Anyone else take a "break" from dialysis??

[geoffcamp]

Has anyone here ever quit dialysis for any period if time. If so how did it go and what did you learn?







EDITED:  Thread moved to proper section:  Dialysis - General Discussion  - jbeany, Moderator

[jbeany]

Not intentionally, I didn't.  I had to skip several days because my fistula clotted off once, though. I had to wait for the only surgeon who could fix it to get back to town.  I learned I was freaking miserable trying to keep my fluid gains to next to nothing, and living on a diet of rice so my levels wouldn't shoot through the roof.

[Joe]

I do PD 7 days a week and have skipped a day, occasionally, when I've broken a cycler. By the end of the second day, I was starting to feel kind of puny. My PD team counseled me that I should have switched over to manuals during the down time. But it really felt so good to not have to do dialysis for 24 hours 

[WishIKnew]

I went for a week between the removal of an infected catheter and its replacement.  I really felt fine.  Not too much swelling.  I was in the hospital the whole time as they fought the infection and I still urinated a little....

[Speedy1wrc]

While in center and doing 3x per week I ended up missing a d treatment due to a scheduling mistake.

I felt horrible!

I am on Home Hemo now and that was one of the many  reasons why.

[Willis]

Shhhh! Don't tell my clinic, but I had to work all night one day last week and got home about 9AM after working all day and night. If I had done my regular cycle I'd have been literally tied up until it was time to got to bed again. So I just skipped the cycle until bedtime that evening. I couldn't really feel any negative effect.

Because I do work late hours a lot I often have to cut my cycle time down from the normal 9 hours. I just do it. I'm in control of my own life. I've been fussed at by my nurses but my blood work is always good and they wouldn't know the difference if they didn't look at the computer output from the cycler. I try not to make it a regular habit though!

 

[lmunchkin]

John had missed 3 days once, but he is normally off 2 anyway.  He & I wanted to go see our grandson's football game, so it fell on a day he should dialysis, but he didn't.  He felt no difference physically.

Geoff, just be careful.  You don't want to let it go so far you cant get it back.  If you are serious about ending it, then yes enjoy your last days, but don't get out there and realize it is not what you want, cause you might have gone too far. I will respect anyones decision, but just be a PEACE about it.  Death is Final.  Im not afraid to die, but I don't have on me what you and many others have.

If you are absolutely sure of this, then I will respect your wishes.  I just wish you would give it another go.  I will miss you & I know many others will too! We are all just getting to know you again. 

Pray long & hard about this, Geoff! Please!!!!  I know it hasnt been easy for you. But I really injoy your posts!  I will miss that.

God Bless & guide you through this,
lmunchkin   

[Relentless]

In 3 years of dialysis longest I have gone in 3 days. I felt fine. I have seen people here who sd they have gone a week and was ok but I'm to scared to try tht long.  I think longest I would go is 4 or 5 days knowing my body if I had to.

[jeannea]

I did hemo for 6 months. I was on Tues, Thurs, Sat 3rd shift around 4:30 pm. Once because of a vacation I got them to let me come in Wed morning 6am instead of Tues night. I spent half my session vomiting. I was so sick from that.

On PD, I skipped a night during Hurricane Irene. The storm was so bad we had constant tornado warnings. I didn't want to risk being stuck tethered to a 30 lb machine in a tornado. I told my nurse about it later and she understood. No bad effects from that one. I think I skipped one other night when I had an intestinal virus and spent too much time in the bathroom. But the virus took all the fluid off anyway.

I would be worried that a break from dialysis would take away whatever reserves my body has left. Then when I went back to dialysis I would be too weak and the dialysis would be too tough on my body. Then I would have a life of dialysis, sleep, dialysis, sleep and nothing else. Also, if you're interested in transplant you can probably kiss that goodbye if you take an extended break.

Is there a specific reason you would want a break? (Other than the fact that dialysis sucks.)

[malaka]

I'm on MWF schedule.  I took a trip out of town and had to go to T Th Sat.  So I skipped a day.  Yep, being on vacation (and maybe drinking a few too many Tito's vodka martinis) I gained more weight than I usually do, and I still pee, too.  Didn't feel bad, but I wasn't happy with what the scale told me.  I will not skip more than a day or so as I know I'd look like the Pillsbury Doughboy
after missing two regular sessions.

[Bajanne]

In my early years of dialysis, I used to be able to miss a day, usually a Friday because I am on M-W-F, but when I tried it last year, I ended up in the hospital.  I went to a weekend conference in Puerto Rico in February 2012, and because of my flight I missed the Friday dialysis.  The weekend did not go too badly, but when I arrived at dialysis I was so short of breath that they gave me oxygen, and then I was admitted to hospital for about a week.
Then in April, I took my French class to French St. Martin.  They wanted an early flight on the Friday so they would have more time there.  Well, although I tried my best not to eat too much or drink too much, the Sunday afternoon I could not even walk back to my hotel room by myself.  My students called an ambulance and I was taken to the hospital in St Martin.  I was given Lasix.  They were thinking of dialysing me there, but then just gave me a patch because I was going on a plane back to the BVI. 
When I reached home I was taken straight to the hospital.  I could hardly breathe.  They called the on-call nurses and dialysed me the Sunday night, then kept me in the hospital for more than a week.  The doctors read me the riot act. They even considered sending me for psychiatric evaluation!!!
Well, I will be going to St. Martin with my class next two weekends.  Guess who is making sure she has dialysis on Friday morning before she sets off?

[ChrisEtc]

I was having problems with a nurse at my clinic and skipped some treatments.  I went 6 days without treatment.  I definitely don't recommend it.  I was in pretty bad shape that last day but I lived, haha.

[tiredandthirsty]

one year three days since i started as of today.  with His grace, i have not missed any day yet.  however, i do feel sometimes as if to hell with it, what's one day going to do?  and then i suck it up and go anyways.

[blondie1746]

I have been on PD for 18 months.  My kidneys are only functioning at around 10% and I do still urinate.  I have skipped a night becauseI had to catch a super early airline flight, and had no problems.   In January the Dr. thought my kidney function had returned enough to go off of dialysis.  So I went off for 5 days, rechecked my kidney funtion and it was still only around 10%.  So, back on dialysis.  But, during those 5 days, I felt great.  No swelling, no high blood pressure, no issues.  So, I am trying to talk Dr. into letting me go without dialysis again when I have to travel for 2 short weekend trips.  I don't mind travelling with the machinefor a longer trip, but it is a heckuva lot easier not to drag it on the plane for a weekend trip!

[amanda100wilson]

Blondie1746, at 10% function you are borderline for dialysis anyway (some people do not even know they have renal failure until their function is much lower.  some one like Geoffcamp who has been on dialysis for 10 years will not be able to go for very long without dialysis before becoming symptomatic.  It isvery much dependant on howmuch residual renal function that someone has.   

[Speedy1wrc]

I used to have more flexibility, but once the Dr. started cutting back on my immunosuppression any function I had went quickly. Within day's I would say. I wish she kept me on them longer as I felt much better then overall.

[Riki]

I can't miss treatments, and I know I can't.  I have before, when I've had trouble with the fistula, and they just sent me home.  I think it would be very detrimental to me if I went longer than 3 days without dialysis

[Stacy Without An E]

I'm desperately fearful of missing a treatment because I don't want the transplant coordinators @ UCSF to bill me as non-compliant.  I can't tell you how many days I've wanted to call in & tell them I'm not coming & then just stay in bed staring at the wall.  That's much more preferable to dealing with the horrid smell, the creepy patients, the jaded staff & the burning needles.

[kit78]

I was in the hospital last week and a Man in Dialysis when I was there was in bad shape because he missed 2 treatments in a row.  I would not miss a treatment intentoinally, how ever I have missed a treatment on Wednesday due to surgery on my arm, but kept the food very light and ice light as well. It was fine.

[jbeany]

Well, there ya go, Geoff - the definitive answer is.....it works for some people and truly sucks for others.  You've got about a 50/50 shot of either happening to you.   

[kidneysblowingchunks]

I've gone as long as 5 days. I felt sore after 4 days. I was also extremely tired as well.
If you go AWOL from The Needle Farm, don't miss your lab day.

[kamar55]

It was Mother Nature's choice, not mine. We had a mean blizzard and due to the facility being closed or closing early, I missed 1 1/2 treatments that week. And I felt it!
Not so much the fluid gain, but I just felt ill from the toxins. I did feel better after the next full treatment.

[Dragonfly]

Dragonfly

[PKDSTGV]

I'm on home hemo with NxStage, 6 times a week. I've gone off for as long as 4 days and felt fine. A little tired, but overall pretty good. I have great numbers and know what I can tolerate. My neph said that since my Kt/v was so good (3.3) I could come off for as long as I wanted, until I started having problems. I didn't take him up on it because it took too long to get these buttonholes just right but it was tempting. I'm always very careful about my fluid intake and what I eat so I think that makes a huge difference, that and doing dialysis 6 times a week already. Missing three or four treatments can be made up over time on NxStage if you don't put on too much weight.

[ianch]

My treatment plan is 4 sessions every 8 days.  Targeting 8-10 hours per session.

On special occasions I do skip a treatment but need to increase Furosemide use to balance fluid.  Usually I do it if im traveling between cities and don't want to do a session.  On that occasion i would do a top-up before i leave, then straight on when i return.  I can last 4 days with no issues.

When i came back from the Philippines I had 5 days between treatments due to travel time.  That was quite a bit harder.  But if i was doing it myself i would not have taken so much fluid in one go.