High heart rate

[Defaut]

Hi,

 We are new to this board and it looks like a really good place.  We wanted to know if anyone else experiences a high heart rate while on dialysis?  It's okay when I get there but really goes up about half way through treatment, and takes a good 6-8 hours after I get home before it starts to come down again.  I don't seem to get much in the way of answers from the staff there.....just wondering if anyone else experiences that also and what may be causing it.  Thanks in advance for the advice!!!

  Sarah and Jim

[susie q]

My heart rate goes waaaay up when I am finished the run... I tell the nurses I'm just excited to be getting out of there!!
Seriously... I have no clue why... I feel ok.. bp is a little low sometimes.. no one seems too concerned.. 

[Defaut]

Thanks for the reply! Really appreciate it!  They sometimes ask me to sit for a bit after treatment when my heart rate hits 120 plus.....I tell them no way, I have just been sitting for 3 hours, and I feel better once I get out of there!!   My BP drops once in a while too, luckily not as bad as it used to, once I passed out and I don't care to go there again!!   I just was curious if it happens to others and if so what they have been told the reason might be.   Thanks again for the reply!!

[susie q]

3 hours!!???  I'm jealous... I gotta do 4...

[Defaut]

I used to go for 3.5 hours and then they lowered it to 3 hours and 15 minutes and after a while I asked if we could try 3 hours cause my labs were pretty good.  Luckily he went for it and since then it's been 3 hours!  Even that drives me nuts at times!  I keep trying to come up with new things I can do while I am there so I don't get totally bored!  I am sure everyone knows that feeling all too well!!!!!!! 

[Sara]

Sarah and Jim - so who's the lucky one on dialysis?

[Defaut]

That would be me...Sarah, and lucky to have Jim by my side, I swear somedays I would not make it without him! 

[Epoman]

Hi,

 We are new to this board and it looks like a really good place.  We wanted to know if anyone else experiences a high heart rate while on dialysis?  It's okay when I get there but really goes up about half way through treatment, and takes a good 6-8 hours after I get home before it starts to come down again.  I don't seem to get much in the way of answers from the staff there.....just wondering if anyone else experiences that also and what may be causing it.  Thanks in advance for the advice!!!

  Sarah and Jim

Hello Sarah and Jim glad you found the site, how about you go over to the "Introduce Yourself" section and tell us your story. So we can get to know you a little better. Just start a new thread. As to your question, provide us with a little more info.

Are you on BP meds?
How much fluid are they trying to remove on average?
Any other symptoms for example chest pain, tightness, sweating?
What is your average BP?

- Epoman

[Rerun]

Okay, this is dumb, but "heart rate" is the same as "Pulse" ?  Right? 

WAIT..... YES, it is the same as pulse!   

[kevno]

First of all Rerun

About 12 years ago I had a very fast heart rate, but mine was fast all of the time. It was 110 to 130 resting. I was put on a Beta Blocker called atenolo. Which slowed my hare rate down straight away to 50 to 70 resting.

I do nearly always come of the machine with a fast heart rate around 120.  The nurses just make me stay in the chair until the heart rate slowed down.

Taking off to much  fluid can also cause a fast heart rate.  Is your BP OK? Plus is your target weight right?
Are you profiled on the machine. If not, you might be taking to much fluid off to quick. Profiling you can take more off at the beginning of Dialysis.  Are set the machine to take of the fluid more gently.


Kevno

[fireguy]

Not new to Dialysis but new to site. How high is high. Mind good until I stand up Generally goes to 100-110bpm. Main reason for going high other wise is too dry. Taking off too much fluid. I am doing home hemo dialysis

[Rerun]

Hi Fireguy 

Thanks for the input.  Did you introduce yourself in the "introduce yourself" section?  We like to place you and your history..... ya know get the "lo-down"~   

[calypso]

The reason your heartrate goes high on dialysis is that you're getting dehydrated a bit and your body senses less blood volume to transport the oxygen around to all the cells. So you raise your heartrate to drive more blood around to get adequate oxygen and nutrients to your cells.

I suppose what you need to do then is to drink less fluids so they have to pull off less and therefore have less of a "swing" in hydration levels? Also your neph might put you on a beta blocker which will bring your heartrate lower. Possible problems with that is if you then get overhydrated and your heartrate drops too low you could have problems. This is something you need to discuss with your doctor to evaluate you and determine what is best for you.

[ginger cookie]

Increased heart rate is a classic sign of getting "too dry". This corrects when you re hydrate yourself.
You may still be over your true dry weight, but the fluid is trapped in tissues and not jumping into the blood to be ultrafiltered out. If your albumin level is low, fluid tends to stay in the tissue not in the circulatory system where it can easily be removed. Or, perhaps you've had a weight gain and your goal is being set too high.
Good luck !

[Panda_9]

Dont whinge about doing 3-4 hours, I do 10!!! 

[Rusty]

Dont whinge about doing 3-4 hours, I do 10!!! 

3:10.  Damn, I'll never whinge again!

[kitkatz]

Ah, but according to the dialysis bible (whatever that is and whoever wrote it) you cannot compare apples to oranges.  Nocturnal is by choice isn't it and Amber 79 likes it better than other choices.  I am stuck with in center MWF for four hours each time. I feel okay afterwards. Some night achy all over and headachey. but able to cope after a full night's sleep.

[angieskidney]

My pulse was 140 and no one seemed too concerned when I asked about it until after dialysis (M/W/F) when the nurse would make me stay 1/2 hr til it came down to 115 ...

I was trying to figure out why it was doing this but felt all alone. I couldn't get a straight answer from anyone and it seemed like they were not taking ANY of my questions seriously!! My pulse was never high until I got my fistula (the first one) and then when that one failed after 10 days my pulse was fine again. Then when I got the fistula I have now it went up again to 140! The surgeon said it was not related but even one of the nurses (my favourite one who listens to me most and was the one who demanded the ER take me when I couldn't breathe due to Pneumonia and stayed with me long after her shift was over) said that she felt it was too coincidental to NOT be related.

Anyway, just lately it finally has been staying mainly below 100. It seems that it could be one of two things: They raised my dry weight, and my fistula has gotten stronger.

Which do you think it could be?

[Panda_9]

Yes it is my choice to do nocturnal but now Im actually told they want me to do 10 hours every second night or 4 nights a week, otherwise I just go downhill and may as well not be on nocturnal. Most others are doing ok on 8-9 hours.

[BigSky]

My pulse was 140 and no one seemed too concerned when I asked about it until after dialysis (M/W/F) when the nurse would make me stay 1/2 hr til it came down to 115 ...

I was trying to figure out why it was doing this but felt all alone. I couldn't get a straight answer from anyone and it seemed like they were not taking ANY of my questions seriously!! My pulse was never high until I got my fistula (the first one) and then when that one failed after 10 days my pulse was fine again. Then when I got the fistula I have now it went up again to 140! The surgeon said it was not related but even one of the nurses (my favourite one who listens to me most and was the one who demanded the ER take me when I couldn't breathe due to Pneumonia and stayed with me long after her shift was over) said that she felt it was too coincidental to NOT be related.

Anyway, just lately it finally has been staying mainly below 100. It seems that it could be one of two things: They raised my dry weight, and my fistula has gotten stronger.

Which do you think it could be?

Pulse rate can go up for some patients after dialysis because BP is low which most of the time is linked to having too much fluid removed too fast or taking a person below what their actual dry weight is or the dry weight being too low.   Also to keep in mind is that dialysis is shock to the body by the fast removal of toxins in the 3-4 hour window people are on the machines.  I would think that can play into it a little bit also.

Normally my pulse is 60 bpm but even when little fluid is removed my pulse jumps up to 80.  If too much fluid is removed it usually hits the 100-110 range and I usually lose my voice which is another sign of too much fluid was removed.

I was told one thing that does affect the fistula and causes clots and failures is low BP.

[angieskidney]

Ya I had to stop my BP meds. It took the Neph 3 weeks to take me off of them completely after I stopped them myself.

[Panda_9]

My resting HR is often above 90 and hardly ever below 80  No one knows whats wrong, its been like it ever since the kidney started failing. It has improved though. Initially it was 130-150 resting.

Low BP isnt good if you have a fistula as it can clot it off. Ideal post Dx BP is above 130 systolic. When I went for my fistula operation the surgeon was very happy that my BP was a little bit high 

[angieskidney]

Low BP isnt good if you have a fistula as it can clot it off. Ideal post Dx BP is above 130 systolic. When I went for my fistula operation the surgeon was very happy that my BP was a little bit high 

Ya they think that may be why my first one failed.. that and it was so small

[livecam]

Thanks for reminding me, I had almost forgotten.  Sometimes my heart would just pound as if I had run hard a couple of miles without stopping.  That seemed to happen later in the run.  I was a renin responder so the further I went the higher my BP and heart rate would go.  Just looking back I remember those feelings pretty well...as much as I would like to forget them.

[angieskidney]

They checked my Renin because they thought that was the cause for me but it wasn't.