exercising..and losing weight... on dialysis

[angela515]

Just curious of a few things:

1) Has anyone lost weight on dialysis? (Any form of dialysis, hemo, pd..)
2) If so, how did you do it?
3) Does anyone exercise daily to maintain strength?
4) If so, what do you do? (walk, run, ect..)

I am currently trying to lose about 10 lbs, but to be honest for the last year I have been lazy and just mostly sitting at the comp or watching movies... so when I do go for a walk, I get about 20 ft and I'm already very tired and weak. The dr told me to take babysteps and walk as far as I can each day until i can go a little further eventually. Just walking upstairs in my house drains me and my thighs start to burn... which tells me I have used dialysis as an excuses not to do anything for far too long and now I am lazy as can be. I dont wanna live my life like this and just wondered if anyone else has gone through this and had success?

[Fighter]

Sorry, I gained 12kg (26lbs) in the last year and a half on dialysis (that might seem a lot but I'm still skinny - my BMI went from 16 to 19.5 in the process). My weight has stabilised now. I am into lots of sports - jogging, walking, tennis, swimming... Mostly because I enjoy them (although I get tired pretty fast when running or swimming) but also I know it is beneficial. I try to make myself sweat as much as I can to get some of the water out of my body but I hardly ever manage to break a sweat thanks to our beloved cold Belgian weather! The exercise keeps me in shape and it also has a positive effect on my morale. I think all kinds of exercise are good for your mood so if you're feeling down, put on those shorts and go out and lift your spirits with a little jog! 

[Rerun]

Sorry, I gained 12kg (26lbs) in the last year and a half on dialysis (that might seem a lot but I'm still skinny - my BMI went from 16 to 19.5 in the process). My weight has stabilised now. I am into lots of sports - jogging, walking, tennis, swimming... Mostly because I enjoy them (although I get tired pretty fast when running or swimming) but also I know it is beneficial. I try to make myself sweat as much as I can to get some of the water out of my body but I hardly ever manage to break a sweat thanks to our beloved cold Belgian weather! The exercise keeps me in shape and it also has a positive effect on my morale. I think all kinds of exercise are good for your mood so if you're feeling down, put on those shorts and go out and lift your spirits with a little jog! 

I'd have to run a thousand miles today!     Perky>Perky>Perky>

[Zach]

You might want to look at this tread:

http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=415.0

Hope this helps.
--Zach

[jedimaster]

I loose weight more times than I loose....sometimes I add saline to compensate....not enough strength to do exercise.....even to walk long distances is hard....

[Ken Shelmerdine]

I have been on dialysis for about six weeks (CCPD) and I've gained about 2 Kilos. It's not fluid retention because I still do normal fluid output. I think it might be due to partial absorption of the PD fluid which contains glucose. So I think it's going to be quite difficult to lose weight on this treatment although I do need to lose weight (85.5 Kilos) its just that when it comes to physical exercise I'm a bit of a lazy sod. Some people find it exhilarating but things like running, jogging etc. and working out at the gym just bore me to death.

This is how I rationalized the thought of going on dialysis. I know this may sound awful but it's one of the things that helped me come to terms with it and it goes like this. Some  people spend 3 to 4 nights at the gym, I can't think  of anything worse, in fact,....I'd rather do dialysis! (Actually I'd rather not do either, but you get the gist)

[angela515]

If your gaining weight on CCPD due to absorbing fluid.. then your dwelling to long. You shouldn't be absorbing any fluid... you need to talk to your doctor about it. They hould of done a PET test to see what kind of transporter you are so that way you know if you need short dwells or longer ones. I am a high transporter, so I can't dwell longer than 45 mins at a time b/c I'll start absorbing fluid. Since I had my PET test done 6 months ago, and found out what kind of transporter I am, I haven't absorbed any fluid... I use to carry fluid during the day but once we found out I absorb most of it, I dont have a last fill anymore... you shouldn't be gaining weight from fluid absorbtion... let your dr's know.

[goofynina]

I have been on dialysis for about six weeks (CCPD) and I've gained about 2 Kilos. It's not fluid retention because I still do normal fluid output. I think it might be due to partial absorption of the PD fluid which contains glucose. So I think it's going to be quite difficult to lose weight on this treatment although I do need to lose weight (85.5 Kilos) its just that when it comes to physical exercise I'm a bit of a lazy sod. Some people find it exhilarating but things like running, jogging etc. and working out at the gym just bore me to death.

This is how I rationalized the thought of going on dialysis. I know this may sound awful but it's one of the things that helped me come to terms with it and it goes like this. Some  people spend 3 to 4 nights at the gym, I can't think  of anything worse, in fact,....I'd rather do dialysis! (Actually I'd rather not do either, but you get the gist)

Hi Ken,  I have quite a bit of weight to lose myself and i know EXACTLY what you mean my friend.  I have a dwell time 2 hours which seems to be working good for me,  you may have to monitor the calories you take in with the food you eat, that will help you maintain your weight, i have cut down the calories quite a bit and i have stayed at the same weight pretty much for 6 months now,  (if only i can throw some exercise in there every now and then i think that would help even more)  I got out my Tae-Bo tapes but then i got some kind of bug and got sick to my stomach, (i think thats a sure sign huh) lol,   Well, i wish you luck and remember we are always here for you and YOU ARE NOT ALONE   

[Stacy Without An E]

My first six months on Dialysis I lost a good 10 pounds, falling to 52kg.  It's been two and a half years and I've managed to rise back up to 56kg as my dry weight.

I listen to my body when it comes to exercising.  I try to do an hour of cardio and an hour of weights three times a week.  And if I'm feeling pretty good post-Dialysis, I do another hour of cardio those days.

And I try my best not to compare myself to those I meet at the health club.  Just because I'm walking and not jogging on the treadmill doesn't mean you're better than me.  Check out the bandages on my arm Pedro.

Sorry.  This suddenly turned into a health club rant.

Listen to your body and remember: any exercise is good exercise.

Stacy Without An E

[Zach]

This is the latest about exercise from "Family Focus."  It's a publication of the National Kidney Foundation.

Please see Pages 10-11.

http://www.kidney.org/patients/pdf/ff_su06.pdf

[BigSky]

Just curious of a few things:

1) Has anyone lost weight on dialysis? (Any form of dialysis, hemo, pd..)
2) If so, how did you do it?
3) Does anyone exercise daily to maintain strength?
4) If so, what do you do? (walk, run, ect..)

1.  Yes,  I was in shape all my life until I had the transplant and took the predisone and was clobbered by its side affects and gained way too much weight.

2.  Follow the renal diet.  It is a diet that most people should actually be eating in the first place.  I have said it many times and will say it again.  Get a program like the one at dietpower.com  It will help greatly in letting you know just how much you are eating, and how much K, PO₄, Na, and Protein one is eating.  It also has many other features.  They have a trial version so one can see if they want to actually buy it or not.  Try it, the trial version is FREE!

Also measure your food out in the beginning until you can accurately measure something out without actually needing a measuring cup.  Far too many people underestimate what they are actually giving themselves  and they are actually eating and thus consume far more calories than they think they are. 

3.  Exercise, exercise, exercise.  I agree in that dialysis is used as an excuse not to exercise.

     Dialysis patients are anemic.  As such you can actually use a lower exercise intensity than a healthy person and get the same benefits as they do by exercising at a higher intensity level.    So go slow.

Start walking.  Walk for 5 min every other day.  Add time each week to that original time. Whether it be 15 seconds or 1 minute.  Just add a little more time.  Soon enough you will be adding more time each time you walk instead of each week.  Add weight training/weight bearing exercises.  Similar to the what is in the link Zach posted.  Use only bodyweight at first.  Pushups, squats, leg lifts etc etc.  Slowly add weight to that also.  Weight is all around you.  Soup cans, milk jugs, sacks of potatoes. 

One needs to look at long term goals.  It's not going to happen overnight.  Being a dialysis patient is going to cause fat loss to be slower because of many factors.  Just do not get discouraged.  Keep the end goal in mind.

Give youself a goal.  Take pictures, bodymeasurements, stamina time, labs etc.  Then see just what can you do in 12 weeks.  Such as:  In 12 weeks you want to walk 30 min a day and not be exhausted the rest of the day and want to lose 10 pounds and you want to tighten you diet up so your labs are improved over the last month.

4.What exercise I do depends on the time of year.  Currently as it gets colder out I do the elliptical for an 1 hour 4 days a week and lift weights 4 days a week and do the treadmill.  During the summer I skip the treadmill and ride the bike on the trails for 1 -1 1/2 hours.


It is very possible to lose the weight and gain stamina back.

The first couple of years on dialysis I used the same excuse as everyone else does about dialysis.  I was too tired to do it etc. etc etc.

One just needs to get past the lame excuses as why they do not follow the diet and why they do not exercise. 

Take it in small steps.  Eat the perfect renal diet for a 1 day, dont cheat for that one day.  Then try two days and so on.  Move to the point that 95% of the time your diet is tight and you only splurge one day a week or month.

Since I got rid of the excuses I have lost over 100 pounds.








     

[Zach]

Well said, BigSky, well said! 


angela515, start exercising slowly, but please start exercising.                 

[Ken Shelmerdine]

If your gaining weight on CCPD due to absorbing fluid.. then your dwelling to long. You shouldn't be absorbing any fluid... you need to talk to your doctor about it. They hould of done a PET test to see what kind of transporter you are so that way you know if you need short dwells or longer ones. I am a high transporter, so I can't dwell longer than 45 mins at a time b/c I'll start absorbing fluid. Since I had my PET test done 6 months ago, and found out what kind of transporter I am, I haven't absorbed any fluid... I use to carry fluid during the day but once we found out I absorb most of it, I dont have a last fill anymore... you shouldn't be gaining weight from fluid absorbtion... let your dr's know.

 Hi Angela
   My first pet test is coming up shortly. I'm wondering if what may be happening is  because of the drainage problem I get while lying down. The cycler has to be on a tidal programme in that it doesn't attempt to drain the last 200 mls. So that stays in on the final drain. (I don't have a last fill) The next evening the initial drain only takes about 30mls so I must have absorbed the rest. Maybe I should do a stood up manual drain for a few minutes before I disconnect. As I've said on a previous post, I do sometimes still get low drainage problems even though the cycler is doing tidal. I hope I'm not a fast transporter as that will mean more low drains in  the night to wake me up. Anyway all will be revealed in a week or two.

[Ken Shelmerdine]

I have been on dialysis for about six weeks (CCPD) and I've gained about 2 Kilos. It's not fluid retention because I still do normal fluid output. I think it might be due to partial absorption of the PD fluid which contains glucose. So I think it's going to be quite difficult to lose weight on this treatment although I do need to lose weight (85.5 Kilos) its just that when it comes to physical exercise I'm a bit of a lazy sod. Some people find it exhilarating but things like running, jogging etc. and working out at the gym just bore me to death.

This is how I rationalized the thought of going on dialysis. I know this may sound awful but it's one of the things that helped me come to terms with it and it goes like this. Some  people spend 3 to 4 nights at the gym, I can't think  of anything worse, in fact,....I'd rather do dialysis! (Actually I'd rather not do either, but you get the gist)

Hi Ken,  I have quite a bit of weight to lose myself and i know EXACTLY what you mean my friend.  I have a dwell time 2 hours which seems to be working good for me,  you may have to monitor the calories you take in with the food you eat, that will help you maintain your weight, i have cut down the calories quite a bit and i have stayed at the same weight pretty much for 6 months now,  (if only i can throw some exercise in there every now and then i think that would help even more)  I got out my Tae-Bo tapes but then i got some kind of bug and got sick to my stomach, (i think thats a sure sign huh) lol,   Well, i wish you luck and remember we are always here for you and YOU ARE NOT ALONE   

Hi Goofynina
That bug was a sure sign so just put your feet up and chill, sod the exercise. In fact dialysis is a good excuse to lie down!

[Panda_9]

I loose weight more times than I loose....sometimes I add saline to compensate....not enough strength to do exercise.....even to walk long distances is hard....

Why do you add saline to compensate for weight loss? All thats doing is putting more strain on your heart

[angela515]

First i wanted to thank everyone for the encouraging words.    Ever since starting dialysis again in April 2004, I really have been using it as an excuse and stopped doing any form of exercise... I sit around watching tv or on the computer all day.. I only really get up to eat and when my kids need something... I been lazy lazy for far too long, and I  feel if I continue this way I'll eventually give up and start gaining weight ore rapidly and become way over-weight... I am so weak and have so little energy, just walking to my mailbox makes me out of breathe and very tired. Thats bad... I bought anAb Lounge XL to start working ou inside the house since its starting to snow outside now... and I shall start walking up and down our stairs for my cardio, slowly of course and each week add more times to it... that should help build strength and such and I won't haveto worry about gtting sick from being out in the cold.

I just need support buddies is all.. I give up way easy.... so if anyone wants to start working out or just adding some daily walking or something to there life, maybe we can be support buddies and keep other going, just by sending pms and reminding one anoter hey dont forget to do ur walking today or somthing.. 

(Sorry if this should go in another forum... im not sure? lol...)

[goofynina]

Angela, do you have Skype?   I would love to be a support buddy and have a support buddy, we can check in with each other to tell each other what we've done and such.  You can PM me or just add me, i think to add me you need my email address which is : Goofynina14@sbcglobal.net    Hope that works, if not, i am sure we will find out how and what to do to make it work    Hope to hear from you soon...

[angieskidney]

I keep steadily gaining weight on HD (I was gaining slower oddly enough on PD but with HD I was so sick I lost too much weight .. but now I am over what I used to be .. or right around there .. maybe it is just that age where I start gaining weight?). I am not fat but I see the fat all over my body and considering I come from a very skinny family (except my dad as he is on Prednisone for another disease) it makes me selfconscious. I ride my bicycle and I peddle the exercycle at dialysis and I go for walks once in awhile and take the stairs once in awhile .. but am not losing weight. Infact, lately I have been crashing on dialysis and might have to raise my dry weight again. Will the weight gain ever stop?

I've heard that it is harder to lose weight on dialysis. Is this true? Why?

[angela515]

Just curious of a few things:

1) Has anyone lost weight on dialysis? (Any form of dialysis, hemo, pd..)
2) If so, how did you do it?
3) Does anyone exercise daily to maintain strength?
4) If so, what do you do? (walk, run, ect..)

1.  Yes,  I was in shape all my life until I had the transplant and took the predisone and was clobbered by its side affects and gained way too much weight.

I think my body has become used to prednisone and its side affects... (i dont know if thats possible..lol) but I was put on prednisone when I was 12 until I turned 18, to control my Lupus. I have a permanent "moon" face from being on it so long and sometimes very high doses and sometimes the IV form.. so, as for my face its stuck the way it is, lol... im ok with it now.. I then got put back on prednisone in Dec 99 after my transplant nd got taken off in 2004 when I started dialysis again... i'm currently not on it... but while I was on it from 99-04 for transplant I didnt gain weight or get acne or anything... my doctor said my body is probably used to the prednisone since I was on it for years and years. Idunno tho..

[pmbaer]

 

If your gaining weight on CCPD due to absorbing fluid.. then your dwelling to long. You shouldn't be absorbing any fluid... you need to talk to your doctor about it. They hould of done a PET test to see what kind of transporter you are so that way you know if you need short dwells or longer ones. I am a high transporter, so I can't dwell longer than 45 mins at a time b/c I'll start absorbing fluid. Since I had my PET test done 6 months ago, and found out what kind of transporter I am, I haven't absorbed any fluid... I use to carry fluid during the day but once we found out I absorb most of it, I dont have a last fill anymore... you shouldn't be gaining weight from fluid absorbtion... let your dr's know.

 Hi Angela
   My first pet test is coming up shortly. I'm wondering if what may be happening is  because of the drainage problem I get while lying down. The cycler has to be on a tidal programme in that it doesn't attempt to drain the last 200 mls. So that stays in on the final drain. (I don't have a last fill) The next evening the initial drain only takes about 30mls so I must have absorbed the rest. Maybe I should do a stood up manual drain for a few minutes before I disconnect. As I've said on a previous post, I do sometimes still get low drainage problems even though the cycler is doing tidal. I hope I'm not a fast transporter as that will mean more low drains in  the night to wake me up. Anyway all will be revealed in a week or two.

I guess I don't understand dwell time and transporter time.  Is the dwell time the amount of time you leave the solution in and the transporter time is the amount of time it takes for the soluction to draw out the toxins before the solution begins to absorb into the body?  So if you have a transporter time of 45 min. you only leave the fluid in no longr then 45 mins right?  Do you have solution in at all times and change every 45 min?  I sound so stupid about all of this as I've not received my training yet.  How do people leave the fluid in for long hours if they do exchanges every 4-6 hours?  I'm confused.   

[angieskidney]

I guess I don't understand dwell time and transporter time.  Is the dwell time the amount of time you leave the solution in and the transporter time is the amount of time it takes for the soluction to draw out the toxins before the solution begins to absorb into the body?  So if you have a transporter time of 45 min. you only leave the fluid in no longr then 45 mins right?  Do you have solution in at all times and change every 45 min?  I sound so stupid about all of this as I've not received my training yet.  How do people leave the fluid in for long hours if they do exchanges every 4-6 hours?  I'm confused.   

The thing you are missing is the difference between manual PD (CAPD) done 4 times a day every day by hand and Nocturnal PD (CCPD) done through a machine while you sleep. I used to do CAPD 4 times a day which took about 20 min each time. The dwell would be the time it sits in between these exchanges done 4 times a day. Then I switched to the CCPD which meant I hooked up to my CCPD (Cycler) machine and it ran every night so I didn't have to worry about it. Any kinks would make the alarm go off and woiuld wake me. The cycler would run for me 8 hrs and 45 min. Each dwell was set at an hour and a half. Each drain and fill were set at 16min. 

There are other threads on this. http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=1101.0

[Ken Shelmerdine]

If your gaining weight on CCPD due to absorbing fluid.. then your dwelling to long. You shouldn't be absorbing any fluid... you need to talk to your doctor about it. They hould of done a PET test to see what kind of transporter you are so that way you know if you need short dwells or longer ones. I am a high transporter, so I can't dwell longer than 45 mins at a time b/c I'll start absorbing fluid. Since I had my PET test done 6 months ago, and found out what kind of transporter I am, I haven't absorbed any fluid... I use to carry fluid during the day but once we found out I absorb most of it, I dont have a last fill anymore... you shouldn't be gaining weight from fluid absorbtion... let your dr's know.

 Hi Angela
   My first pet test is coming up shortly. I'm wondering if what may be happening is  because of the drainage problem I get while lying down. The cycler has to be on a tidal programme in that it doesn't attempt to drain the last 200 mls. So that stays in on the final drain. (I don't have a last fill) The next evening the initial drain only takes about 30mls so I must have absorbed the rest. Maybe I should do a stood up manual drain for a few minutes before I disconnect. As I've said on a previous post, I do sometimes still get low drainage problems even though the cycler is doing tidal. I hope I'm not a fast transporter as that will mean more low drains in  the night to wake me up. Anyway all will be revealed in a week or two.

I guess I don't understand dwell time and transporter time.  Is the dwell time the amount of time you leave the solution in and the transporter time is the amount of time it takes for the soluction to draw out the toxins before the solution begins to absorb into the body?  So if you have a transporter time of 45 min. you only leave the fluid in no longr then 45 mins right?  Do you have solution in at all times and change every 45 min?  I sound so stupid about all of this as I've not received my training yet.  How do people leave the fluid in for long hours if they do exchanges every 4-6 hours?  I'm confused.   

Pmbaer you are right about dwell time and transporter time. As for your other questions, I'm not sure because these are the type of things I need to ask about when I go for my first P.E.T. test. I think that 45 minute dwell times would only take place using a night time cycler  because If you did that on Capd you'd never get to do much else during the day. Also I should imagine that if you're a 45 minute transporter you'd be getting a lot of dialysis over  an 8 or 9 hour therapy and maybe that would be adequate for a 24 hour period so that carrying daytime fluid is unnecessary. There are 3 strengths of fluid. The stronger the fluid the longer it lasts before saturation takes place. I think the second strength fluid is used for long daytime dwells. I'm only guessing at some of this stuff maybe a more experienced PD patient can come in on this post and put us both right.

[angela515]

Dwell time is the amount of time you keep the fluid inside you until your next drain. If your doing CAPD usually you do 4 exchanges throughout the day. CCPD all depends on your prescription.. if your a high transporter, your dwells will be shorter so you don't absorb your fluid, and if your a low transporter, your dwells will be longer. Transporter speed is known by doing a PET test and it tells the doctors how fast you pull fluid and toxins out before absorbing them back in your body. I am a high transporter, so short dwell times work for me. I dwell for 45 mins at a time, I fill 2400 each fill and I do 6 fills... I do not have a last fill because I dont have time for a manual exchange during the day and if I put fluid in me in the morning and didnt drain till night I would have absorbed most all of it, and thats pretty pointless to do. My alarms rarely go off at night, which is good... I rarely kink the line or have any other issues. As for the fluid strengths, there is 1.5, 2.5 and 4.25 and you wanna try not to use 4's alot if you dont have to because over a period of time of using them too much you will eventually not be able to do PD anymore. You determine what strength you use each night by how much fluid you gained... if you have too much fluid on.. your gonna wanna use a 4 to get it off... and 1.5s are for if you dont really have any fluid to take off... I usually always use 3 bags of 2.5's 5L bags, if I need to I will use 2 2.5 and 1 4, I never use a 1.5 because for ME it doesnt pull off ANY fluid and I usually always drink the max amount of fluid I can without over doing it and needing a 4... lol... good luck.

[mallory]

Angela, You can do it, I know you can, and we will all support you!  All of this advice is so true, you have to exercise, and, oh, it is so hard for me!  I keep using the excuse that I only have 50% of my lung function so I get out of breath easily, but, after reading BigSky's post, I agree, no more excuses!

We'll take it one step at a time (literally, maybe!) and we will make it.  Good luck!

[angieskidney]

I never use a 1.5 because for ME it doesnt pull off ANY fluid and I usually always drink the max amount of fluid I can without over doing it and needing a 4... lol... good luck.

Ya while I was on PD I was still peeing a little bit until the last year. In the last year I started to retain more and stopped using 1.5% and was using all 2.5%