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‘Real Housewives’ Star Shares the Symptoms Leading to Frightening Diagnosis

She now shares her early warning signs to encourage others to get tested.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedMar 31, 2026, 3:38 PM EDT

UpdatedMar 31, 2026, 6:04 PM EDT

Updated Mar 31, 2026, 6:04 PM EDTPublished Mar 31, 2026, 3:38 PM EDT

Real Housewives of New York star Bethenny Frankel detailed the symptoms she had before learning of her kidney disease.

“For years, I was experiencing a lot of dehydration, a lot of dizziness, low blood pressure,” Frankel, 55, told Page Six on Tuesday.

Ultimately, the symptoms got “way more intense,” she said, and the Bravo alum was eventually diagnosed with chronic kidney disease in January, though the progression of her condition wasn’t confirmed until later.

First, the doctors assessed her illness at stage 2, but additional tests indicated it had reached stage 3A.

“To hear a doctor give you a real diagnosis with a name and a number is, like, overwhelming,” Frankel said. “Slightly frightening.”

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Chronic kidney disease is divided into five stages, from very mild to kidney failure. Category three is the middle ground, and is divided into 3A and 3B. The most common stage is 3A, according to the Cleveland Clinic, when many patients begin to notice symptoms; at 3B, the kidneys show moderate damage.

“If I’m gonna be fully transparent, it’s annoying,” Frankel said.

Being a parent affected her perspective on her ongoing health battle. Frankel shares her only child, Bryn, 15, with her ex-husband, businessman Jason Hoppy.

“It makes you feel vulnerable, makes you feel a little fragile, makes you feel aware,” she said. “You have a daughter, you want to be healthy for her.”

Despite being frightened by the diagnosis, she says she wants to avoid “getting hysterical.”

Frankel does not currently take medication, and instead manages her condition with lifestyle choices, including drinking plenty of water and avoiding ibuprofen, turmeric, and ice cream.

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“Water is your medicine,” Frankel explained. “And now my water has become the vessel for everything to be in it to hydrate and be functional.”

Continuing, “Like, my water has become a functional smoothie at this point. It’s not because it has milk in it or anything, it’s just because what packets are in there, what Celtic salt, what things.”

Frankel now openly talks about her condition to encourage others to get tested.

After her doctor’s appointment in February, she shared that the doctor noticed “some damage” in her kidneys, and also discovered an abnormal growth in her liver during her sonogram.

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Her doctor called it a “step in the wrong direction,” but reminded her that the condition is prone to fluctuations. He encouraged her not to be too alarmed and to return for follow-up tests in the near future.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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