Guest guest Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 Hi Derrick, Good to hear from you! You have been quiet for a while. How are things in Australia? I hope all is well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 Hi Derrick, Good to hear from you! You have been quiet for a while. How are things in Australia? I hope all is well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 Hi Derrick, Good to hear from you! You have been quiet for a while. How are things in Australia? I hope all is well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 24, 2004 Report Share Posted July 24, 2004 Hi Derrick. Nice to hear from you. I was just thinking about you the other day. I agree with Derrick. There is no inherent pain from being on dialysis. The needles are no worry at all, since they will numb the area with something or other. It can be a tiny freezing needle, some freezing lotion, or a numbing cream that you buy yourself (Emla) and apply an hour before you go. If you do that, you won't feel a thing. This is something that will be your choice. For the past year, I've been going cold turkey with no freezing or numbing of any kind. After a while from repeated needle sticks, the nerves deaden and you don't feel the needle going in. I only feel a little something if they insert the needle in a new spot on the fistula, but it's no big deal really. I had pain in my arm the first week I started dialysis. This is because, while the fistula may have had time to mature, it still isn't fully mature until it actually starts being used. So the first few times, you might get a bit of cramping around the fistula, and you can also get some tingling or numbness in your hand. But the beauty of starting on dialysis in a planned, non-catastrophic way is that, if you have problems like that initially, the nurse can just back off on the dialysis a bit, by turning down the pump flow. It's not critical at that point, because you still have a fair amount of kidney function on your own. The only other pains I can think of that " some " people have is headaches, and the biggie is cramping. Usually, something can be done to the dialysis prescription to take care of headaches (there are a number of variables that can be adjusted). Cramps are due to eating too much salt and ending up with too much fluid needing to be taken off. That, you take care of easily by following the diet and the fluid restriction. If you do this, you will be fine. If you do get cramps, just tell the nurse right away. They can turn down the pump flow, stop the ultrafiltration for a while, etc., plus, they can massage it and apply a hot towel on it. You might find yourself faking cramps just for the massage depending on who the nurse is. Just kidding Other than that, there might be some funny feelings initially, like if your blood pressure goes too low. Again, this is something they can deal with. There is no being a wuss when you're on dialysis. If you feel anything strange, you tell them so they can deal with it. I never have pain of any kind, really, and I'm going on 2 years. I feel better than I did during the whole 5 or 6 years before dialysis, honestly. Don't let any horror stories scare you. As the expression goes, it's not your father's dialysis. There has been much progress in the management of esrd patients over the past decades. I'm not as brave as Derrick though. I let the nurses take care of the needling Pierre Re: Dialysis > , > The only pain you will feel is the initial injection of a > numbing agent (Xylocain is used at my dialysis centre). There is one > injection for each of two entries in the fistula. The needles used > for actual dialysis are quite large, but do not be too concerned, > they need to be large to get the blood flow needed for dialysis. You > will not feel them going in. Once you are hooked up to the machine > (takes about 5 to 10 minutes) you will be able to read, sleep, work > on your computer or watch TV. You will usually start with a reduced > reigime of about 2 hours and gradually work up to the time span > calculated by the Nephrologist. I have been on dialysis about 18 > months and I have been putting my own needles in without any > anaestheic for about 12 months now, I don't even think about it. Your > arm may be a little tender for a week or so, but you soon become > accustomed to it. I was scared at first but looking back I wonder > what all the fuss was about. I suppose it is the fear of the unknown. > You will start to feel better in yourself after a couple of weeks, > you will have more energy and your appetite will return. > > Every day on dilaysis is a bonus! > > Derrick > Sydney Australia > > > I am supposed to go on hemodialysis soon. Can anyone tell me what > it > > feels like? Is it painfull, or what? > > > > > To edit your settings for the group, go to our Yahoo Group > home page: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iga-nephropathy/ > > To unsubcribe via email, > iga-nephropathy-unsubscribe > Visit our companion website at www.igan.ca. The site is entirely supported by donations. If you would like to help, go to: > http://www.igan.ca/id62.htm > > Thank you > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 25, 2004 Report Share Posted July 25, 2004 Hi Derrick I know what you mean about compliant acceptance. Not too much we can do about it. The nurse that do mine needles are all pretty cooperative and well-experienced in terms of what's best for the fistula. They rotated the sites pretty well, so, I just let them do what they do. I wouldn't be able to do it myself anyway, because they use the " angios " on me, which are the plastic needles similar to but larger than IV needles. I seem to develop an allergic reaction around my needle sites when they use the standard metal needles. They use Fresenius Opti-Flux dialyzers. Mine is a special hypoallergenic model that is not cleaned with solvents. I seem to be allergic to many things. I still dialyze for 3-1/2 hours, at a flow of 400. My fistula will easily tolerate a flow of 500, but when it's set at more than 400, I start getting weird irregular palpitations, so, they backed off on that and 400 seems to be Ok. My recent blood work shows that I'm still getting very good dialysis. I get Venofer once a month, and Eprex at 2000 whatever unit it is once per week. They use the K3 bath, which is the one that removes the least amount of potassium, and a bicarbonate setting of 32. Pierre Re: Dialysis > Pierre, > I usually read the web sight but being on dialysis I do not > have much to contribute these days. I have sort of drifted onto the > plateau of a compliant acceptance. How are you going? Things here are > good. It is not a case of being brave sticking my own needles, it is > more practical. I get it right firet time every time. I like to get a > good flow rate (350ml/min) with as low a venous pressure as possible. > It is less trauma for my fistula. > > As a matter of interest, what dialyser membrane are you using and how > long do you dialyse? > > Derrick > Sydney Australia > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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