Living in a busy world like today makes you miss the most important call of all – the call your own body sends to you. That something in there is just not functioning right.

Here are the most common signs that your kidneys are not working at their full capacity:

Shortness of breath 

Shortness of breath due to kidney disease can happen out of two factors: first, anemia makes your body to lose oxygen, and second, extra fluid in the body can move in the lungs when the kidneys are not working at their full capacity

Back pain

The kidneys are located deep right below the rib cage. If you have back pain, you could have cysts in your kidneys. You might be feeling sick and also have high body temperature along with your back pain if the cause are your kidneys. The back pain usually happens suddenly and without a fever if it’s not related to a kidney disease

Puffy eyes

This is an early sign that can happen before everything else mentioned here. The puffiness around the eyes is a result that the kidneys are leaking some amount of protein into the urine instead of distributing it directly into the blood and body.

Fatigue and headaches

The kidneys produce a hormone called Erythropoietin (EPO), which plays a significant role in the production of the red blood cells – erythrocytes. If the kidneys aren’t working properly and produce less EPO, we are in lack of red blood cells which supply the oxygen in our bodies and our brain is just not working right and feels extra exhausted

Dry and itchy skin

Extra fluids from the blood are removed with the waste from our body through the work of the kidneys, itchiness and dryness of the skin can be a sign of failure of kidneys, because the balance of minerals and nutrients in the body is upset

Metallic taste in your mouth and bad breath

This symptom is also because our bodies won’t get rid of the waste as they should, so it can lead to metallic taste and even bad breath in the mouth. Furthermore, this could lead to general loose of appetite and sudden weight losses, which are never good for the body

Swollen ankles, feet and hands

This is due to the extra fluid in your blood which didn’t get “their way out”. Similar as to the syndrome of puffy eyes, which is because of sodium retention in the organism.

Change in the urine

This is probably the most common and accurate symptom of all, because urine is a direct product of the work of the kidneys. You might feel you need to pee more frequently, have blood in your urine or have a “foamy urine”. These signs you should never underestimate and should schedule an appointment with your doctor if you have them.