Worried about kidney disease and need to know if symptoms are that of kidney problems

[Morgankelli]

Hi these questions I will be asking ar for a good friend and coworker of mine that I have been working with for over 20 years. She is morbidly obese and turned 50 this year. She had never seem to experience any health problems until early in September. She started having episodes where she felt cold sweats, dizziness, arm pain, heartburn, backache and jaw pain.. I am mediately assumed they were heart related problems and attempted to call 911.. it was then that I realize she had never been to a doctor and became very insulted that I would even suggest calling 911.. i've seen her have two major episodes like this that scared me both times she recovered and felt better the next day. Within the following months she started having daily low-grade headache's, severe scalp itch, pain in her foot, pain in her knee, nausea almost every day, she talks of sleepless nights, fatigue, thirsty, thrush, very hungry and has mentioned foamy Urine once .. i'm pretty sure she is diabetic but undiagnosed and untreated..my question is she doesn't go to the bathroom at all while she is at work.. most diabetics urinate a lot.. could kidney disease be the reason she doesn't urinate? All of her symptoms seem to come and go they might last a few days but nothing seems to last a very long time except for the nausea and heartburn..just when I think something might send her to the ER she seems to be better the next day nothing stops her from coming to work bright and early in the morning even though some days she is very moody..I would just like an opinion as to what somebody thinks she might have.. if I have to do an intervention I will..but insulting her If she's ok is not in my nature

[Celtic]

Morgan, how kind of you to be so concerned for your friend that you are taking time to make enquiries on her behalf, but also how worrying for you when she doesn't seem to want your help or to help herself. She really needs to see a doctor - is there perhaps a close relative of her's you can get to persuade her to seek medical advice? No-one can just answer your question as to whether she has kidney disease or not. There could be any number of causes for her symptoms, including some sort of inflammatory autoimmune illness, a hormone problem, etc. She needs blood tests at the very least. I hope you can encourage her to get checked out - she is lucky to have such a caring friend.

[jaykay777]

If I had a morbidly obese friend who had arm and jaw pain -- two symptoms of a heart attack -- I would call 911 too. And I would do the same for myself even though I am not obese. I am grateful that my primary care doctor found through a routine blood test that I have kidney disease. I had no symptoms. Do what you think is appropriate and don't be concerned if your friend is insulted.

[Nicolala]

How lucky this lady is to have such a caring friend. Her symptoms could be caused by many things. It is possible to have diabetes and not be urinating constantly. I have some morbidly obese family members. They will not go to the doctor because they are embarrassed and ashamed of their size. They think they'll be told to go and lose weight.

As this is not the first time you have seen this happen, as her friend, explain how worried you are. Tell her your concerns about her heart/ kidneys. She may be in denial. Offer to go to the doctor with her for support. Does she have any family who could help her? Good luck.

[Stevo99]

So many symptoms some mite relate to kidney disease some mite not, best to just get the blood checks

What I would like to know is if oral thrush is a symptom of kidney disease ? Very difficult to say I know as people get thrush in general

Anyone get repeated oral thrush ?

[SRN1969 in reply to Stevo99]

Thrush can be often seen in people with undiagnosed diabetes.. this lady is seriously unwell and needs to see a doctor.