Question about frequency/size of meals after starting CAPD

[adairpete]

I started CAPD about a month ago after being on hemo for 5 months.  Overall, I love it!  So much better than hemo!  I do 3 exchanges a day, 1.5L per exchange (I'm fairly short and my peritoneal cavity can only hold so much).  The only thing I'm not liking is the full feeling I get after eating or drinking, sometimes leaves me short of breath or easily winded.  I've been eating the same as usual but this may be the problem.  I still work full-time so eating smaller meals throughout the day would require more planning and some time management.  Basically, I was wondering if others found that eating smaller meals more often decreased the full feelings or do I need to be more patient and adjust to the fullness? 

Side Note: Haven't done the adequacy test yet to possibly go on the cycler, and not sure if I want as I'm still traumatized by hemo and don't want to be tethered to a machine for hours again (even if I'm asleep).  I like the freedom of manual exchanges and would like to continue CAPD.

Any tips or just hearing other people's experiences would be greatly appreciated!  Thanks!

Carolyn

[jeannea]

I think you should give your body a little more time to adjust. I do the night cycler. If I have a bad night and don't take off much fluid, I feel really full and find it hard to eat. But then I'll eventually have a good night and feel better.  I did hemo for about 6 months then switched to PD but I've only ever done the cycler not the daytime exchanges. I was told if I did the daytime exchanges there would be 4 a day. Can you do 4 with less fluid each time? Or consider the cycler. I'm also short and in the morning I only get 500 mL to carry around all day. It's a lot easier. I love to sleep so I love the cycler. I think with a little patience your body will adjust. Make sure you talk with your doctor about the problem. There may be a very easy solution that I don't know about.

P.S. You look young in your picture. I'm 41 and might be the youngest person at my clinic.

[KICKSTART]

You need to do both ! Eat little and often and give yourself time to adjust ! You are still healing inside from having the cath put in (6 to 8 weeks.) You will be able to increase the size of your meals in time. You may also find you go off food altogether for a while and you must watch for constipation ! Its very common in pd patients!

[adairpete]

Thanks for your responses!  I've been trying to eat smaller meals more often and that has helped somewhat.  I've been tempted to ask about 4 1L exchanges/day, but I'm pretty sure my nurse will want to wait until I do my first adequacy test before making any changes like that.  The adequacy test will also determine the cycler parameters, if I ever want to go that route.  I'm torn on using the cycler because I don't like the idea of being tethered to a machine all night, but the biggest concern is my daschund, Karl.  He sleeps with me (under the covers) and he's a chewer, so I'm afraid that he may chew through something important! 

[tito]

My two dogs sleep with us. One is a little puppy we just got in Mexico. She is teething and chewing on everything. We have pretty much trained her not to go near the dialysis stuff- I use a cycler at night and do one exchange during the day. She has a million dog toys we give her when she seems to be in a chewing mood, so she leaves the tubes, etc. alone. Plus, that plastic is pretty tough and difficult to chew through.

Once saw the puppy using the drain bag on the floor as a nice warm pillow! No harm done.