Last Updated on April 6, 2021
First, what is kidney disease? Whenever your kidneys don’t perform correctly and cannot filter blood properly, it’s called a kidney disease or failure. People who suffer from high blood pressure or diabetes are more likely to develop kidney problems in their life, but they’re not the only ones. At least 37 million people in the United States are affected by this disease, and approximately 90% don’t know it or are only diagnosed when the symptoms of kidney disease are too strong to ignore. If you feel some sort of pain or weird symptom that you’re not used to, it may be indicating that something’s up with your health. Following, you can find some warning signs that you may have kidney disease, so keep reading to be aware of what you should look out for!
7. Hypertension
Hypertension is a condition where your heart is pumping harder than usual. It’s normally a condition that ends up causing strokes, chronic kidney disease, and even heart attacks if not treated or controlled. So how can you control hypertension? Cutting back on your salt intake and eating healthy is key. Keeping a healthy body weight by doing regular exercise, like a 20-minute walk every day, swimming classes, and avoiding alcohol intake or smoking, is also a great way to control your high blood pressure.
6. Puffy eyes
Everyone gets puffy eyes, especially in the morning, but normally it goes away in 10 minutes or so, usually right after you wash your face. However, if you notice your eyes are consistently swollen every single day for no apparent reason, then you should probably start to worry. Puffy eyes are one of the symptoms people have when they’re suffering from heart and kidney disease. The problem is since puffy eyes are very common in other situations, such as allergies, kidney disease is usually overlooked. So make sure you’re getting double or triple diagnosed just to be sure.
5. Feeling Weak
One of the main symptoms of kidney infection is a high fever. Not only that, but a loss of appetite or feeling tired and weak is also an indication that you may be experiencing kidney failure. Kidney infection treatments rely on antibiotics, and usually, you’ll start improving after 24h and feel completely well after two weeks once the treatment ends. Don’t overlook this symptom. Tiredness can be confused with laziness and many other things, but it can also mean something’s up with your health, so check with your doctor first!
