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Lupus nephritis: when lupus reaches the kidneys, the signs, the tests, the biopsy, and the treatment
For anyone with lupus who wants to protect their kidneys, anyone told they have lupus nephritis or facing a kidney biopsy, anyone with foamy urine, swelling or high blood pressure on top of lupus, and the people who love them. It passes on, by name, what the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK, part of the NIH) says: what it is and who gets it, the signs and what it can lead to, the urine and blood tests, the biopsy, and the medicines, blood pressure and food. It builds the words to say, and prints a card for your notes. Nothing is saved.
Right now
- Trouble breathing, chest pain, sudden confusion, or fainting? Call 911 (ours).
- Peeing very little or not at all, or swelling that comes on fast? Get care right away; if you cannot reach your provider, go to the emergency room and say you have lupus (ours).
- Thoughts of suicide? Call or text 988, any hour, free (ours).
More help
- On this site: Lupus · Glomerular disease · Kidney disease · Kidneys, bladder and urine: find the right page.
- Alongside it: Getting ready for a kidney biopsy · Nephrotic syndrome · High blood pressure · Blood pressure log · Kidney failure: choosing a treatment · My medicines.
- When it is hard to pay: When you need a doctor and can’t pay. Getting ready: Get ready for your appointment.
- In an emergency: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
Kidneys, bladder or urine, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for bladder infections, kidney stones, blood in the urine, bladder pain, bladder leaks, the prostate, kidney disease and bedwetting, on one list.
Other guides on this site that go with this page
Free to read. We chose these ourselves; no professional did. Each guide was written with AI and has not been reviewed by a professional. They are general information, not advice.
- When a medical bill is too much: what to check before you pay, the financial help nonprofit hospitals must offer, surprise bills, and debt collectors.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 20, 2026 on NIDDK’s (NIH) page Lupus & Kidney Disease (Lupus Nephritis) (last reviewed January 2017). The numbers (9 out of 10 people with lupus are women; African Americans and Asian Americans about 2 to 3 times more likely to develop lupus; 1 out of every 250 African American women; as many as 5 out of 10 adults and 8 of 10 children with lupus having kidney disease; 10 to 30 percent of people with lupus nephritis developing kidney failure) are NIDDK’s, and we add none. The four medicine names are the ones NIDDK names. Ours: 911 for trouble breathing, chest pain, sudden confusion or fainting, getting care right away if you pee very little or the swelling comes on fast, and 988 (NIDDK’s page names none of these); asking ahead what to do about a fever while on these medicines; never stopping a prescribed medicine on your own; a blood pressure log; the lines to say; the card; the links to our other pages; and the order of the steps. What we left out: NIDDK’s section on clinical trials, its references, its picture and its link to an outside dietitian finder; we name no medicine brands and no doses. Nothing you tick or type here is saved or sent.