Not happy with the Fresenius 2008K@Home.

[kayooh]

I was told this can't be done because the software would not allow it!

Methinks someone is fibbing to you (or just doesn't know). I've always gone in and set my own parameters: dry weight, heparin rate, disabling the BP cuff, etc. I've never had a problem.

You are right.
The goal can be increased to over 5 liters. I checked it today.
Now if I could just find out how to increase the UF rate to above 2 l/hr!

As for the reason why they told me it could not be done, your guess is as good as mine.

[Desert Dancer]

kayooh, I had my clinic visit today and I ran your problem by my nurse. She told me that the UF rate is determined by whatever the maximum allowable UF goal is set to, so simply changing that number will allow you to go higher on the UF rate. However, she was pretty freaked out about your "going rogue" and trying to find your own workaround, particularly with your heart problems. This is what she suggested:

Talk to your clinic about ultrafiltration WITHOUT cleaning (PUF: pure ultrafiltration). Apparently - and I did not know this - ultrafiltration is a LOT harder on your body if you are also cleansing the blood. She said that particularly in the first hour you can remove up to 4L of fluid if you are not dialyzing at the same time. It basically just involves putting the dialysate on bypass (turning the dialysis flow rate to OFF). She was pretty disgusted that your doctor and clinic are not actively trying to help you find a solution to this.

This might be something you want to bring up to your doctor. Sounds pretty promising.

[del]

My husband has been usiung the 2008@home machine for over 5 years with no issues at all.  He does do noctural (7 hours - 5 nights a week) so his UF rate is no more then 300 ml/hr at any time. He has no other health issues either.  Is it possible for you to do nocturnal?    It is much easier on the body.