keeping warm in center?

[anga]

My father recently began hemo tx and he is ALWAYS freezing in there.  I have on idea how help him, he takes 2 covers with him and layers up on the clothing but he is stil cold!  Do any of you have any tips on how he can stay warm?  thanks kyannie

[jbeany]

I used a microwave heating pad.  I made my own - all you need is flannel or a dishtowel, and dry rice.  I put it in the microwave for about 4 minutes, and it gets nice and toasty, and will stay warm for a long time.  You can also get the little hand warmers that heat by a chemical reaction - you can get them where ever camping supplies are sold.  I just can't seem to stay warm without an external heat source.

[kitkatz]

Go to the sports stores and buy skiers hand warmers. One ont he back and one under the blanket of the chest and nice and toasty warm for hours. I use them regularly in the winter.

[monrein]

I like the buckwheat bags that you heat in the microwave.  Magic Bag, I think is the name.  Some people at my clinic use a litre bag of saline that a tech warms in the microwave.  However your unit may not allow that.  Ours does and writes the patients name on their bag to be sure it's never used any other way.

[circleNthedrain]

They may have the temperature of the machine set too low.  Ask them to adjust it up.  Glad to see you are posting!

[Rerun]

They may have the temperature of the machine set too low.  Ask them to adjust it up.  Glad to see you are posting!

37 is the highest they can go, but yes have him ask.

[circleNthedrain]

Yes, 37C is the higest temperature allowed in most clinics however, when I was cold the other day I looked at the temp and it was 35.5.  No wonder it's cold!

[anga]

thank you so much for your posts, i never knew there was a temp gauge on those machines.  i have never understood why these clinics have to be so cold but for some reason i see other patients with no blankets or jackets and i always assume they are just accustomed to the elements.  thanks circlnthdrain for encouraging me to post, i have gotten so much good information and i am truly grateful.  this site has been a Godsend in every way imaginable for any newbie, it has made such a difficult transition just a teeny bit less difficult.  thank you

[Dan.Larrabee]

I always get cold during a treatment. When my mom came to the center and seen me shivering because I was so cold, she said something she has always said. “If you’re cold, put on your hat and some warm socks”. It’s really true that you lose most of your body heat out your head and feet. I now have wool socks and a ski hat that make a difference.

[anga]

believe it or not my dad wears a hat, heavy socks, flannel shirt, fleece jacket and 2 blankets!  and he's still cold!  i think his anemia has a lot to do with this but i'm telling you, the center really isn't the warmest place.  i think i'm going to try those hand warmers and see if that helps, although i must say that the center is a little better than it was during the summer - that was brutal.

[jazzin11]

I used to shiver and freeze all the time in my center too, but now I use an electric warming blanket.  They are quite inexpensive 20 to 20 dollars, but I stay nice and toasty during the whole treatment now!  I recommend them highly.  I've seen them at Kohl's, JC Penney, WalMart, K-Mart, and Big Lots.

John (jazzin11)

[kitkatz]

Except when your center will not let you plug it in because it might short out the unit's electricity.  Happened to me once.

[Zach]

I'm almost always too warm at my center.  I turn the machine's temperature control down to 35.5 C.

[RightSide]

believe it or not my dad wears a hat, heavy socks, flannel shirt, fleece jacket and 2 blankets!  and he's still cold!  i think his anemia has a lot to do with this but i'm telling you, the center really isn't the warmest place.

The anemia definitely has a lot to do with it.  Before I started HD and anemia treatment, my hemoglobin count was around 7.6 (roughly half normal).  I felt chilly even in my home with the thermostat set at 82 degrees Fahrenheit.  And in the HD center, I was really shivering.  Now, thanks to Aranesp + Venofer, my hemoglobin count is back up to 14, and I no longer feel chilly in the HD center.

[RichardMEL]

I stay at 35.5 too because I tend to overheat internally at 36... my laptop on my lap can warm me up pretty quick if I'm feeling cool on the outside.... or I just think of the women of IHD!!! 

[twirl]

Romero Mel
do not think of the women of ihd dailysis in bikinis
the fire alarm may go off

[RichardMEL]

Romero Mel
do not think of the women of ihd dailysis in bikinis
the fire alarm may go off

you beauty! I'll think of the girls of IHD when I want to get off the machine early then!!! 

[Beth35]

When I was doing dialysis I was always cold.  I would be cold at home when everyone else in the house was hot.  Everyone told me I was nuts.  Now I'm starting to feel cold all of the time again.  I hate being cold.  In my classroom sometimes I put an ice pack on the thermostat to make the heat go up in the room.  Shhhh.  Don't tell anyone.

[RichardMEL]

feeling the cold is a definite symptom of ESRD and specially being on dialysis. I have never seen a concrete reason why though maybe it's related to anemia? not sure. Certainly not fun (although I'm wearing a tshirt now... )

[Beth35]

I live in a small house and have been keeping the heat up in the house because I have been SO cold.  Well my heating bill was through the roof!  So now I have been suffering with the heat only on 68 degrees.  Burrrrrr!

[Zach]

I'm always warm in center and turn the temp of the machine to 35.5 C

[hurlock1]

I am basically a warm-natured person, I'm from Houston Texas, and 60 years old and spent most of the early years of my life in the heat with no A/C. I think that the normal statement is, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity" my answer to that was " I think it's that damdo sun up there makin' it so hot!" I have since moved to Albuquerque, NM and though it gets hot here, it doesn't start getting hot until the middle of june, and it starts cooling down in the middle of September. Where as I remember that In Houston, there are several hot days, even in January, and relatively, it starts getting hot in early May and it stays hot through October, pretty much. The air is so dry here in ABQ, that you can actually cool down in front of a fan. At dialysis, they keep the place pretty cool. I have very little tolerance for cold natured people. I mean there are people moving around doing physical feats in the clinic, and I'm sure that they get hot, jumping from patient to patient doing what they do and I'm sure that it's a physically hard job, PUT SOMETHING ON! My fingers and toes get cold. I kick my shoes off during dialysis and if they (my feet) get cold, I ask the tech if they wouldn't mind putting them on, maybe three times during the last year. I look at winter as free A/C. In the summer I thank the Good Lord for A/C. I only complain if it gets HOT or stuffy

[Zach]

One can also have a little flask of Jack Daniels to keep warm--all over.   

[twirl]

One can also have a little flask of Jack Daniels to keep warm--all over.   

thanks, I was looking for something to take in my thermos   
beats the hell out of hot tea 

[RichardMEL]

yeah but dialysis will leach the alchohol right out of you which kind of defeats the purpose a bit for me!!!

I just think about the girls of IHD and I don't even need my blanket to keep warm !!