I think I have fluid in my lungs

[KICKSTART]

Firstly im not saying dont exercise !! All i am saying is if you sit or lie down then fluid goes to those parts of the body eg; legs and lungs ! So of course if you move about your lungs feel clearer. You would also have to do a mighty lot of exercise to lose a kilo in sweat ! Have you never noticed that people have a problem with breathing when they lie down for longish amounts of time when they are fluid overloaded ? Yet when they get up in the morning (in most cases) they find breathing easier because they are moving around and the fluid goes to the lowest point ..the feet and legs ! It doesnt mean because they are breathing easier they have got rid of the fluid.

Zona , do you know what your hemoglobin is ? If its low, 2 infusions in the past few months isnt going to make any difference. We have one a week to bring our levels up ! (Ive had 6 just since starting hemo and i used to get it regular on pd ) You will also start to have Epogen injections (Aranesp) to help raise your blood count if its low.

[zona]

Kickstart, I m not sure what my hemoglobin is. My neph. said my iron levels are in {the toilet}.Now I am wondering why I have had only 2 infusions and no epogen shots. Hasnt even been mentioned. But you better believe Im gonna find out!

[paris]

Hi Zona,  there are two factors with anemia.  If your iron reserves are low (ferritin is the lab they check for this) then the body needs more iron.  If your hemoglobin is low (which is common with kidney failure--your kidneys send the hormone to produce more red blood cells) then you will get a shot of Epogen or some form of it.   But, you can't "feed" those red cells if you are low on iron.   Your neph would certainly tell you if your hemoglobin was low.  Especially since he is checking your iron levels.   Just call  his office and ask the nurse or see if they can send you a copy of your last labs.  I keep a copy of my labs to track everything.     Sounds like you are aware and know your body.  How is your appetite?    Hope you are finding answers here to some of your questions.   

[zona]

Just looked at my labs hemoglobin is 10. Iron levels are 40. Is this bad? Appetite,not so good. I usually eat one meal a day.

[paris]

Zona, my hemoglobin stays around 10-11.  I have had epo when it was down to 7-8 and also had iron infusions.   A "normal" woman is usually 12-16.  I don't think you will find any kidney patient with those numbers!  And they have found that epogen can cause clots in some cases, so some doctors aren't as quick to use it.  But, I am sure you neph is watching all of this.  Next time you see him, ask him to go over all the numbers with you.  My first neph liked to be in control, so I changed doctors (same group though).  Now my neph pulls up a chair and goes over every single one so we both know what is going on.   Our favorite saying at IHD is "knowledge is power".     And everyone of us is different, even though we have the same disease, so everyone will have different treatments.   That sounded like a disclaimer        

[texasstyle]

My husband neglected himself from diabetes to the point of kidney & heart failure. Believe that? Neglected, it's true. It's was horrible. Anyway the thing that made come him into the hosp. in an ambulance was he was in heart failure. Congestive heart failure is not when the heart stops beating, but the heart often becomes enlarged from hypotension and lacks the inability to pump blood properly. This can be assoc. with renal failure too. The fluid builds up in the periocartal (sp?) sac around the heart and the heart struggles to pump blood. When you start heart "popping" or "gurgling" noises this is very very serious. I hate to say that but I want you to be most careful. Another sign it's very serious is having to sit upright to breath properly. When caught early things like Lasix can help or others treatments your dr. may reccommend, but the thing is getting it diagnosed RIGHT AWAY. You want to see a Cardiologist.

[Bub]

I went in 14 kilos up in water today.  I spent last night sleeping sitting up, could not breathe lying down,  Miserable.  For some reason all that fluid made my moscles so weak I could barely walk.

[billybags]

I agree with every one, please seek help. This is a dangerous situation.

[zona]

Bub,I am so sorry to hear about that. I know you must be miserable.You are in my thoughts and prayers today.

[Dana Renee]

Definately go to the emergency room a.s.a.p. I had the same symptoms a couple years ago and I went to the emergency room when I could no longer hardly walk and I started coughing up blood. It turned out that I was in fluid overload and my lungs were filling up with blood. I had to have blood transfusion and when I first got to the emergency room they called all of my family and told them to come becuase they thought I maight not make it. This is a very serious situation, the longer you wait the worse it will get.

[hurlock1]

Hey everyone, thank you for your concern! I fell asleep last night sitting straight up in bed with pillows behind my back. I was so exhausted. This morning I woke up in a sweat,kinda like when you have a fever and it breaks. The puffiness has gone down, I can see my ankles and am breathing a little easier. Still, I will call my neph. today. This happens everytime I try to do normal activity. I think I can do more than I can and I get into trouble. Today is going to be a stay in bed day!

Dialysis is a hard pill to swallow, but it's a lot better than what you've been going through. I can't tell by by your posts, but it sounds like you have ESRD, but you haven't started dialysis. It would seem that the neph would get you started. My ankles got a little swollen before I started and I did lose 50 lb. almost immediately after starting dialysis, but I never noticed difficulty breathing. "noticed" I'm not the doc but it seems like maybe he ought to start you on the big D. Don't worry. It'll be much better when you do. Don't resist! Living with dialysis is much better than being dead.

[hurlock1]

I went in 14 kilos up in water today.  I spent last night sleeping sitting up, could not breathe lying down,  Miserable.  For some reason all that fluid made my moscles so weak I could barely walk.

Bub, 14 KILOS?  Are you a beer drinker Bub? I remember a post about Koolaid. I try to not drink anything. I get my water from the kitchen sink (i live in New Mexico and the water's cool and tastes good right out of the tap) and spit it out except for a little that goes down my throat. I remember when I drank beer, I had to go every 5 to 7 minutes. When i went to the VA, to the alcohol ward, there was a doc that said, "The easiest way to quit drinking is just not drink" I remember thinking, 'Easy for you to say'.  It took me a while and help from a bunch of recovering alcoholics, but I quit. 20 years ago. I'd be dead if I hadn't quit drinking beer. That may not be true in your case. But putting on 14 kilos between treatments is just silly otherwise.  14 kilos is almost 31 lb. It seems to me that you gotta be drinking a hell of a lot of koolaid. If I go over 4 kilos, I can barely walk when I leave dialysis. On friday I have to take off extra to allow for the weekend.

[*kana*]

Zona,

You have received a lot of good advice here already.  I just wanted to encourage you also to go to the ER if it ever gets this bad again.  I do cardiac ultrasounds and believe me, if you get fluid around your heart and lungs like that, it is a very serious situation.  You have a chronic conditions so you will build up fluid slowly and adapt to it easier then someone with an acute problem.  The disadvantage to this is by the time you start having severe symptoms you might be near death.  Nothing to mess around with!!!!  I know how difficult it is to go to the ER, but you have to to save your life.  You were lucky this time, but if it happens again you might have 1 cup more of fluid and that might be the end. 


This is to Bud,
Man, you have got to get that fluid under control !  Do you know what this is doing to your heart?   

[pamster42000]

Extra fluid in the system is never good. It can cause un-revisable damage to the body. Go to the emergency room and get tests done. I would guess your dialysis treatment isn't quite right. Please don't play games with your life. You have to be in control of your dialysis treatment because sometimes the Dr's are so overwhelmed by patients and  they don't catch everything. Not to sound  like I am lecturing you but I know from experince.