Good News

[Laurie]

I had an appointment with my Neph yesturday. My labs were really good, so he decided to change my prescription to 2 exchanges per day, which means I will be dry during the day. I am so excited. Now, I will only have fluid in for 12 hours a day and not 24. Today was my first day with no fluid in and I was in alot of pain. Does anyone else experience pain when they are empty? I'm hoping my body just needs to adjust to the new routine.

[rookiegirl]

Hi Laurie,

First of all congratulations.  I too only do 2 exchanges/day.  2.5% @ night and 7.25% ICO during the day.  Unfortunately, I'm never dry except in between the exchanges.

There were times where I waited to 2-3 hrs to fill.  During that short time, I did feel pain and discomfort.  Especially around my sides.  I don't know if its do to all the things inside me falling back into place where as when I'm full things just get pushed up.  But, once I fill, the pain and discomfort went away.

I think your body will need to get use to being empty again just like getting use to being full.  Funny how things go backward.

Hope you feel better.

[KT0930]

I was never empty when I was doing PD except for when I had emptied and was getting ready to fill, but yes, I sometimes noticed a bit of pain. Like RG said, I think it's just like when you were getting used to being full and it was a bit painful, this too, will take some getting used to. Good luck with it, and congrats on not needing so much dialysis!

[Ohio Buckeye]

I do the eycler aat night
and am dry during the day and have not had pain.

[KICKSTART]

I do CAPD so as a rule i am not empty, but there have been a few times i have had to go empty for a few hours (clinics fault !) and i found it very painfull, try taking some painkillers like paracetamol , they help a bit .

[Laurie]

Last night was pretty scary. I did my drain and the fluid had a red tinge and was cloudy. I called my nurse and she had me do two flushes. With the next drain the fluid was not red, but was a little cloudy. The last drain was clear and not cloudy. I was very relieved that it wasn't peritonitis. I did have some fibrin so I'm adding heparin. The nurse thinks it will just take some time to get used to being empty.
Today when I was empty, the pain was not as bad. I'm just hoping the fluid will be clear when I drain tonight.

[rookiegirl]

Last night was pretty scary. I did my drain and the fluid had a red tinge and was cloudy. I called my nurse and she had me do two flushes. With the next drain the fluid was not red, but was a little cloudy. The last drain was clear and not cloudy. I was very relieved that it wasn't peritonitis. I did have some fibrin so I'm adding heparin. The nurse thinks it will just take some time to get used to being empty.
Today when I was empty, the pain was not as bad. I'm just hoping the fluid will be clear when I drain tonight.

Laurie,

I'm glad it's not peritonitis too.  Good luck tonight.  Let us know the outcome.

[KT0930]

Last night was pretty scary. I did my drain and the fluid had a red tinge and was cloudy. I called my nurse and she had me do two flushes. With the next drain the fluid was not red, but was a little cloudy. The last drain was clear and not cloudy. I was very relieved that it wasn't peritonitis. I did have some fibrin so I'm adding heparin. The nurse thinks it will just take some time to get used to being empty.
Today when I was empty, the pain was not as bad. I'm just hoping the fluid will be clear when I drain tonight.

I had this happen a few times while doing PD. My nurse always asked if it was "that time of the month", and if it wasn't, she always suggested maybe I had tried to lift too much weight, coughed, sneezed, or blown my nose too hard. The small blood vessels in your peritoneum are very vunerable, and most people break one or two and never know it. We know only because the blood gets drained out with the PD fluid. If there's no pain with it, I wouldn't worry about it - it's just like a bruise. Trust me, peritonitis is extremely painful, you'll know it if you have it!

[Wattle]

Over this summer, I have tried going dry a few times.

I am on the cycler but I still do one exchange during the day, so I am never normally dry. On the two occasions I had just had enough and needed a break. We were going on a day trip to a popular surf beach and I just wanted to be able to go for the day and not worry about dialysis. I went swimming with the kids and watched them surf. All day long I was in pretty strong pain. It was very localized to one area on my right side. I have had two children and would like to think I have quite a good pain threshold. Well this was really uncomfortable to the point of taking my breath away at times. It pretty much ruined my day anyway and I would have be better off taking my "travel box" and doing an exchange in the car!

I am so glad to hear others have had the same experience. I know that sounds crazy, but at least I know its not just me. 
I will try it again but when I am closer to home and can "fill" if the pain gets too strong.