Symptoms of Polycystic Kidney Disease

What are we looking for?

Oftentimes Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is first noticed when a person is diagnosed with high blood pressure with no underlying cardiac cause. 

However, there are other symptoms of PKD to know:

• Pain or tenderness in the abdomen
• Blood in the urine
• Frequent Urination
• Pain in the Sides
• Urinary Tract Infection
• Kidney Stones

Pain is the most common symptom and can vary from severe to minor.  Pain is typically worse if it is accompanied by bleeding into a cyst, which will likely be seen as blood in the urine.

A urinary tract infection has it's own set of symptoms including burning or stinging when urinating, a low grade fever and stinky urine. The first sign of a kidney stone is often also side pain or sharp pain when urinating. 

As discussed in last week's post, PKD is diagnosed through ultrasound of the kidney's and more recently, sometimes through genetic testing. 

Dr. Ronald Perrone from the PKD Foundation discusses common symptoms of PKD. As he mentions in the video, approximately 60% of patients with PKD have elevated blood pressures.  It is essential to keep this controlled as high blood pressures will cause further damage to the kidneys. 

Symptoms of PKD as it progresses: 

 As PKD progresses the patient's kidneys will eventually start to fail.  Symptoms of kidney failure include:

• Decreased urine output
• Shortness of breath
• Fatigue
• Swelling of the legs and feet 
• Nausea
• Confusion

The kidneys are the body's trash collectors.  They collect all the garbage, filter it out and return clean blood to the body.  When the kidneys can no longer do this, excess fluid and waste products build up in the body leading to the symptoms listed above. 





All information from:
Polycystic Kidney Disease. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2015, from http://www.healthline.com/health/polycystic-kidney-disease#Overview1