The kidneys are a vital organ with many responsibilities including filtering waste from the bloodstream, regulating blood pressure, maintaining electrolyte balance, and the production of red blood cells. When things start to go wrong with our kidneys, we risk the development of kidney disease.
As the waste products build up in the body, affected individuals start to experience the onset of symptoms related to the condition. If left unmanaged and untreated, kidney disease can progress into renal failure, where the kidneys shut down, and the affected patient faces a life-threatening situation.
Treatment for renal; failure involves admittance to monitored care in a hospital where physicians can keep an eye on the progress of your condition and administer dialysis. In many cases, people who experience renal failure require a kidney transplant to survive.
Here are eight common symptoms of renal failure. Should you notice the early stages of kidney disease, speak to your doctor about a treatment program.
1. Lethargy and Fatigue
The kidneys are responsible for filtering out the toxins we ingest through food, water, and the air we breathe. People with healthy kidneys have no trouble clearing these accumulated particles – however, those individuals who are living with kidney disease have inefficient kidney function.
As a result, the toxins continue to accumulate in the bloodstream. Toxicity leads to feelings of tiredness which eventually results in fatigue where the affected individual may feel so lethargic that they can barely get out of bed in the morning.
This symptom is typically one of the first signs of kidney disease that may result in renal failure if the patient does not receive treatment with dialysis to clean the blood and remove the toxins. At this stage of the disease, when symptoms start to present, it’s best to arrange a comprehensive evaluation of your condition with your medical practitioner. Delaying your diagnosis could end up costing you your health.