Wanting to drop some weight

[JennyGiggle]

Ok, Since starting D, my weight has fluctuated only slightly. Its now februaury and I want to loose a bit of weight with summer coming in. I am concerned about my dry weight though. The one time my dry weight was lowered I had a really bad bad session at D with my BP going crazy, feeling really unwell and unbelievably painful cramps. Is this what to expect from losing weight? Am I in for dreadful appointments? I don't know whether I should attempt it or not - I know it sounds trivial but my weight really bothers me, I know losing a few pounds will give me a lift, but I don't want to be unwell in the process.

Jenny

[peleroja]

I think cramping has more to do with taking off too much fluid than with losing weight.  When I had to go on hemo for 6 months, I told them I was actively trying to lose weight, so they kept resetting my dty weight, and then simply stopped setting dry weight.  You have the right to ask the tech to take off only a set amount each appointment.

[Bub]

Jennygiggle, I lost 55 lbs in my first year on dialysis, but then I had (and still have) alot to lose.  But I ate what and how much I wanted (within the parameters of the dialysis diet). But losing 55 lbs has made a big difference in my life.  I take 1/3 the amount of insulin than I used to.  Went down from 3 shots to 1 a day.

[Pam]

JennyGiggle, I had the opposite problem. I gained a few pounds. I had a very bad week because they were taking off too much fluid. I finally convinced them to raise my dry weight and thing's are just fine. You didn't gain the weight over night and you won't lose it over night either. My Neph says to only challenge the dry weight 1/2 kilo at a time. If they don't take enough fluid off of me I can tell in my ankles. If they take off too much my BP goes nuts and I'm dizzy and wiped out. This is the time you really have to pay attention to the signals your body is sending.
Pam

[jbeany]

I lost over 50 pounds while on dialysis.  You have to learn to read your body for fluid retention really well.  Personally, I preferred to challenge no more than .2 or .3 at a time.  Whatever lower weight I finished at, I used for my new starting weight the next run.  If I thought I still had fluid on, I would challenge another .2. the next run.

As in - Monday - Weigh at 86.9 K, with a dry weight from Friday of 85.0.  Set goal for 2.1.  If I end the session at 84.7, then Wednesday, that's the new dry weight I use to set my new goal, plus an extra .2 of challenge.  My machine always seemed to drop me .1 or .2 under what the goal should have ended me at anyhow, so I just kept bumping down from whatever the lowest number was that I got without cramping.  If I cramped or crashed, I went back up .2 and held there for a week before challenging again.  I preferred to run pretty dry - even an extra .5 over my usual gain left my fingers so fat I couldn't sew or do crafts, which left me bored and stir crazy. I also had a really hard time with pulling more than about 2.5 off during a single run - my body couldn't shift the fluid fast enough to keep up with the machine and I would cramp no matter how much fluid I still had on, so I had to pull small amounts at a time so I could tell the difference between crashing from pulling fluid too fast and crashing from pulling too much.

You really have to take charge of your own goals if you are going to actively lose weight.  Get the staff used to it, because if you let them be in charge, they won't change a thing until you  are ending each session with ankles so fat you can't get your socks on!

[RichardMEL]

ah Jenny, want to fit in that bikini for summer huh? (what, Bikinis in Scotland? hmm)... hey I have Scottish blood in me, I can make those comments... I think?!?! 

The thing to do is to get your fluid levels assessed. Get the crew to do a BVM (Body Volume Monitoring, or sometimes called a crit line) into you. The machine will tell how you're refilling and give an idea if you're too dry or wet.

Seems to me when your dry weight was challenged it wasn't correct, since you cramped and crashed - clearly too much fluid was taken out (thus the dry weight had been set too low). It's a delicate guessing game to get an idea of how much of a weight change is real weight and how much is fluid. A BVM will give a better idea of where you're at.

Another idea is to challenge your dry weight in small increments - 0.2 per session say - and see how you go.. but ONLY challenge it if you think you have lost body weight - dialysis isn't a weight loss program However if you're exercising more (hmm those dates help ) then you may indeed be losing body weight and it's time to challenge. A BVM will give a good idea where you're at if you can get it done.

Unless they screw it up like they did with me yesterday and accidently emptied a bag of saline into me!!!! GRRR!!! 

[JennyGiggle]

Ah RichardMEL you always get me smiling hehe

No Bikinis in scotland lol - however, maybe some more dates so a nice wee black dress!

Thanks for the advice, so small changes so they don't take too much/little off. I'll suggest that and the BVM to them. Oooo, feeling all assertive about tomorrows appointment, haven't really taken charge before. Such a relief. I was thinking that If I was ever gonna be skinny it would be months after getting tortured every 3 days - I never want to have another appointment like the one I had before. It was scary and horrible. Thanks

Jenny

[RichardMEL]

The thing to be careful about is how you lose weight - I wouldn't suggest diets or eating less - as malnutrition can really cause problems (if you're thinking of dieting, I think you should talk to your dietician about it). Because D patients need a lot of protein sometimes eating more is a good thing, so I think exercise is the way to go - anyway it's good for all of us to exercise as much as we can.

Anyway best of luck. It's great to have a goal to work towards and we (ok me) all want to see you in that wee black dress!!!! 

[JennyGiggle]

lol.

yeh, I am gonna go the exercise route. I get in trouble for not eating enough already ( although eating less never seems to effect my weight much ). Gonna start walking more, just simple things.

[RichardMEL]

Awesome. I walk every day (well except Saturday) if I can. 20 or so minutes during the week and over an hour on Sundays. It's the easiest form of exercise and gets the heart going and all that. Sometimes it's difficult to get out of bed or get motivated, but I slip the ipod on, listen to a podcast and get going and at the end feel pretty good, and know I'm doing myself a good service at the same time. I think that's what motivates me more than anything else (since I'm not trying to fit into a wee dress  ) that I want to do things that I can easily do to make things better for me in the long run.. so I always take the stairs rather than the lift at work (we're 2 floors up) and same at D (1 floor) and even my neph's office (4 floors - that's a killer somehow).. every little bit adds up!

[paris]

Richard in a wee black dress        Maybe I need to go back and reread that last post!   

Jenny, Everyone has given great advice.  Keep us posted on your progress.

[RichardMEL]

I apologise if the concept gives you all nightmares.... I know I won't sleep tonight - and it's only lunchtime here!!  Let's get back to Jenny and her wee dress.. that's much more exciting to me

[tyefly]

     you are too much   Richard.....

[RichardMEL]

    you are too much   Richard.....

well yes... the last time I heard that the girl was smiling..... 

[Stacy Without An E]

I know most of us have waves of sickness that wash over us, prohibiting us from having the motivation to better our bodies.

At one point, I was up to 140 pounds (that's heavy for me considering it all goes to my waist)  I didn't have enough energy to return to the gym, so I started walking around my hilly neighborhood at night.  I started to feel better and worked my way up to an hour.  After four weeks of this, I dropped two inches on my waist and lost 2 kilos.

Start slow, keep at it, and you'll be pleasantly surprised at the results.