So thristy I can't stop drinking!

[Danielondialysis23]

On pd just started d 7/20/12 and I've been able to deal with everything except fluid.. All I wanna do is drink! I don't drink pop but so much water.. I'm 23 6'3 300 lbs.. I'm a big deal and love to eat and drink.. What can I do?

[Lillupie]

How much are you peeing out? How much kidney function do you have left? The more you have, the more you can eat and drink. Try your best not to use the 4s. If you are still using 1.5s(yellows), then you should be ok. And how is your blood pressure?

Lisa

[Danielondialysis23]

Well I do pee a lot.. I'm on water pills and they seem to keep me going, I'm end stage and I think the doctor said I'm like 3%. They said I was to big for yellows, I've been on greens. But I've used red a few times, and I'm on extraneal at night.. My blood pressure was bad but they put me on another (the 3rd one) blood pressure pill and it got it down to 130/90

[billybags]

Danielondialysis23, Try a simple test: Have an empty jug at the ready and every time you have a drink put the equivalent in the jug just to see how much you drink a day.  It is amazing how much we drink to how much we think we drink if that makes sense.

[Lillupie]

try chewing gum. Sucking on ice, and limiting the salt in your diet

[natnnnat]

Drink from really small glasses.  I've heard that helps.

[ryosaki]

I use to have the same problem, and drank like crazy. I am use to the restrictions now, and can usually just drink without using any special tricks, but heres a few things that I use to do that I think helped alot. Have a menthol candy before drinking water, and take really small sips, it will almost feel like your gulping down the water. try and avoid thick drinks, like juices and milk, for me they only just make me wanna drink water. The main one though would be ice, but you probably know that one by now.

[Joe]

My Neph told me as long as I was still peeing, he was not going to put me on fluid restrictions. It sounds like you are in the same boat I'm in, I also do PD and am still making some urine. Check with your Neph before you panic. You may be ok. Good luck.

[Cynna66]

Lately I have been having a horrific time with fluid gains, so I am in the same boat. I WISH I still made urine, it would make things a little less uncomfortable. I've been really strict with my fluid this week, trying to really tighten the reins. What I have been doing is adding lemon juice to my water. It makes me take smaller sips and not just binge through the whole cup in one go. The quench factor goes WAY up. I have tried hard candies, but I find the sugar in them only serves to make me thirstier. (Being on prednisone does not help matters) What I am doing instead of the candy is freezing grapes and sucking on those. It's easier to over do those, so I try to limit it to a 1/4 cup, twice a day. Sadly the K adds up with those. I was also told that slicing and freezing lemons and limes is helpful too. I am also going to try that (I LOVE sour and bitter flavors, so this works fine for me). I have tried chewing gum, but I find that if I chew it more than 10 minutes, my gag reflex kicks in and I get really nauseous. I don't know why and it's kind of weird, but I guess I am too. 

Hope some of these ideas help? I know it seems to be working for me so far.

[amanda100wilson]

I do not understand your neph's reasoning  about yellow and green bags if you still pee a lot.  You will still get good dialysis whether you are on yellow or green bags plus you are on Extraneal, so the solutes will be removed.  the stronger bags are designed to take off fluid.  the only explanation that I can think of, is that you are a fairly fast transporter across the membrane and would reabsorb quickly with yellow bags.  speak to your neph. and ask him why.  It is very important to advocate for yourself in this 'game'.  knowledge is power and you need to be an equal partner with you doctor in the decision-making process.   ESRD is unlike any other illness in some respects.  dialysis and all tat goes with it is a lifestyle and unfortunately the medical and nursing profession largely ignore this fact.  You have to know what is going on and why.  didn't mean this to sound like a lecture, but taking this attitude towards my care has stood me in pretty good stead over the last 23 years.

[Whamo]

Does the transition from hemodialysis to PD allow you to drink more fluids?  That's what I've heard, but is there a number?  I try to maintain 48 ounces per day, but often find that my hemo has to take off 4 liters, especially on Mondays, sometimes on Wednesdays.  I switch from hemo to PD on Wednesday.  I'm starting to drink a morning coffee, and follow it up with shot glass size glasses of water through the day.  I always put an ice cube in the glass, too, to make it cold, and keep down the size of the drink.

[amanda100wilson]

Whamo, only in-unit has these limits.  home HD is much more flexible.

[tiredandthirsty]

Drink from really small glasses.  I've heard that helps.

this is my strategy. i bought a set of shot glasses from TJ Maxx (2 bucks for a set of 4) that are 60 ml.  I keep a small bottle of water in the freezer so it ices up and when i want to drink, i put some refrigerated water in (again cold as possible) to the iced up bottle, shake it up a bit so the water gets colder.  then i fill the 60 ml shot glass with water and voila, ice cold water.  will definitely quench your thirst and will make you believe you drank a lot :-)

[Bill Peckham]

On pd just started d 7/20/12 and I've been able to deal with everything except fluid.. All I wanna do is drink! I don't drink pop but so much water.. I'm 23 6'3 300 lbs.. I'm a big deal and love to eat and drink.. What can I do?

How are you doing with sodium? There is sodium in everything, anything with a shelf life has a lot of sodium. In general don't eat anything that has more mgs sodium than calories per serving and you will keep you daily intake in control.