I think I have kidney disease and I'm terrified.

yes that's true. or i guess it could be some other issue. yes i will go to the doctor too

Yes I'm sure they will give me some medicine for my high blood pressure since it's pretty high. And I will ask them to test me for kidney disease as well. I will let you all know how it goes. And if i do end up having it then maybe posting here will help me to feel better. And if i have any questions then I hope people would be able to answer them for me.

Thanks for the tips. I will let the doctor know if i have any side effects .And see the high blood pressure is one reason why I'm worried that i might have kidney disease. because I may have had high blood pressure for 8 to 10 years and not have known it until now. I mean i didn't have any side effects from having high blood pressure. But I think alot of the time people don't get side effects from high blood pressure until it gets really bad or until they have some sort of health problem that is caused by the high blood pressure. So if i have had high blood pressure for along time then I most likely do have some other health problems as well. Also those side effects that i have worry me. Especially the dark urine and the muscle twitching. i was reading another post on this forum and one person was saying that one of the symptoms for them is muscle twitching. Unless i just have the muscle twitching because I am very scared about going to the doctor. I did notice that I started getting the muscle twitching right after I started reading about diseases that can be caused by high blood pressure. So i guess its a possibility that I am just having muscle twitches because of my anxiety. I guess i should still mention the muscle twitching to my doctor though because it still isn't good. I do feel fine, but i guess i could still have kidney disease though. I'm sure most people with kidney disease do feel tired most of the time and weak. But, Maybe i'm one of the rare people who don't get tired and and don't feel weak or something. And i will try my best to enjoy life. But if I do end up having kidney disease or another major disease then I will probably be very depressed for along time. So i don't know how i will enjoy life if i get bad news. I do get depressed easily. I am trying my best to just not worry for now though. Thanks so much for all of your advice too. I appreciate you helping me out.

Hi Megan

What exactly was your blood pressure reading?

Anxiety can really elevate your blood pressure and especially when under stress of a doctor visit.

Its a vicious circle unfortunately you will worry until you get good news which might make your bp stay elevated. Fingers crossed all is good and then your bp may come back to normal 😊

Well when i was at the dentist they said that my blood pressure was 181/90. Then they took it again and it went down to 173/90. But they said it was still way too high. So i know that is pretty bad. And yes i do have bad anxiety so whenever i go to the doctor or the dentist my anxiety gets worse. But even when my anxiety isn't bad I am sure that my blood pressure is still too high. And thank you for saying that you hope everything will be good. I still think that I am going to get bad news at the doctor. But I know it's important for me to go even though it's scary for me. 

Not everyone who has high blood pressure get kidney disease. More good news.

When is your Doctor appointment? Its been 8 days now since you first posted should be soon, you need reassurance asap!!

Hi Megan,

well if there is a worse place to have a BP check than the dentists I cannot think of it!  No one likes the thought of dentistry!  It is very easy to add 20 points to your BP in a really stressful situation!  What you need to do is mesure BP yourself in a quiet situation at home.  Take a series of measurements and almost certainly as you get used to doing it your BP will go down before reaching a stable level.  I take mine morning and evening, and expect my waking BP to be a bit higher.  If I think I may have a problem then I will take BP again during the day in a resting situation.  You will soon find your normal levels.  I plot mine as a graph and take it to the doc if I think it necessary. So get an easy to use monitor!  The numbers you gave are almost certainly up due to the worry of having it taken, and the thought of tooth pain!

I suppose it is really a way of you taking charge of what is needed -- like making that doctor's appointment!  Make the phone call and enlist your parent's help.

I am quite sure you will feel an improvement when you show yourself that you are in control!

Kind regards,

KenR

Yes i guess it could be high just because I get scared when i go to a doctor or dentists office. I will have to try taking my blood pressure at home when I'm calm and see if it's still pretty high or not.  I just think i have kidney disease because of those symptoms that I talked about in my first post. Also i still need to find a doctor to be my primary care doctor. I don't have one now. I have been looking online for doctors to go to though. I guess i just need to pick one and if i don't like them I can find someone else later. 

Thank you that is great advice. I will take my blood pressure at home and see if it's still around 173 to 181 or not. Well it might not be around 170 to 180 when i do it at home. But it could be around 150 to 160 or something when i do it. But i will see what it says when i do it myself. I will try doing it in the morning and then again at night and write down my blood pressure readings. Then i can bring my blood pressure readings to my first doctors appointment. 

Yes, just choose a doctor for primary care. When you call to set the first appointment be sure to mention what your dentist has said; hopefully, if the doctor's receptionist realizes that your blood pressure has been testing high you won't have to wait 3-4 months for the appointment.

Another strategy would be to visit with your dentist and see if he/she can get you referred in to s primary care physician who will work you in quickly for your first appointment. 

Some primary care practices have walk in hours with one of their nurse practitioners. That might be another way to get in for the appointment quickly.

You could go to the emergency room at the hospital if you can't get in to see a primary care physician fairly quickly--but that will cost the most and is a pretty extreme measure.

I would ask my friends who they go to for primary care. I'd then choose s doctor my friends think is good who is also accepting new patients. Then I'd call for my first appointment. It may be helpful to have one of more of your friends help you actually schedule as well as go to your first appointment.

Marj

Wow do most people really have to wait for 3 or 4 months to see a doctor? or does it just depend on how busy they are? If they are that busy then yes i will ask the receptionist if I could just see the nurse practitioner instead. I will also tell the receptionist too about how high my blood pressure has been. Then hopefully they will be able to get me in as soon as possible. If not then I know they have some walk in clinics around here. Those types of places will see patients any time during the day. I would not want to go to the hospital at all because yes i agree that is way too expensive. i can't afford to go to the hospital really. So i would only go to a hospital if a doctor found something wrong and said that i needed to go. But yes i will try a walk in clinic if i can't go to a regular primary care doctor. The walk in clinics are probably cost around the same amount as it would be to see a primary care doctor. Oh and i had a question. I saw you said on another post that alot of people who are in stage 4 or 5 of chronic kidney disease don't even know it. How would they not know though? do some people not feel weak, sick, or tired even if they are in stage 4 or 5 of chronic kidney disease? 

The primary care physicians where I live are often not able to see new patients for 3-4 months. But that may not be the case where you live. However, I'm hoping you will call a physician's office to set your first appointment tomorrow morning, or, Monday. There is no sense putting this off any longer.

And while many patients in Stage IV or V do experience anemia that requires treatment that isn't the case for everyone. Similarly, not everyone in Stage IV experiences electrolyte imbalances. So for some there may not be obvious symptoms.

For me, my early signs were elevated blood pressure and potasdium levels. I really wasn't feeling poorly. By the time my renal function deteriorated to Stage IIIb I developed anemia that was quite severe and required treatment. At that point my elevated potassium levels also required medication in addition to a lie porasdium diet. My blood pressure has more regularly run low though. Although that blood pressure issue is highly unusual.

My father had chronic kidney disease resulting from severe hypertension. But he lived well with CKD for over 35 years. Ultimately it did cause sufficient deterioration in his renal function for him to need dialysis. He received in-home hemodialysis for slightly more than 2 years. I was one of his two dialysis care providers.

My hope is that you will get to a doctor asap. The doctor will develop a treatment plan to address your hypertension, if neeed. That treatment plan will likely include some lifestyle changes, e.g., low sodium diet, and, posdibly, medication. If you work closely with your doctor you should be able to control your blood pressure. 

Like Ken, I suspicion that your BP has not been high long enough to have caused CKD. But rather than guessing about all of this, your doctor will collect blood samples and run lab tests. Then you will know exactly what's going on and what, if any, action you will need to take.

Marj

Do you live in the Usa? Or a different country? I am in the Usa. And you said your dad had hypertension. Was his hypertension well controlled for 35 years? When did your dad start taking blood pressure medicine? And I am not sure how long i have had high blood pressure though. If i have had it for 8, 9, or 10 years without it being well controlled then I would bet that could cause some kidney damage. Just all those other symptoms that I listed make me think that I most likely have kidney disease already. Unless maybe i have heart problems or something. I guess some of those symptoms that I listed can be a result of heart problems. But i know I can't just keep guessing about what is going on. I know i need to be brave and just go to the doctor even though I'm scared of going. I will make an appointment at the doctor this week though. I just hope they don't say that i would have to wait for a few months or something. But if they do say that then do you think that the nurse practitioner could do the urine test and blood test for me? But see also the only problem is that i don't think the nurse practitioner can give me a prescription for high blood pressure medicine can they? Well i guess i can try calling a few doctors though if the first doctor that i call can't see me right away. I can just keep calling doctors until I can get one to see me soon.

Different states have different requirements for what nurse practitioners can and can't do. I think you're making all of this much more complicated than it actually is--very likely the anxiety you seem to be experiencing. Ask a family member or friend to:

1. Help you set your first appointment

And

2. Go with you to that appointment

We're all scared to go to the doctor when we suspect something is wrong. We also often jump to the worst possible conclusion. There is no point to doing what you're doing right now. You're a 30 year old woman. You can do this. If you need someone to go with you, ask a friend or family member to hel you.

My dad had severe hypertension all the years I knew him, or, 40 years. He also had chronic kidney disease most of yhT time as well. But it's really important that you hear this; my father lived well with chronic kidney disease for all those years. But he did what his doctors told him to do. He took his medications, modified his diet, and then he lived his life.

This is NOT a death sentence. So, you need to get to the doctor. Getthe tests run. See what the results are. Then, if needed, begin taking medication and making the ne rosary dietary changes. You'll feel fine. You'll be functioning very well. And you'll know exactly what you need to do to help your body function at its best.

Marj

Yes that's true. And I actually did call a doctor today to make an appointment. But they told me they didn't have any appointments for 1 month. I did tell them about my high blood pressure. So they said if they have any cancellations soon then they will call me and I could come in. I just said ok thank you. But i won't wait for them to call back. I will find someone else that could see me sooner. Or i will just go to one of those walk in clinics if i can't find a primary care doctor to see me soon. And yes i agree with you. I know that i need to get to the doctor even though I don't like going. But i realize everyone has to do things they don't like doing sometimes. And if there is something wrong like kidney disease or another issue then I will do what the doctor says to help myself get healthier and live longer. I know i just need to work hard to get healthier and not ever give up. Also thanks so much for your advice and letting me know that I can still live a good life if I do what the doctor says and do things to make myself healthier. And thank you and everyone else for being so helpful and giving me the confidence to get to the doctor even though i'm scared. This really does seem like such a great and supportive forum. I enjoy talking with you all too. 

I'm glad you called for an appointment. You could call back and schedule the appointment tomorrow. Then you'll have an appointment in about a month for sure. Plus they will be more likely to call you with an opening between now and then if you are booked to come in for an appointment.

I do feel incredibly fortunate to have grown up with a father who had chronic kidney disease. That was his normal; our family's normal. He taught me how to live well (and long) with a serious chronic medical condition. Some families are plagued with heart disease. Others are plagued with cancer. Some have multiple medical conditions. For my family it was chronic kidney disease. Dad did have severe hypertension, which I do not have. But other than those issues, my family medical history on both sides is actually quite good.

So, I have chronic kidney disease. But I expect to live well with it for as long as possible. I'm still working full time and very much enjoying that! (I'm s university professor.) in September of 2016 I had the honor of serving as one of several delegates from the United States to an international autism conference in Scotland. Although I am in Stage IV I was able to travel safely, and by myself, to and from that congress.

Do my life hoes on with Stage IV CKD. I've had to make changes with my diet. I take medications. And I'm under continuous treatment for severe anemia. But I am still able to work very well. I plan yo work another 5-7 years. I just have to do what my doctors tell me to do. I need to let them know how my treatment plan is working. I arrive with blood pressure tables, etc. but working together with them, this is doable.

I look forward to hearing what you learn when you see the doctor for your initial appointment. As you wait this out, monitor your blood pressure. Try to drink 6-8 glasses of water a day, and try to eat a low sodium diet (1500-1800 mg sodium daily).

Marj

That is a great idea. I didn't think about calling them back and asking them to give me an appointment in 1 month. Thanks for that tip. I will call again tomorrow and tell them to give me the appointment in one month. And I will  also ask them to call me if they are able to see me sooner than that. I know how that is to be in a family that has diseases. My grandfather had chronic kidney disease and he died from that. His kidneys didn't start failing until he was about 80 years old though. so he lived along time. He also had diabetes though. And then my grandmother had high blood pressure and a stroke. That's on my moms side. Then on my dads side my grandfather had a heart attack. My grandmother on that side was very healthy though. But my parents also have alot of health problems too. My dad has diabetes. Then my mom has high blood pressure and she also had a blood clot last year and she as anemia. She is doing better now though thankfully. Also that's great that you are still able to work full time and travel. I will start monitoring my blood pressure. Oh and also I did start drinking more water today. I drank 7 glasses of water today and now my urine isn't as dark as it was before. Is that a good sign that my urine is lighter now? I hope so. Also when you say 1500 to 1800 do you mean 1500 to 1800 calories? 

Glad to hear you're drinking more water. Seven to 8 glasses of water a day is God. And my suggestion for a low sodium diet is 1500-1800 mg of sodium daily. M

When you buy groceries you can read the nutritional information on the labels. It will tell you how many milligrams of sodium per serving. You'll probably be surprised by how much sodium you eat daily right now; especially if you eat a lot of processed foods or fast foods. For instance, s McDonald's cheeseburger contains 680 mg sodium. And that's without the French fries which contain 320 mg sodium. So just eating a cheeseburger and fresh fries for lunch would give you 1000 mg of sodium. 

Most American ingest far too much sodium on a daily basis. Adhering to a lower sodium diet is a good idea for most of us.

Marj

Oh ok i understand now and thanks for the advice. I will read the labels and check for the sodium. And yes i do eat way too much fast food lol. I guess i need to stop eating fast food. I am sure my doctor is going to tell me that i should not eat fast food ever again. But that's true. i probably really shouldn't even though it's so good. lol. And what kinds of foods at the grocery store have alot of sodium in them? I am guessing chips and stuff like that have too much sodium? 

Yes, chips and other snack food she as well as most baked foods and frozen foods are high in sodium. Even most canned vegetables and soups have lots of sodium. So do bottled salad dressings. There are some frozen vegetables with no extra sodium added. But I eat food I cook from scratch only using fresh vegetables and meat. I also eat some fresh fruit. I also make my own salad dressings, taco seasonings, etc. mrs Dash seasonings have no sodium in them.

Anyway, you can find low sodium cook books. I had to learn how to cook this way. I use a crock pot/slow cooker a lot for my main meal preparation. And, my father had hypertension so I grew up eating a low sodium, low fat diet because that's what he had to eat. So this doesn't seem terribly foreign to me.

Marj

oh i see. i am not very good at cooking things so i can't cook from scratch.  i do have a crock pot too though but i don't use it. i guess i could try to learn how to use it though. i think my parents usually eat meals with no salt and low sodium in them though. so maybe i could eat with them or something. I will try looking online though for recipes that have low sodium in them.