How did you learn that your kidneys were failing?

[Ohio Buckeye]

I had bronchitis really bad and went to dr. and my bp was up really high and he ran a blood
test and my cholesterol had really jumped up and I was very anemic and he did further blood work and sent me to a neph and my creatine was 4.+. That was in July 05. By Jan. it was 7+ so I had my
catheter inserted in March and started pd in April. At least I had a little time to prepare myself.

[angieskidney]

I was a very sick kid so I don't remember much but as I remember it I was sick all the time and was going blind and it was discovered that I was going blind because my BP was 230/180 (I was 9 years old). Turns out ... by then it was too late to say my kidneys and my BP was so high because my blood was already not being cleaned very well by my kidneys.

[Bajanne]

I had been hypertensive since 1992 and diabetic since 1995.  I thought I was doing quite well, handling them mainly through medication, but also a bit with diet and exercise.
In 2004, when I was having a routine check with a doctor, he said he was worried about my kidneys.  He gave me some tests and told me to stop taking two of my medications.  I was to go back to him, but it was the beginning of summer and I went home to Barbados saying I would check with my GP there.  However, I was not feeling ill, so that got put aside. 
At the beginning of 2005, I was just in a sad state.  But I kept it from people.  I could not climb the stairs to my class without stopping every 4 steps to take a breath.  When I could go no longer, I was hospitalized and the doctor said my GFR was 15.
I would have to say that I knew that my kidneys were failing since 2004, but I didn't know it was that serious, and I did not realize that there was a point of no return.

[Rerun]

I was 24 years old and living in a small town in North Idaho. (Does that tell you anything) 
I was married for 2 years when I started feeling sick in the mornings and throwing up.  I went to the Dr. thinking I was pregnant.  I wasn't and so he (Idiot Doctor) diagnosed me with an inner ear infection.  He gave me these patches to glue behind my ears.  GEEZ!  I still wasn't feeling any better and so he finally sent me to an EAR Specialist!  (You can't get farther from the kidneys can you)   

The ear specialist gave me Valium of all things.  So, I was not only sick, but very calm.  After I was puking all the time I went back to him to tell him I thought I was allergic to the Valium.  He took one look at me and asked if anyone had done any blood work.  I said no.  He dropped everything and told his patients to go home he had an emergency on his hands.  He took me to the lab himself.  I was having a fit because I didn't like needles (HA HA) and after they took my blood I almost passed out from the sight of blood and the needles.  (They should have just shot me right there)

They sent me home.  That was a Friday.  By Sunday, my Husband (now ex) could not wake me up.  He tried to give me orange juice (in other words he tried to kill me) and I puked.  He called the Idiot Doctor and he said "Oh, yeah, we think it is her kidneys... I was going to tell you on Monday."  My creatinine was 13 and my BUN was something like 200.  He told my husband to take me to Sacred Heart in Spokane, Washington which was 2 1/2 hours away. 

That is where I was introduced to Dr. Leo Obermiller.  My savior.  He listed all my symptoms and I said yes to every single symptom.  I just wanted a antibiotic and to go home.  (HA HA)  I had immediate dialysis through a catheter in the groin.   Then dialysis everyday for 4 hours for 5 days in a row.  OMG I was one sick puppy.  It was VERY hard after that.

So, essentially I didn't even know where my kidneys were let alone what they did when I was diagnosed. 

Very, Very, hard road.

[Sluff]

I know there is nothing funny about what you went through Rerun but I had to laugh at your ear patches. (Idiot Doctors).

Foamy urine, 24 hr urine test..tada... too much protein. Tired all the time but my blood counts are normal so they don't believe me I guess about being tired all the time.  It explains the symptoms but I actually feel more sick on the meds than I did before the meds.

[Ginger]

I was participating in a cereal blood pressure study at the University of Mn and they were drawing blood every week and noted that my creatinine was elevated. It was suggested that I see my Primary MD soon. I saw her and she happened to be a kidney transplant pt herself so she immediately sent me to a nephrologist. He had an ultrasound done of my kidneys and they were full of cysts and they found cysts on my liver also so I was diagnosed with PKD in 1997. Began PD in August of 2004.

[Riki]

1991.. I was 12... I think it took about 6 months for everything to come about, but I started feeling sick all the time... throwing up.. no appetite... that one was strange.. I didn't want anything cooked, but I would eat the sandwiches my mom made for my lunch at school.. anyway.. I was  really feeling crappy one day so my mom took me into the outpatients dept at the hospital (it was a sunday).. the doctor there said I had a throat infection, and sent me home with an antibiotic.. the next day, my mom took me to my regular doctor, who said I had pnumonia and gave me a stronger antibiotic and sent me home... after this, I had what I think is a really strange symptom..  my tongue felt like it was 3 inches thick, and I couldn't speak.. after a good nights sleep, it seemed to be gone, so we thought the antibiotics we working... that afternoon, I felt tired so I decided to take a nap... a few hours later my brother, who was 6 at the time, decided he was gonna be nosy, so he popped into my room to see what I was doing...he went downstairs and told my mom that I was making weird noises... she coudln't wake me up...between her and dad, they got me up and downstairs... an ambulance took me to the hospital... it didn't stop there... the 2 doctors who were on duty at the ER that night didn't know what to make of me...I couldn't speak, I couldn't move, but I could hear all that was going on around me... the 2 doctors stood over me and discussed what they thought was wrong... they thought it was a brain sezure.... my mom knew I could understand what they were saying,and told them to shut up... it was the pedatrician who was there that night who figured it out.. and I guess I was lucky that she was there.. she had seen this reaction before.. she had trained with a pediatric nephologist in Halifax, Nova Scotia... what happened to me is very rare... she had some blood drawn, which showed a high phosphorus and low calcium, which was why I couldn't move, and an increidibly high creatinine... I was airlifted to Halifax that night, to the doctor that she had trained with.. I had a temporary pd catheter placed the next morning, and a more permenant one a week later... I was on PD for 18 months...

[SpeedFleX]

At the age of 8 I got a very bad bladder infection so my parent took me to the hospital and I guess my infection damaged my kidneys, the doc gave me some meds and I had to do blood work every week there. My kidneys got worse every year and we all knew that some day I would have to go on dialysis. Anyways in the mean time my mom moved back to germany so a week before Chrismas I went to go visit her there. Well on the 22 of December ( My Birthday) turned 12 then. I felt really bad so we went to the docs they were speaking German I understood nothing well my mom said to me, well honey I'm sorry to say this but we have to go to the hospital you have to go on dialysis. So I hat my operation on the December 31 and woke up on January 1. January 4 was my first dialysis with I neck cath.

Well that's about that I'm 19 now and enjoying life. Party, Cars and Gaming^^

[Bear]

"Everyone" was telling me I had high b.p. & to get it checked. So, while taking my daughter to be signed off to go back to school after a bout of 'flu',
I asked the doc to take my b.p.....he couldn't get a reading ( was 270/150)....later that day I was admitted to hospital & they took 2 weeks to stabilize it.
Then regular visits & checks, eventually an overnight stay & a biopsy. This was all in '94. I was 45. Someone must've mentioned IgaN, but it wasn't
 explained to me that it was degenerative. I was under the impression I had had a bout of something, which had left kidney damage & that I would
 just need b.p. medication indefinitely. They say they told my doc.; my doc. says they didn't. SO I just went down hill over the next 10 years...until
 I got to about 7% function and was taken in to hospital. Sick as a dog. A week later had the first P.D. surgery....

[sandman]

Excuse me but I have been seeing terms like creatinine and bun getting used here and I have no idea what these are.  Can anyone explain what they are, what they mean and what levels are normal and cause for concern.

[Rerun]

Take a look under "Frequently Asked Questions" for an explanation.

http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=12.0

[sandman]

Okay, thanks rerun but I only found an answer for BUM and not creatinine.  Can someone help me out please?

[angieskidney]

Okay, thanks rerun but I only found an answer for BUM and not creatinine.  Can someone help me out please?

Epoman should add it to that since it is an integral part of anyone's blood work when it comes to kidney disease. But for now ..read this.

And by the way, it is not bum .. it is BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen) A Bum is what you sit on


.....
and after I had my transplant I knew my kidney was failing because slowly I got slower and slower (I got tired easily) and then suddenly one day I got a 104F fever and I knew I lost it. Was my fault for putting work before my health. I tried so hard to get ahead before the dreaded day that I even put off appointments

[scyankee]

I was married 12 weeks (age 22) when I had a fever and pain in the front of my abdomen when I went to the ER and was
immediately hospitalized(first time in my life!) After a battery of tests from every Dr. there, the surgeon had good news and
bad news. Good news: no surgery, Bad news: PKD. Fast forward to 18 years(1993) seeing a nephrologist for first time be-
cause of BP.  10 years with this man and he never advised me on diet, medication, NOTHING. 2003 in ER because of kidney
pain and this Dr never came to see me. Refused to be admitted. Came home and asked for ALL my bloodtests for the last
10 years: severly anemic!!!!! Labs were horrible. Oh Thanks for your great care of 10 years. The ER resident looked at me
like I was an alien not knowing what was going on.  Changed Dr to a female nephologist who changed my life around for
12 months til I moved to SC. Was able to put off dialysis til Oct.2005 due to a diligent diet and being very aware of my
bloodtests.  I NEVER ignore my own tests, get copies of everything everytime. I don't wait for a Dr. to tell ME how I'm
doing anymore!!!!

[angieskidney]

very smart!

[livecam]

One day the keys in my pocket just rubbing against my leg just made the leg hurt almost like it was frostbitten.  I tried moving the keys around but nothing helped.  Shortly after this my thighs swelled badly and in a way they had never before and have never again since that time.  I was started on diuretics, a low protein diet etc. but it didn't seem to help.  Things got progressively worse throughout the next year.  My coworkers couldn't stand to be in the same room because I always had the heat maxed even though I was wearing a coat indoors.  Later extreme fatigue, uremic breath, and extreme weight loss came into the picture.  About 17 months after the leg swelling incident I was on dialysis.

[angieskidney]

I always had the heat maxed even though I was wearing a coat indoors.  Later extreme fatigue, uremic breath, and extreme weight loss came into the picture.  About 17 months after the leg swelling incident I was on dialysis.

Wow some of those signs of kidney failure are new to me! I am glad I am not you.

[livecam]

The coldness and fatigue were due to very low hemoglobin/hematocrit, uremic breath due to lots of waste in the blood, and the weight loss due to almost no appetite due to the other stuff.

[angieskidney]

The coldness and fatigue were due to very low hemoglobin/hematocrit, uremic breath due to lots of waste in the blood, and the weight loss due to almost no appetite due to the other stuff.

It was the appitite mainly that I was wondering about. The rest made sense to me. I hated the Uremic breath .. my mom especially would always make note about how she noticed that with me. No matter what I did to prevent that..

[livecam]

Friends would say "you're looking good, are you on a diet"?  I'd tell them that yes I was trying to lose weight and to do so I was only eating one meal a day-lunch which was true.  Kinda funny how we can fool ourselves into a mode of thinking so far from reality but at the time I really believed it.  At the time I really did want to lose some weight and the appetite loss made it easy to do it.

[angieskidney]

Friends would say "you're looking good, are you on a diet"?  I'd tell them that yes I was trying to lose weight and to do so I was only eating one meal a day-lunch which was true.  Kinda funny how we can fool ourselves into a mode of thinking so far from reality but at the time I really believed it.  At the time I really did want to lose some weight and the appetite loss made it easy to do it.

Ya I remember when I got Peritonitis and went from 140lbs to 112lbs in 1 months time. An ex-boyfriend from 10 years previously saw me at my friend's party and suddenly thought I looked so good he wanted to date me again. Funny .... here I am terribly sick .. ended up in the hospital for 6 weeks .. and people think I look hot ..  I blame society's idea of perfection for that one

[sandman]

Friends would say "you're looking good, are you on a diet"?  I'd tell them that yes I was trying to lose weight and to do so I was only eating one meal a day-lunch which was true.  Kinda funny how we can fool ourselves into a mode of thinking so far from reality but at the time I really believed it.  At the time I really did want to lose some weight and the appetite loss made it easy to do it.

Ya I remember when I got Peritonitis and went from 140lbs to 112lbs in 1 months time. An ex-boyfriend from 10 years previously saw me at my friend's party and suddenly thought I looked so good he wanted to date me again. Funny .... here I am terribly sick .. ended up in the hospital for 6 weeks .. and people think I look hot ..  I blame society's idea of perfection for that one

So do I.  I saw you at 112 and at 140 and I must say, you look great at either weight to me.  I always think your hot. 

[angieskidney]

Friends would say "you're looking good, are you on a diet"?  I'd tell them that yes I was trying to lose weight and to do so I was only eating one meal a day-lunch which was true.  Kinda funny how we can fool ourselves into a mode of thinking so far from reality but at the time I really believed it.  At the time I really did want to lose some weight and the appetite loss made it easy to do it.

Ya I remember when I got Peritonitis and went from 140lbs to 112lbs in 1 months time. An ex-boyfriend from 10 years previously saw me at my friend's party and suddenly thought I looked so good he wanted to date me again. Funny .... here I am terribly sick .. ended up in the hospital for 6 weeks .. and people think I look hot ..  I blame society's idea of perfection for that one

So do I.  I saw you at 112 and at 140 and I must say, you look great at either weight to me.  I always think your hot. 

Anyway .. my point is that when I lost weight .. like livecam was saying .. but it is better to be healthy than skinny.

[sandman]

it is better to be healthy than skinny.

I couldn't agree more.

[Ohio Buckeye]

I was always shivering freezing before I found out I had kidney problems and am still cold even tho
my blood count is much better.  It's strange how the summer heat hasn't bothered me
much this year, but boy do I dread winter cold.