make sure that you don’t get too little protein either, because our bodies start breaking down the protein in our muscles if we don’t get enough protein in our diet.
According to current recommendations, people should get about 0.8 to 1 gram of protein in their daily diet for each kilogram of normal weight. So if you weigh about 70 kilograms, this would mean you would ideally get about 60 grams of protein in your diet. To give you an idea of how much that is: A single beef steak typically has about 45 grams of protein in it, a hard-boiled egg has about 13 grams in it, and an apple has less than 0.5 grams in it.
People who are on dialysis will need more protein, though. People who are on hemodialysis are advised to get at least 1.1 grams of protein in their daily diet per kilogram of body weight, and those who are on peritoneal dialysis should get up to 1.5 grams per day and kilo. The reason why more protein is needed for peritoneal dialysis is because a lot of protein is lost to the dialysis fluid through the peritoneum.
Medical Conditions That May Cause Fluid Retention
Fluid retention may be a symptom of serious underlying conditions, including:
- kidney disease such as nephrotic syndrome and acute glomerulonephritis
- heart failure if the heart does not pump effectively, the body compensates in various ways. it starts to retain fluid and increase the volume of blood. This results in congestion of the veins, enlargement of the liver, and the accumulation of fluid in body cavities like the abdominal cavity and in subcutaneous tissues, causing swelling of the legs
- chronic lung diseases such as severe emphysema, which put excessive pressure on the hearts right ventricle, leading to its failure
- liver disease such as severe cirrhosis that triggers liver failure
- malignant lymphoedema cancerous tumours that block structures of the lymphatic system, such as the lymph nodes
- thyroid disease such as hypothyroidism
- arthritis joints affected by some types of arthritis tend to swell with fluid
- allergic reaction in susceptible people, the body tends to swell in response to particular allergens, such as an insect bite. In some cases, the reaction is severe and requires urgent medical attention. this swelling is short-lived rather than ongoing
- autoimmune diseases such as lupus.
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Treating Chronic Kidney Disease
There is no cure for chronic kidney disease, although treatment can slow or halt the progression of the disease and can prevent other serious conditions developing.
People with CKD are known to have an increased risk of a heart attack because of changes that occur to the circulation.
In a minority of people, CKD may cause kidney failure, also known as established renal failure or end-stage kidney disease. In this situation, the usual functions of the kidney stop working.
To survive, people with ERF may need to have artificial kidney treatment, called dialysis, or a kidney transplant.
Read more about living with chronic kidney disease
Late Kidney Disease Or Kidney Failure
Untreated kidney disease will usually progress to complete kidney failure. The kidneys simply stop functioning or function so poorly that they cannot keep with the work of fluid management. Fluid builds up in the tissues, causing swelling and weight gain. Its important to recognize that this is water weight, not fat or muscle. In fact, many people with severe kidney disease or kidney failure are actually undernourished. The excess swelling can make it difficult to breathe and increase your blood pressure.
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Muscle And Joint Pains
If you have muscle or joint pain, it’s ideal to use topical preparations , which are rubbed on to the painful area. Avoid tablets containing ibuprofen or similar drugs such as diclofenac if your kidney function is below 50%. Ibuprofen gel or spray is safer than ibuprofen tablets, but it isnt completely risk-free as a small amount of the drug penetrates the skin into the bloodstream.
Why Does Kidney Disease Cause Weight Gain
Kidney disease doesnt just affect the kidneys, it affects the whole body. In the early stages, it can cause weight loss, while in the later stages it can cause weight gain. These variations are the result of different aspects of the disease. Heres some information to help you understand the issue of kidney disease and weight gain, courtesy of Dr. Allen Lauer, of Associates in Nephrology.
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Chronic Kidney Disease: How Effective Are Diet And Exercise
Diet recommendations vary according to the stage of chronic kidney disease. If you pay attention to what you eat and drink, and get enough exercise too, you can have a positive impact on the course of the disease and improve your wellbeing.
A lot of metabolic processes depend on the performance of the kidneys: If your kidneys stop working properly, it causes an imbalance in your energy and protein metabolism, for instance. The levels of salts and fluids in the body are also affected. Advanced kidney disease may then cause serious complications such as weight loss, acidosis , and fluid retention in organs and tissue.
So people who have chronic kidney disease are advised to follow a number of dietary recommendations. Its often quite difficult to stick to this special “kidney-friendly” diet. But doctors and dietitians can help you to understand the recommendations and put them into practice. People who have chronic kidney disease often get used to these recommendations over time and use them as an opportunity to do something good for their wellbeing. Changes to your diet and exercise also have a positive effect on other medical conditions and risk factors, such as high blood pressure.
Chronic Kidney Disease And Edema
Chronic kidney disease and lower extremities edema certainly have a connection. But, as you can see, in the early stages of the disease, there are almost no symptoms at all. That is why you shouldnt lean on edema as a symptom of kidney disease, because there are many earlier symptoms such as fatigue.
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Do You Have Kidney Disease You May Be Showing Symptoms
Feeling fatigue, unable to concentrate, or in general having less energy
Kidney disease is a result of the kidneys losing their ability to function as filters for the body. This can result in toxins and impurities building up in the bloodstream, resulting in these symptoms. Kidney disease is often diagnosed in conjunction with anemia, which is a potential cause for such symptoms as well.
Trouble sleeping or difficulty staying asleep
The function of the kidneys is to act as a filter for the body. When the kidneys lose function, the toxins remain in the blood when they ought to be excreting out of the blood in the urine. This build up of toxins can make it difficult for those with the disease to fall asleep. Obesity and kidney disease are linked, so if you are a part of this population, you ought to consider being tested as soon as possible.
Dry/Itchy Skin
Kidney failure can lead to changes in the bodys ability to produce sweat and oil, causing the skin to become dry. In addition to this, the accumulation of waste and excess phosphorus in the blood due to improper filtering can cause skin to feel itchy.
Needing to urinate more often
Polyuria, a condition where one is frequently needing to use the bathroom, is a result of the built up sugar and fluids traveling through the kidneys. Since the kidneys cannot filter as they should, you have to urinate more as a result.
Blood in urine
Urine is “foamy”
Puffy eyes
Swollen feet/ankles
Poor appetite
Cramping muscles