Cramps after dialysis
Lookout
a gallon of water and waiting until for my electrolytes to normalize
what can be done?
DR
news:0toh75dhsrupvmq5h...@4ax.com...
> It's usually in my hand and it can last into night. Short of drinking
> a gallon of water and waiting until for my electrolytes to normalize
> what can be done?
I am on PD now. When I did hemo at the center I would often get leg cramps.
I'm told that it's because they are trying to get too much fluid out of my
blood. In the beginning it seems my doctor would not allow me to gain any
weight. And I was pretty skinny. But they would suck all the fluid they
could get during dialysis. If I was 2 pounds heavier the next visit they
insisted on removing 2 pounds of fluid. That just the way they did it.
Notice that if you complain of cramps during dialysis they will add some
saline but my doctor didn't like that because it's adding fluid after you've
sat there for so long to remove fluid. On PD I pretty much decide on my
dialysis recipe and if I check out OK by my nurse and doctor all is well.
(quiet lungs, firm flesh and blood)
Look into Gatorade for electrolytes.
Lookout
I'm having the opposite problem. I'm LOSING weight (about 30lbs in 2+
months) and they haven't established a dry weight yet. As such when I
put on FAT over the course of a week (not fluid) they try to take off
to much. I'm going to home hemodialysis and yes, at that point I'll be
able to regulate this myself. I have a good background in medicine so
I'm confident I can take care of myself. The hard part is convincing
the nurses that I know what's best is the hard part.
kidren
In terms of coping with cramps you can try massaging and exercising
your limbs in the opposite direction to that which cramps.
You can also try and apply a hot water bottle to the area.
Lookout
I start home hemo in 2 weeks. This should become a non-issue at that
point.
Jason
<mrLo...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks
>
> I start home hemo in 2 weeks. This should become a non-issue at that
> point.
Lookout,
I hope that you are correct. Cramps can be caused by an imbalance of
electrolytes. You should consider talking to your nephrologist about this
subject. He or she will probably arrange for you to have a blood test.
Electrolyte imbalances are common in patients that have kidney problems.
Jason
Chris Shipp
"Jason" <Ja...@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:Jason-31080...@67-150-0-54.lsan.mdsg-pacwest.com...
I'm on haemodialysis (UK spelling!) and have suffered from cramp quite a few
times - usually hands, but sometimes lower legs.
The nurses in my dialysis unit are wonderful - the immediate reaction if you
tell them you are starting to get cramp is to stop the machine from removing
any more fluid (but it continues dialysing). Often, within a few minutes,
this is effective; the cramp goes, they check your blood pressure, and
resume the treatment.
If that does not help, then they put some saline back. In my case, that has
always worked - usually in seconds!
But the next step is the best - we then discuss my dry weight, and negotiate
a change if it seems sensible; legally I can insist on whatever I want, but
one rapidly learns that listening to what the nurses suggest is a GOOD
THING...
(And being a fairly small unit, 11 stations with about 12 regular nurses in
rotation, we all know each other, so they trust me when I tell them to take
half a kilo less this session because I have a hangover.)
All specialist nurses on a dialysis ward should be very familiar with the
problems of cramp and the ways to deal with it, in the immediate and the
long term - but in some cases it may need to be referred to the ward doctor
or your consultant, and perhaps quinine pills will be prescribed, for
example. I am told that they are quite effective.
I do hope that things improve for you -
Best wishes - Chris
Lookout
I was looking for help for AFTER dialysis..like when I get home.
But I'm in week 3 (and last week) of training for home dialysis and I
now make my own decisions and..no more cramps. Daily dialysis (2 hours
a day, 6 days a week) has also ended the restless leg syndrome I was
taking a med for.