I Hate Dialysis Message Board
Dialysis Discussion => Dialysis: Home Dialysis => Topic started by: jeffythecat on October 27, 2012, 01:15:03 AM
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Hi all,
I'm new here. I just started PD about 3 weeks ago and thus far have had nothing but headaches. Since about the second week I have had drain issues. At this point I'm not sure what else to do. Initially I thought he issue was due to fibrin - my PD nurse gave me Heparin, and another anticoagulant which was left in overnight. Unfortunately this did not remedy the issue and I was sent to see the surgeon who placed my catheter. I had surgery yesterday to supposedly correct the issue. I was told the issue was most likely adhesions and that they would be removed and the catheter repositioned. Today I returned to doing exchanges. Unfortunately once again i was unable to drain and I initially thought it due to constipation so after laxatives and many trips to the restroom I gave it another try and still no drain. If I'm lucky I can change position and squeak out a little bit at a time and possibly drain out the full amount in a few hours. I'm really starting to hate PD with a passion. Has anyone else encountered such difficulties with this?? I'd hate to have to return to hemo only after 3 weeks but I'm beginning to think this is just not going to work out for me no matter what and do not want to go through more surgeries to attempt to correct this problem. I'm guessing the only thing left at this point anyways is a new cath?
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jeffy , the only way Laurie could drain was if he sat bolt upright . This was true of both manual bags and the cycler so can only assume it had something to do with the positioning of his catheter . As long as he remained sitting in an upright position he drained fine . Do you have your drain bags on the floor ? Good luck I hope it can be resolved .
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Yeah, I keep the drain bag on the floor. I normally sit up when I'm draining and for the first week had no issues and drained out 3 + liters in 15 to 20 min. Now it takes me anywhere from an hour and a half to two! I think I have tried every position from sitting to laying. The only way I get any sort of decent drain is to be somewhat upside down! Really when my chest is lower then my abdomen I seem to at least get some sort of drain although at that angle it's hard to gauge how fast it's draining. Although I thought they repositioned my catheter during the surgery I really shouldn't have to practically stand on my head to drain - however if that is what it took i would as I am getting frustrated with this issue. I am also wondering if the massive amount of swelling from the surgery could cause slow drainage??
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wow, i'm sorry you're having such difficulty. I was having difficulty with draining earlier this week after having a fantastic week last week. they had me put heparin in my bags and by wed/thurs i was back to normal. however, I still have drain pain and have to get up at night when I'm draining and change positions. I hope that I don't have to continue doing this. talk about interrupted sleep!
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It sounds like you are having an issue with fibrin. I had similar issues when I first started PD with drains that took for ever. I wound up having to use Heprin in all of my bags for a couple of days to finally break things loose. Strange thing is that once I transitioned over to the cycler, the fibrin problem went away.
Sorry to hear that you are having such a problem and hope it settles down for you soon.
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that mustbe frustrating. have youhadsurgery inthe past that could explain the adhesions which are usually present when you have prior surgery? it really sounds as if you will need to go back to the vascular surgeon again. sometimes the catheter can get stuck in a position where it is sucking against structures in your abdomen. unfortunately PD isnot for everyone and it couldn't that youare one oft nose people. if this proves to be thecause then I highly recommend home hemo dialysis, particularly with the use of a NXStage machine which requires no plumbing into your system and isortable so it allows travel.
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my first pd cath i had, about a month after the initial surgery it had caught on to a peice of fat or something and twisted over 420 degrees. the surgeon, a good friend of my husbands, told us in the 22 years that he's been inserting them he has never seen one do this. i was great in the beggining with draining then slowlky started slowing down then one night i couldnt drain at all... tried everything.
now the second cath i had put in (after my round with hemo) i had issues bc i t would barely drain anything at all from the beginning. i spent from sept to dec trying to make it work.
i love pd, not as much as my new kidney, but for dialysis it was far superior over my experience with hemo. i had never tried home hemo, but i was 21 and not ready for something so permanent linking me to dialysis
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suddenly my cath won't drain. :( i'm on my way to the PD clinic now to find out what to do next...
why can't things just be easy?
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Sorry to hear that. Mine is finally draining - however I'm leaking from my surgical site into other areas. I've had to cut the amount I use from 3000ml to 1500.
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what did you do to start it draining? was it constipation? I have to get mine rotor rootered on Friday. yay! :sarcasm;
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I was told it was adhesions. I had to have it surgically fixed.
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well, i'll be having mine surgically fixed on Monday.
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Hopefully after your surgery you will drain fine. I am draining good now although I leak solution into other areas due to the incisions.
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do you mind describing what you mean by leaking into other areas? you mean via your abdominal incisions?
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Yeah, I thought I was swelling due to the incisions however it was due to fluid leaking out into the right side of my abdomen. I guess it got outside the abdominal wall or something to that effect and collected there. Anyways I had to lower my fill amount to prevent swelling up with solution on my right side.
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WOW... what a day. They told me to be at the hospital at 1030am for my surgery to fix my catheter. 6 hrs later they brought me back to pre -op. I had the surgery, finally, and find out that the reason my catheter wasn't working was because part of my fallopian tube was clogging the catheter!!!
Has anyone every heard of or experienced that?
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That sounds rather uncomfortable. Hope all will be well for you from here on.
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i have heard of that. they thought that may have been a factor when mine quit draining... interesting tho
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I had drain issues too - but using Heprin in every bag for about a week cleared it up. The surgery swelling may also be causing it. Not sure what to recommend. But keep trying. Grumpy