The Cycler - a question

[joyfulmother]

I was approved to start training on the cycler (even though I am a low transporter) and some time next week I'll start that.  My question is, if the machine is working the way it is supposed to (no alarms going off), is it loud?  Will my hubby be able to sleep through it?

[BigSteve]

Is your husband a light or heavy sleeper?  My wife has had to wear ear plugs since I went
on the cycler. It helps her especially when whe is getting to sleep. After that she is usually
not bothered unless the alarm rings more than once. I don't think the background noise of the
cycler is that loud, but why do you assume you will not get alarms?  I get them almost every night
because I sleep on my right side and the cycler can't start a drain cycle if I am on my right side.
So I have to turn on my back or my left side to start the drain cycle. Of course you may not have
this problem.

[george40]

Hi Becky,

Oh yeah, the alarm will wake up a light to moderate sleeper. One day I read the cyclers manual and found the volume could be lowered (baxter cycler) The pd nurse had to make the change in the program on the card (newer model has a removable data card). She did not want to do it because she wanted to make sure I would hear the alarm. I don't know why they train pd in terms of "if the alarm goes off...." the correct wording should be "When the alarm goes off...."  Actually, more annoying than  the alarm is the bright display (bright neon green) it lights up the entire room at night. I had to turn down the display also. Once you get started you will begin to get everything worked out. Best wishes to you.

[mikey07840]

I was approved to start training on the cycler (even though I am a low transporter) and some time next week I'll start that.  My question is, if the machine is working the way it is supposed to (no alarms going off), is it loud?  Will my hubby be able to sleep through it?

I just went away for the weekend with my cycler. My roommate said that the machine was amazingly quiet, but my snoring was loud. Can't help that. I use the Baxter cycler and it makes very little noise when not alarming. I prefer to leave the alarm loud to wake me.

[dh514]

I use the Baxter cycler and have only had a couple alarms, they did not wake me up, they woke my husband up.  He had to wake me up and tell me to roll over. My machine is not loud at all but if I am still awake after the first fill the sound of the solution going from the 2nd bag to the first bag is kind of loud. I use two bags. It does not wake either of us if we are asleep.

[peleroja]

I went through 4 loud machines before it dawned on me that with some extra lines I could move the machine out into the hall (the hall is 11 feet wide, practically a room in itself), and I could finally get some sleep.  Took me one whole sleepless month to figure that out!

[XavierM]

you can change the vol on the cycler

[BigSteve]

You, and your nurse, can change the screen brightness by changing "auto dim" to "yes". This
changes the screen to only a small dot moving across the screen. How do you change the
alarm volume? I am a light enough sleeper that I'm sure I could hear a quieter alarm.

[MiSSis]

I'm currently using the Fresenius Newton IQ cycler.  During fills and drains there is a slight humming noise which comes from the pumping assembly.  During dwells there is again a slight noise initially as the pump drains the hanging drain bag.  Once it's empty (or almost empty), the pump shuts off and there is no noise at all.  The pumping assembly humming is so slight that neither my husband or I are wakened by it.  Alarms, of course, have to be loud enough to wake you.  Luckily on my machine, I have the option of change the volume and type of alarm noise.  Since I'm a relatively light sleeper, I have it on the lowest volume and also the lowest tone for the alarm.  The higher the tone, the more piercing the noise.  My husband says that he sometimes hears the alarm but if he does, it's not enough to really disturb him. He just rolls over and goes right back to sleep.  I also have the ability to make the screen go blank if I'd like but I prefer to be able to see where I am in my treatment so I leave my screen on .... I've just have it adjusted to the lowest light level so it's not quite so bright.     

I'm considered to be a very low transporter and to accommodate this, my doctor has lengthened my dwell times.  I still get good dialysis although my treatment time might be somewhat longer than others.

[TheSpleen]

I was approved to start training on the cycler (even though I am a low transporter) and some time next week I'll start that.  My question is, if the machine is working the way it is supposed to (no alarms going off), is it loud?  Will my hubby be able to sleep through it?

We've had our Baxter Homechoice for about six months. At first it was a bit loud for us, but we got used to it pretty quickly. Then it seemed to slowly get louder, to the point where it was rechristened from PITA (pain in the ass) to Honk. It would make these noises even during the dwell times, which drove us nuts. I kept telling myself to call Baxter, but was just lazy. Finally, I called them - they sent someone out to our house that night (like eight hours after my call) with a new machine. Pretty impressive service. The new machine is much quieter - it still makes some noises but its much better.

[Jessmomto3]

At first I couldn't sleep through it.  But, we got a fan and now the noise of the fan drowns it out.  And even better, between the noise of the ceiling fan, freestanding fan, and dialysis machine it REALLY drowns out the dog next door that howls ALL night long.  I'm a fairly light sleeper and I don't normally sleep through my son's alarms but I have once or twice.  My husband normally sleeps right through them.

[mcmkids]

My husband's cycler doesn't bother me at all. If you really listen, you can hear it moving the fluid around. I don't think it will wake you up if you are asleep. The alarms are a whole different ball game! They can really startle you. I have been awakened from some really good dreams in the past few months. Lets hope you don't have many alarms!