How Long Do You Live After Kidneys Shut Down?

Many individuals experience a decline in kidney function as they grow older. However, this process is usually slow, and can be treated with the proper diet and medication. This type of kidney failure does not always necessarily end in death.

A common symptom of kidney failure is a general sense of fatigue, but a lack of ability to actually fall asleep. General confusion, hallucinations, and an overall sense of agitation often occur. These changes are understandable because the body is going through a dramatic process. Since the body is retaining chemicals and toxins, they can often build up and cause tremors and seizures in the body. Preventing the seizures can happen if the signs are noticed early on enough. Another side effect is that sometimes the skin will become covered in a white powdery substance. Appetite decreases in people with renal failure. Problems with breathing also frequently occur.

Once people go into kidney failure, they often do not pass much urine, if they pass any at all. More problems such as bloating, congestion of the lungs and heart, rapid breathing, and shortness of breath arise in people who cannot pass much urine. Eventually, the person may not be able to lie flat on his or her back without discomfort. Once urination ceases, the person will most likely die within one or two weeks. People who do have urine output and have chosen to stop dialysis have lived for up to several months.

Considerations

Medicine and doctor visits can help relieve some of the pain associated with renal failure. Having the help of either a hospice nurse or a hospice team will ensure that the person has round the clock supervision. However, dying of renal failure is not consideraly especially painful, and victims usually just fall into a deep sleep and never wake up again. Before the invention of dialysis, kidney failure was considered one of the "better" ways to pass away.

Transplants and Dialysis

Some individuals eventually lose all function of their kidneys, also known as renal failure. However, renal failure is not a death sentence. One particularly effective option is a kidney transplant. Being placed on a transplant list is no guarantee that a kidney will arrive, though. Furthermore, the process can be extremely expensive if the sick person's health insurance does not cover the procedure.

Dialysis takes on the processes of the kidneys by filtering out the toxins in the body. Hemodialysis filters the blood through a machine in order to clean it, and peritoneal dialysis is the process of creating fluid exchange in the abdomen. However, like all procedures, there are risks and side effects.

The person may need to go for dialysis several times a week, and if he or she is in an already feeble state, these constant ventures to the doctor may become a great nuisance in their lives. It often becomes so great a nuisance that people decide to take themselves off of dialysis. The decision may seem irrational, but while on dialysis, the individuals may not be getting a chance to live. They may prefer to live out their days doing activities that they enjoy, as opposed to spending hours upon hours in a doctor's office.