worried about kidneys!!

T

thunder1225

New member
Well, unfortunately the signs of kidney damage can be sort of vague: nausea, fatigue, headache, back pain, basically symptoms that could be prompted by a myriad of other illnesses, or simple trivial ailments.
So, you can imagine my imagination ran wild when I read this on the internet!!
To be honest, I am still worried.
But, I tend to worry.
You can get a test at your Dr. to see how well your kidneys are functioning if you are concerned about long-term alcohol effects.
Altough I am not much of a drinker, this experience/scare has made me realize how much I take forgranted my health, and that I want to do more to nurture my body rather than disrupt it.
:)
I don't think I'll be drinking that much again any time soon...........
 
Hello all,
I rarely drink, or at least I rarely drink more than a one or two glasses of wine, but the other night I drank A LOT (an unreasonable amount) of alcohol, and of course had a horrible hangover the next day. I'm not proud of this, in fact, I deeply regret it and feel very stupid.
I'm concerned because of course I was hungover for the next day, but now, 4 days later, I still feel very fatigued and depressed. I am worried that perhaps I did some kind of permanent damage.
I'm also a worrier, and have anxiety and depression, so my worry could just be because of that, but I am fretting that I have injured my kidneys or something.
Is that possible?
I'm scared....
:(
 
having foamy urine isn't so much a direct link to a kidney 'failure' per se, what it IS indicative of is having more protien in your urine than a trace amount. it should be checked out bill. honestly,admitting to your own doc about a past drinking problem is really not that big of a deal,and should be known by him or her since it can create problems in your furture. i am recovered nonactive addict bill(my DOC was hydrocodone based meds),and believe me,there is much more stigma attached to that than alcoholism,but my primary and my pain clinic had to be told and made aware for my best interest. its just in YOUR best interest right now,for many reasons,to just be totally honest with your doc. this can change testing he may do or make him look a bit closer at certain test findings. it DOES matter from that medical standpoint,trust me.

just get those tests i mentioned above inthe other post,these will let you know pretty clearly just where things are at,with the liver and the kidneys too. but your doc does need to know this,espescially now that you have been clean and sober. what is there to be ashamed of? you should be very proud of your ongoing accopishment bill,it IS a big deal. i was totally clean for many many years til a spinal cord injury landed me into the place where i had to do something or i could not even raise my head to get out of bed. it sucked,trust me. i get oversight and direction,very strict direction from the pain clinic i go to. i simply need that in my life in order to keep me on track with all that i have going on and just what i have to now take to just have some mobility. but i still consider myself to be a non active addict since i am fully compliant and not abusing my meds in any way shape or form. and not getting any continual rasies in my meds either. that makes the difference. but i am proud of myself for being able to have done this now for almost five years with no problems because i am constantly thinking about it and working on it,and beholden to my pain clinic and primary too. you should be very proud too bill. just speak with your doc about your symptoms and concerns,K? just some very simple tests will give you pretty much all the info you really do need to now right now. good luck and please keep us posted, FB
 
Ahhhh!!

How would I know if I have Lyme Disease?
I did get two tick bites in the past 4 years. And yes, I have a weird intolenece to alcohol and have been depressed/anxious for two years or more. Though that could easily be just from life events.
I am lethargic a lot of the time too and dizzy and find it hard to concentrate.
 
hey bill,having a kidney and liver disease myself,i can tell you one of the very FIRST signs of any actual kidney disease would be finding protien in your urine(they simply do the 'urine dip" test?). that really is one of the very first early signs of it. this was found in my urine actually during a routine physical that we just had to have for my job? but not really knowing about anything yet(did not find out i even had a kidney disease til my youngest son became deathly ill i was 40 at the time but had it all my life from what i have been told)until five years later. all my kidney labs are actually still within all normal ranges since those numbers wont actually change til real damage just reaches some magic threshold level.

if you really want to know just how your kidneys and or the liver too are functiong,getting your labs run ALONG with a simple ultrasound will give you the best overall picture. my cystic damage is huge really huge and has enlarged my kidneys to over four times their normal size at this point,BUT my labs,at least as of three months ago,are amazingly still within all the norms. really insane how this all works. but just get the urine dip,labs and ultrasound. that WILL give you the best picture. if i had actually known what protien in my urine ment for me,i would have seen my doc about it,but not knowing anything about what that ment,i kind of just blew it off. if you really need to know,there are some pretty simple ways to actually find out. good luck and please keep me posted. FB
 
My daughter drank a load of vodka one night and woke up in the early hours with horrendous backache. She was severely dehydrated and at the hospital they thought it might be kidney stones, but she had lots of scans and was fine. She had an infection due to the dehydration, and was put on a drip and antibiotics.

You have no pain, and rarely drink so you'll be absolutely fine, you're just not used to hangovers! Take some b vitamins and drink lots of water. Eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables to help flush out the toxins from the alcohol.
 
Also, I still feel depressed and weak and sooo sleepy from last week's escapade. What is wrong with me? I'm not eating well, since I lost my appetite, this could just be depression, and obviously would account for the severe fatigue, but should I be worried about my kidneys still? Because I am!!
 
Yes there is some concern for me because I do often get foamy urine... I've had this going on for a few years, but not every time I urinate. My last blood panel didn't find anything though.

I have read there can be multiple causes for proteinuria though, besides kidney disease/damage...? Correct?

I should probably go for the urine dip test... but I am concerned if I bring up the "foamy urine" with my doctor and he asks about drinking, I'm not one to admit the many stupid mistakes I've made over the last 5 years... there is a stigma in admitting mental illness/addiction with doctors, or so I've heard.
 
when it comes to alcohol,it actually hits the liver much more than the kidneys. the bigger thing,as the above poster mentioned is the dehydration thing occuring simply becasue alcohol acts like a diuretic. keeping yourself hydrated will be the best thing you can do to replenish anything lost when you start to pee alot.

chances are,nothing was actually damaged dring this little drinking binge you had. just always make certain to keep yourself well hydrated even before you drink and when its over. the day after anyone actually drinks alot,should just be full of rehydrating with alot of water,and making sure to eat something,even if your stomach does not feel good or want it? you just need it,at least some soup or broth anyways. and do not take ANY tylenol before you go to bad after drinking? some people do this to try and keep the hangover to a minimum? it can really cause you liver problems and possible damage from that combo of the two things that are both just metabolized within the liver.

hopefully everything is fine with your kidneys and liver. it would usually take repeated drinking binges to really impact any organ in a really adverse way just from alcohol alone. just keep an eye on your overall alcohol intake from now on. i am sure you are fine. FB
 
Thanks for your support. I'm glad to see you have some understanding of addiction, I got the impression you were judging me in an earlier post.. if I remember right.

I'll go ahead and mention the worst of my symptoms to my doc next time I see him. I'm going to call and get a copy of my last blood test on monday. I *know* for a fact they checked for Creatinine levels, and liver enzymes as well. The doc didn't mention any problems, though.
 
Phew!
I am somewhat relieved, but I am such a worry-wort that I may go to the Dr. anyway. I think my body is just worn out and cranky, because I ut it through so much last weekend. I certainly learned my lesson though!
I was just so alarmed because I have never felt bad for more than one day, and it's taken me a while to feel better this time, though I could just be wiped out of vitamins, I tend to be sensetive to that.
My co-worker told me a horror story about her boyfriend who damaged his kidneys from3 days of binge drinking, and surfing the internet made me really worried.
It was A LOT of alcohol, but it was only one night, and I rarely drink in general, so hopefully I am ok!!!

:o
 
I'm pretty sure the longterm alcoholics only get kidney damage after years and years of daily overuse...

What would be some signs of kidney damage anyway? I'm interested to know because I went through alcohol addiction for a couple years.. now sober thankfully.
 
Mochi,

There really isn't a lot of info in your post but I do want to mention that an unusual reaction to alcohol is one symptom of Lyme Disease. There are many, many symptoms of Lyme Disease, some people only have one, others have many.

You don't mention other symptoms but for the sake of others with exagerated alcohol symptoms, I thought I'd mention the possibility.

Bethsheba
 
I got two tick bites, one was stuck to me for at least a day, it got into a *private* spot when I was hiking, and didn't come out till I was showering later.
:(
The second fell out of my hair blow-drying after a shower. Both of these instances were after hiking, so I didn't get them from a dog or in the city. :)
That said, I didn't feel it, I just found them escaping later, ewwwww!!!!
Every symptom you mentioned is a symptom I have regularly, except maybe the vision and hearing changes. However, all those symptoms could be caused from a thousand different things. Hmmm....
So frustrating, I just figure I'm nuts, and the stress of being nuts causes all my other problems, who knows.
It's impossible tog et good healthcare in the U.S., and it's hard to diagnose whatever is going on with me, if anything,
 
Mochi,

Thank you so very, very much for telling us about the tick bites! Many people don't think they have been bitten by a tick but you've given us two possibilities of why that may be the case.



Yes, that's one reason why it is difficult to diagnose. I experienced many of these symptoms as side effects of blood pressure medication (thus my search on the various boards) and as a result became aware of the many conditions that share these similarities....but there are a couple of things that I see as being somewhat "unique" to Lyme and are not found in many of the "other" conditions:

1. Tick bites.
2. High risk tick states, eastern coast and the midwest
3. Unusual or exagerated response to alcohol.
4. Vibrations/tremors/shakes/electrified feeling.

You're not nuts!! But that feeling is common among Lymies. And I would very, very much agree with you on the difficulty of getting good healthcare in the US! In my opinion, in addition to the oil industry, the health care industry and the insurance industry control this country and the residents in it.

Lyme can be treated and many of the symptoms can be reversed but if you have it, you shouldn't wait to get help.

Take care Mochi, and good luck!!

Bethsheba

PS Regarding those kidneys, I don't know the answer to those questions but I have learned to trust my body. If your body is telling you something, there may be a reason for it...check it out before there is damage.
 
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