Baxter: Changing Drain Time on Cycler

[RainingRoses]

Does anyone know how to access the program in a Baxter cycler to change the drain time?  I wake up throughout the night at the end of each drain cycle.  It's too long, and the pinching/cramping begins.  The manual says to have the nurse access and change.  The nurse says it cannot be accessed or changed.  Hmmm.  I know it's possible.  I just need the code to get to it.

Thanks,
Pete in Atlanta

[billybags]

The nurse can change it if she wished. Are you on tidal? I think you ought to have another word with her. Is there a reason she will not change it? I have checked the manual and there is no code. You either do manual settings or nurse settings.

[RainingRoses]

No, not on tidal.  I was hoping someone here knew the code to access nurse settings.  If not, I'll have to take in the machine and the manual and convince her that she does (or should) know how to change the setting.
Thanks,
Pete

[paul.karen]

Im not sure about this but it may be that there is no set time.  Everyone drains at different rates.  I think the machine stops draining once it feels there is no solution to pull out.  For me if im laying on my back draining it will stop draining.  I will then (in the morning) stand and do a manual drain and get about 200UF out.  I am guessing i get this cause the machine thinks im empty when laying on my back.  Again i am not 100% sure about this theory.

But like Billybags mentioned you may be best setting it for tidal until your very last drain.

Good Luck

[KICKSTART]

I didnt have a code for mine ! You need the tidal setting . Have you got the manual ? If not go online and see if you can read it? If you work through it, it gives you the option for a Tidal setting. If it is locked with a code ? ! INSIST its changed ! 

[RainingRoses]

The machine has a tidal setting. When I trained on this machine, the nurse said it was an old techanique that this clinic doesn't use.  What does the tidal setting mean?  It would be easy to change it to that.
Thanks again, everyone.

[Jie]

Just set the tidal setting to be 85% or 90%. You can change it by yourself.

[KICKSTART]

If you know how to change it then go ahead ..by the way it is NOT an old technique. That nurse has a cheek !  Once you have changed it to tidal ,you will need to change or pick a % as Jie said . What the tidal setting does is stops the machine just short of draining out all the fluid ..so it stops that pinch at the end. Try 90% to start and see if that stops it , if not take it down a bit more, but dont go too mad as you only want the minimum amount left in you ..just enough to stop that pinch. You might have to adjust the % for a few nights to see what suits you best and stops that pinch .

[ardyce]

RRoses,

To set tidal.........
example

If you do Cycles #4

Last fill 1500

Your fill cycle each is 2000ml.  I have my tidal set at 95%.  If you still have drain pain you can set tidal at 90% or 85%.  Your choice.
If your nightly UF total is 1000ml divide that by your 4 cycles you do a night= 250 but reduce that a bit so you don't have drain pain
Drain should be approximately 1900ml plus 200ml which equals 2100.

If you still have drain pain reduce the 200ml by 50ml
or if you still feel you have extra fluid add 50ml to the 200ml

Or if your total nightly UF is 2000ml divide by 4 cycles you do a night =500 but reduce that a bit to about 450
So Drain should be approximately 1900ml plus 450ml which equals 2350.  Reduce or increase as needed.

That comment about the "old technique" is just a nurse to lazy to learn a simple technique.   That sounds a lot like nurses at my clinic.  I read and reread the Baxter instruction book and taught myself how to set tidal.

Good luck.

Hope this makes sense to you.

[tito]

I started off with a tidal setting, but my drain pain disappeared, so I no longer use it.

The secret to stopping drain pain on a Baxter machine is as follows:

While you're on a drain cycle, press the down arrow once to see the amount of fluid being taken off. If you are somewhat near the end, depending on how much your fill is, and you get drain pain, do the following: press stop, then down arrow until you get to "bypass", then press enter. It may not let you bypass if you are not close enough to the end (the amount of fluid that the machine filled you with), in that case, do bypass the same way a second time. Then press go and you will start a fill cycle.

My PD nurse led me through this the first time. Then, I just experimented with the machine. Believe me, you're not going to screw things up. Just be careful not to bypass a drain if you're full. Filling like that can lead to excess filling (then you can do a manual drain on the machine if need be).

Don't be so afraid of all this - It's hard to really do anything that wrong.

[RainingRoses]

Thank you to everyone for replying.  I appreciate your time in typing the responses.  Bypassing is what I usually do to stop the pinching, but I'm going to try the tidal setting.  I'd rather not get up throughout the night and do the bypass routine. Also, my UF varies greatly from day to day.  Might be 200 one day and 900 another.  Always been that way--maybe because my kidneys still produce some urine.  Thanks again. What a great and supportive group!