In Stage Four of kidney disease, the symptoms a person experiences will start to be debilitating, and kidney function will become severely impaired. In fact, at this stage, there is only 15-29% kidney function remaining. The body may have disguised its condition for quite a while, but now the disease becomes drastically apparent and undeniable.
The symptoms will resemble things that had begun appearing in Stage Three, but will now magnify them:
fatigue increases considerably, the appetite continues to decline, and
an earlier phenomenon of itching skin might become much worse than it
was. High blood pressure
continues to be problematic, because of course the kidneys have now
lost most of their capacity to excrete unneeded fluid, so it is retained
in the body. This makes the heart and blood vessels work harder,
and increases damage to them. And the kidneys may have trouble producing
erythopoietin, which stimulates blood cell production, so anemia is
another problem that plagues patients with the disease.
At Stage Four, a cascade of effects may produce other
effects, all of which contribute to an increasing weakness and a
worsening of symptoms. As the kidneys become less able to
filter phosphate, the levels of that electrolyte increase. In turn, this
makes it more difficult for the body to absorb calcium. And since it’s
the proper interaction of phosphorous and calcium that strengthens
bones, bone density itself may gradually decrease. This may produce
aching in the bones, but it also leaves the person more prone to
fractures, which take longer than usual to heal.
Treatments at this stage are many. Blood pressure is often treated
with diuretics, though some of these can play havoc with potassium
levels. Anemia can usually be successfully counteracted with
drugs resembling erythopoietin. Medications may prevent bone disease,
and much of the phosphorous/calcium imbalance can be reduced with diet.
But these are generally stop-gap measures. This is the stage
where the patient begins heading in the direction of dialysis, and
starts receiving consideration for a possible transplant. While the
effects of Stage Four can be mitigated to some extent, the fact remains
that the kidneys are so seriously diseased that the body can’t go on
forever like this.
Again, it is extremely important to take good, thorough stock of one’s complete health every few months. The symptoms of kidney disease are easy to miss, in the stages when a person might do something about it.