Symptoms of Immunoglobulin A (IgA) Nephropathy
In its early stages, IgA nephropathy may have no symptoms; it can be silent for years or even decades. Once symptoms appear, the most common one is hematuria, or blood in the urine. Hematuria can be a sign of damaged glomeruli. Blood in the urine may appear during or soon after a cold, sore throat, or other respiratory infection. The amount of blood may be

visible with the naked eye. The urine may turn pink or the color of tea or cola. Sometimes a person may have dark or bloody urine.

so small that it can only be detected using special medical tests.

Another symptom of IgA nephropathy is albuminuria-when a person’s urine contains an increased amount of albumin, a protein typically found in the blood, or large amounts of protein in the urine. Albumin is the main protein in the blood. Healthy kidneys keep most proteins in the blood from leaking into the urine. However, when the glomeruli are damaged, large amounts of protein leak out of the blood into the urine.

When albumin leaks into the urine, the blood loses its capacity to absorb extra fluid from the body. Too much fluid in the body may cause edema, or swelling, usually in the legs, feet, or ankles and less often in the hands or face. Foamy urine is another sign of albuminuria. Some people with IgA nephropathy have both hematuria and albuminuria.

After 10 to 20 years with IgA nephropathy, about 20 to 40 percent of adults develop end-stage kidney disease.5 Signs and symptoms of end-stage kidney disease may include

high blood pressure
little or no urination
edema
feeling tired
drowsiness
generalized itching or numbness
dry skin
headaches
weight loss
appetite loss
nausea
vomiting
sleep problems
trouble concentrating
darkened skin
muscle cramps