I go to the bathroom frequently; doesn’t that mean my kidneys are working normally?

Not necessarily. When the kidneys make urine, the urine flows down a tube called the ureter and empties into the bladder. When the bladder becomes full, you feel the urge to pass urine. Some people with severe kidney disease make urine that has a lot of water, but almost no waste products in it. Blood tests for these people show a high level of waste products in the blood, and often other blood tests—such as for potassium—will not be normal.

Some people who urinate frequently are concerned they have kidney disease. However, frequent urination is often a symptom of a bladder—not a kidney—problem. Your doctor should be able to determine the difference by doing blood and urine tests and sometimes x-rays.