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If you control your diabetes, your entire body benefits — including your kidneys. This pair of bean-shaped organs cleans your blood and does other important jobs. But if you have diabetes that’s undiagnosed or uncontrolled, it can damage your kidneys over time without causing any symptoms. And that could lead to a serious problem: diabetic kidney disease. Your doctor may call it chronic kidney disease (CKD). About 1 in 3 adults with diabetes have this condition. CKD gradually causes your kidneys to have trouble filtering waste and extra water from your blood. If it goes untreated, your kidneys may eventually fail, which means they lose most of their ability to work. You could need a kidney transplant or dialysis if that happens. Diabetes is the top cause of chronic kidney disease and kidney failure, but you can take steps to lower your risk for those problems. Get to know the tests, treatments, and lifestyle changes that can help prevent kidney disease or keep it from progressing to kidney failure.
How Long Does It Take for Diabetes to Cause Kidney Damage?
It takes many years for diabetes to damage the kidneys, says Sylvia Rosas, MD, a nephrologist and epidemiologist at the Joslin Diabetes Center and president-elect of the National Kidney Foundation. But lots of people don’t realize they have type 2 diabetes for a long time, she says. So you could find out you have kidney disease shortly after you get diagnosed with diabetes. If you don’t have diabetes now, be aware of the risks and symptoms. Screening, and an early diagnosis, could lower your odds for kidney damage. Some common diabetes symptoms are:
- Peeing often
- Feeling a lot thirstier than usual
- Feeling hungrier, even though you’ve been eating
- Extreme tiredness
- Blurry vision
- Cuts or bruises that take a long time to heal
- Weight loss, even though you’ve been eating more (common in type 1 diabetes)
- Tingling, pain, or numbness in your hands or feet (common in type 2 diabetes)
What Are the Symptoms of Kidney Disease?
The symptoms of CKD usually don’t show up until late in the course of the disease, Rosas says. Kidney damage caused by uncontrolled diabetes can make you need to pee more often, as well as wake up at night to pee, she says. You’re also more likely to get urinary tract infections. Other symptoms of kidney disease due to diabetes are:
- Weight gain
- Swollen ankles
- Nausea or vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Feeling weak or tired
- Itching
- Muscle cramps (especially in your legs)
Since other things can cause these symptoms and they usually don’t appear until kidney disease is advanced, it’s important to see your doctor for kidney tests.