Glomerulonephritis: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Options

When your kidneys start leaking protein into your urine and you feel swollen, tired, or notice blood in your pee, it could be glomerulonephritis, an inflammation of the glomeruli—the tiny filters in your kidneys that remove waste and extra fluid from your blood. Also known as nephritis, it’s not just one disease—it’s a group of conditions that damage these filters, often because your immune system turns against your own kidneys. This isn’t something that goes away on its own. Left untreated, it can lead to chronic kidney disease, a long-term decline in kidney function that may require dialysis or a transplant, or even renal failure, when your kidneys stop working well enough to sustain life.

Glomerulonephritis can show up fast after an infection like strep throat (post-infectious), or creep in slowly over years (chronic). It’s often tied to autoimmune kidney damage, when your body’s defenses attack healthy tissue, like in lupus or IgA nephropathy. Common signs include foamy urine (from protein loss), high blood pressure, swelling in your face, hands, or feet, and dark or cola-colored urine from red blood cells. Many people don’t feel sick at first, which is why it’s often found during routine blood or urine tests. If you’ve had recent infections, family history of kidney disease, or autoimmune disorders like lupus, you’re at higher risk.

What you’ll find in the posts below isn’t just theory—it’s real-world guidance from people managing this condition and the professionals who treat it. You’ll see how proteinuria, the abnormal presence of protein in urine, is tracked and treated, how medications like corticosteroids and immunosuppressants are used, and why lifestyle changes matter just as much as pills. Some posts explain how steroid use can trigger other problems like high blood sugar, while others show how diet and blood pressure control can slow damage. There’s no one-size-fits-all fix, but the right combination of monitoring, meds, and habits can keep you off dialysis and living well.