Does your NxStage overshoot?

[Roadrunner]

Does ydur cycler overshoot?  I set the volume target how much fluid to remove and it seems to vary a lot. Example:  I set the fluid to be removed at 1 L/hr and to remove 2.0.  which is the weight he was over his dry weight.  Instead of removing 2 it removed 2.9.  Today we are setting up and when he weighs himself he is under his dry weight.  We cannot set the NxStage at 0.  They said we must set both setting at 0.2. 

Am I doing something wrong?  Is this common?  At first the cycler was just .1 or .2 off which I would expect, but anything over/under 0.4 seems strange.  The variation seems to be growing.  What are others finding.

Roadrunner

[jbeany]

Mine does seem to take a bit more than it's set for most of the time.  Maybe only .2 or so.  My previous machine was right on, so it must be a sensor somewhere that doesn't work the same as the other.  It's hard to tell, since my scale is pretty unreliable. 

Even if you have to set a fluid amount to start the machine, can't you just stop it as soon as it's up and running?  I don't understand why you can't put it to 0.  That's the way mine is set when I start programming my fluid pull.  I've never tried to start it without at least the .3 for rinseback.

[Roadrunner]

I called NxStage and they said I had to program it for .2.  I originally set it for 0 in both the Volume screen and the treatment screen.  When I started the treatment it read 99.9 hours remaining.  This is why I called NxStage.

Roadrunner

[Adam_W]

I have occasions where my machine takes off more than I set it to. I've never heard anything from NxStage regarding having to always have the UF set to a certain amount, but my nurse suggested that I always take a minimum of one kilo off, and if I have less fluid to take off, I should give saline at the beginning of the tx. The dialyzer supposedly works more efficiently if it has the negative pull from the UF pump. I know on regular machines with high permeability dialyzers the UF has to be on or dialysate and waste will back-filtrate into the blood. The pull from the UF prevents that. That's not a problem on the NxStage because the dialysate flow rate is so low. There is always a positive pressure on the blood side of the dialyzer so once waste goes out of the blood it can't get back in. Geeze I've turned into a dialysis nerd.

Adam

[Roadrunner]

Thanks,
I never thought of adding saline.  I didn't want to imply that you always need to set the machine the same setting.  NxStage said I should have a minimum of 0.2.
Roadrunner