What does a person with kidney failure look like?

I can not convince my cousin to go see a doctor. He is diabetic. He also drinks alcohol. The last time I saw him, he looked bloated and very unhealthy. I am trying to talk to his mother about this, but have not had any luck yet. I am wondering the physical signs of kidney failure. If this were me, I would have gone to a doctor already. I know that this is not the best situation for diagnosis, but I need help.

Maybe your cousin is scared to know the truth. Try & incourage him to see the doctor. Some of the signs are:
puffy eyes, hand and feet
fatigue
poor appetite & wt loss
bad taste in mouth
passing less urine or difficulty passing urine
There is more, so I'll give you the web site that you can read up on it yourself.
www.kidneylifescience.ca
Good Luck

Very bloated,as you describe:(

bloated

My Gram and Aunt died from kidney failure. Gram looked fine but stopped putting out as much urine. Aunt had other issues and bloated.

This sounds like liver failure to me when your stomach is bloated and you have a yellow coloring to your skin then its usually liver disease.
He definitly needs to see a doctor

Hi there,
Sorry to hear about cousin,
They are usually gray or yellow in color and yes they are bloated but your cousin may also be suffering from Congestive Heart Failure or (CHF) He needs to go to the hospital as so as possible
Keep talking to him
Hope this helps

I can tell you! I lost my best friend at 35 4 weeks ago, and she already had one successful kidney transplant 9 years ago. But the Doc said if you have a baby it will kill you. Her son turned 11 and she passed away...she also drank alcohol. She was very week her feet were in horrible shape 3 days before she died they had to amputate her leg since they couldn't get the infection under control..she continued to do dialysis but also had conjestive heart failure and the infection had to be gone before surgery, she didn't make it to surgery. Look at his toenails, check his feet, tires easily, yellowish color of skin...Ive lived it alll and would do it again..the hardest calll i ever received was her son asking me to do her hair for her funeral..and yes you need help but he needs it worse!!!!!!!!!

i heard that ppl of kidney disease get tired and drowsy most of the time. In addition to that the skin gets darker and the hands may swell.

Generally Kidney Failure makes you Dead. your body can only live a few days while the poisons your kidneys filter build up in your system. Generally people look pale but don't show many outward signs other than fatigue. But it depends on how bad the failure is.
Diabetics can have a lot of issues, as I'm sure you know, and it's easy for them to stop taking care of themselves, so please try again to talk your cousin into going to a Dr. and ask what their blood sugar is. ~100 is a good number.

Its very nice of you to be so concerned about you cousin BUT he has to want to get help before anything can happen.

I just started on dialysis, I am a type 1 diabetic and really there is no way passing me on the street you would know I have kidney failure. Other than the tubes in my chest and they are tucked in my bra!
A person can and DO live a long time with kidney failure before they start on dialysis I have had it over 10 years BEFORE dialysis.
If he is a diabetic AND he is drinking a large amount of alcohol. he has more problems than just kidney failure. That would be the last thing I would worry about.
He does need help but it has to start with him wanting it, stand by him he might come around and then you can help him.

PS I did not have any of the things the above people mentions until I started on dialysis then I started the puffyness, AND I still urinate a lot. So there are very different ways to have ESRF I guess???.

A person should suspect Kidney failure when
face is puffy, eyes are swollen , feet are swollen and shortness of breath on exertion.