Side-effects from dialysis?

[kristina]

Hallo,
I was wondering if anyone suffers a any side-effects from dialysis ? I have noticed,
that after each dialysis-session (when water i.e. 2 litres had been taken off),
my muscles and bones seem to hurt quite a bit. Does anyone else suffer such side-effects?
Also, during the night I do sweat quite a bit and because of that
I have to get up in the middle of the night to change my "undies", my pyjamas and the bedcover ...
Fortunately, in order to "protect" the sheet, I have already taken precautions and put every evening a huge towel above the sheet...
...I have asked the medics about this and they told me that it seems a "common thing" amongst females on dialysis...
Does anyone else suffer from this and what do they do about it?
Thank you from Kristina.

[gothiclovemonkey]

Ive always been a sweater but since starting D its become quite a bit worse. And recently the night sweats have been really horrible. Now, i do notice that if i have more fluid than i should i defintely sweat harder. but there are times i dont have that much on and still have sweats, so idk? it may be early menopause for me too, ive had a partial hysterectomy, and ive heard that D can cause early menopause as well.... double whammy?

ive had other odd things, that i think are related to doing d, but docs cant confirm, but havent denied its possibility. but i wouldnt call it a side effect, so much... im weird tho, ive got very odd things going on with my body right now lol
Things like, itchy nose while im dialysing (not any other time, no other body part, JUST my nose. i think my body is sensitive to the machines vibrations )
After treatment many times i feel my chest is tight, like im having a mild asthma attack, so i puff my inhailor and it seems to clear up)

[kristina]

Thank you gothiclovemonkey for your helpful comments.
I was told by one of the medics that sweating " affects the ladies"
and it was indicated that it is "to do" with the hormons...
... Perhaps that is the reason why "we" are sweating so much?
I am very sorry what you have to go through gothiclovemonkey
and I do hope things are getting better for you soon.
Thanks again from Kristina.

[iketchum]

 I was bad. I was asked to inform a new guy at the clinic about dialysis and some side effects. I told him it might make his testicles shrink. He almost ran for the hills.

[kristina]

Crikey iketchum ! That sounds indeed very serious and I do hope you feel better?
Could it be dependent on our pre-dialysis health-issues how we fare at dialysis itself?
Thanks again from Kristina.

[Simon Dog]

I was bad. I was asked to inform a new guy at the clinic about dialysis and some side effects. I told him it might make his testicles shrink. He almost ran for the hills.

That's really baaaad.... sounds like something I would do.

[cassandra]

Hallo,
I was wondering if anyone suffers a any side-effects from dialysis ? I have noticed,
that after each dialysis-session (when water i.e. 2 litres had been taken off),
my muscles and bones seem to hurt quite a bit. Does anyone else suffer such side-effects?
Also, during the night I do sweat quite a bit and because of that
I have to get up in the middle of the night to change my "undies", my pyjamas and the bedcover ...
Fortunately, in order to "protect" the sheet, I have already taken precautions and put every evening a huge towel above the sheet...
...I have asked the medics about this and they told me that it seems a "common thing" amongst females on dialysis...
Does anyone else suffer from this and what do they do about it?
Thank you from Kristina.

Dear Kristina, 2 liters is quite a bit to take off as you are still urinating too? I also noticed that the nightsweating is a lot worse when my BP is low. So what's your BP, and are you on your dry weight?

Love, Cas

[kristina]

Hello Cassandra and thanks for your kind thoughts...
... Before I started with dialysis my body had "collected" lots of water-retention
but it was covered up by the fact that I still looked the same...
My dry weight has to be worked out and this process might take a little longer,
because to my surprise I have noticed, that through the stress I went through before starting with dialysis,
I have lost quite a bit of weight, but it was not really noticed at the time,
because my actual weight-loss was "covered up" by my water-retention.
Thank you very much for pointing out the possible context of night-sweats and low blood pressure !
I had no idea that there may be a context and I certainly shall check my blood pressure when it happens next time.
Thanks again from Kristina.

[Jean]

Oh boy Iketchum is back and we are all in for trouble!!! LOL, good to see you.

[Sugarlump]

I suffer from terrible night sweats ... can't bear hardly any covering at night, even when it's -2 outside!!!
Rumour has it is is a side effect of medications we take for heart or bp...
Bit difficult to stop taking them and find out!

[skinnacat]

i have the opposite problem...i am always freezing ..at night i have my jammies and a sweater and three
blankets on my bed plus my comforter....seems like i am always cold
this was a big problem before dialysis and has never gotten better with dialysis

[kristina]

That is most interesting Sugarlump and skinnacat, because during my last months of "hanging-on" to remain pre-dialysis
I was terribly freezing every day and night (wearing my warmest winter-clothes plus carrying a hot water-bottle on my body
whilst being in my warm home),
But as soon as I started with dialysis, I stopped freezing, but suddenly I had terrible problems with sweating during the night...
... (my pyjamas and the bed had to be changed in the middle of the night)...
,,, and fortunately that problem has "gone its course" by now as well
and does not happen anymore either...

P.S. I just hope, there is not another problem lurking around the corner... 'cause I would like to have a little break from it all right now...

[Sugarlump]

The pre-dialysis feeling cold all the time (or indeed when on dialysis) during the day, can often be put down to low hb. Anemia makes you feel the cold particularly in
your extremities (fingers and toes) 

[kristina]

Thank you again, Sugarlump.
It is true that before starting dialysis and during the first three weeks of being on dialysis,
I was very anaemic and the anaemia only started to ease after I was about three weeks on dialysis ...
... Now I feel much better, much more alive and the cold feeling has gone as well ...
... and my water-bottles are not needed anymore either ...
Thanks again from Kristina.

[Sugarlump]

We were watching Escape to The Country on television and they had some wonderful cheap properties in Scotland, near Inverness.
Detached, large garden, great views...
but Drew said I would never handle the cold...
He's probably right, though snow would be fun (maybe) 

[skinnacat]

i agree kristina...i was so cold all the time before dialysis and it was even when i was in stage 4 kidney failure.
now i just got my blood tests and i am not anemic...i have never been anemic through this whole thing
and don't need that shot either...its just weird how cold i still get...maybe has something to do with pd dialysis
i really don't know...i also have severly underactve thyroid too...its been like this scince i was 30 years old...about 12
years...but i take this medicine synthroid for that and it levels it out.

[Charlie B53]

I am on PD.  Prior to that I had terrible night sweats, whole body.  Couldn't use but a sheet or one very light blanket, and only used that to partially cover my chest, leaving  the whole of my butt and legs totally uncovered.

Once started on PD my sweats gradually went away.  And I''ve gone cold, using a heavy blanket, totally covered.  The coldness progressed.  I started waking up cold, and difficult to get back to sleep.  I added a second blanket.  That was fine for almost a year.  All during this time, last winter, I found that I couldn't get outside and play in the snow with the G'kids.  I got too cold too fast.  Sometimes seeemed like it took a couple DAYS before I felt comfortably warm enough again.  Now I've added a third blanket.  I can get to sleep rather quickly again.  We are having a relatively lilght winter, so far, but I still get too chilled outside for even a short time.

I grew up in Eastern Washington state.  Winters in Yakima would warm UP to zero on a good day in the 1960's.  I learned how to dress for the cold, and wind.  It isn't working for me now.

The other thing I've noticed is my skin seems to be (?) thinning.  It doesn't take much to break my skin, the slightest scrape and it tears open, and bleeds.  The combination of meds and the two aspirin a day to keep me from flushing so bad when I take my niacin, my blood is slow to clot.  A small scratch and it just runs, down the arm or leg,and I have to put a 'wimp sticker' on and hold it direct pressure, for a few minutes to get it to stop.

Keeping the house at 72 I have to get up and fully dressed or I feel like it''s freezing in here.

[kristina]

Many thanks for your thoughts, Sugarlump, skinnacat and CharlieB53.
Sugarlump, I also could fancy to live in Scotland, especially in St. Andrews (!), Inverness or Gretna Green ...
... but Scotland can be bitingly cold, even during the summer-time, despite the wonderful humanitarian warmths of the Scots...
... I remember Turnberry during one summer, when I was wearing - over my usual clothes - a warm winter-coat as well,
plus a warm shawl and a hat... I am very sorry Sugarlump, but if you feel the cold so easily,
living in Scotland could be a bit difficult to create as "your ticket"...
I am very sorry skinnacat, that you still feel cold and perhaps it is connected to PD or your thyroid or your medicines?
Have the doctors given you an idea about it? I can imagine that it could be hard to find out
and I wish you very good luck to find the reason for your feeling so cold...
... Thank you Charlie, it is strange, that at first you had night sweats and then you have started to feel cold...
... When I first started to feel so cold, I added some very warm Angora-items to my clothes and it helped ...
... Could it be that your skin is thinning and sensitive to scratching etc. because of the Aspirin?
I had to take daily 75mg Aspirin for a long time after suffering the stroke, but I had to stop taking Aspirin,
because it created constant nose-bleeds and also skin-bleeds which occurred suddenly without any apparant reason.
These nose-bleeds and skin-bleeds only stopped after (in agreement with the doctors) I stopped to take Aspirin for good ...
On the Internet there are some vegetables mentioned in connection with assisting the body to avoid blood-clots...
,,, but please ask your doctor about it first.
Thanks again from Kristina.

[Lucinda]

Hi Kristina

Side-effects suck.  I have been on dialysis going on seven years and initially I had absolutely no side effects but recently I have been vomiting numerous times after each dialysis and nauseated almost 24/7. 

I have researched everything because my dialysis team were no help at all.  The aching bones and muscles could be caused by low calcium levels or if you are taking off too much fluid, sounds a lot, dehydration will cause bone and muscle pain.  The night sweats will be dehydrating you even more.  As others have said, blood pressure medicines and cholesterol meds will give you night sweats.

I have been so sick with acid reflux and vomiting that my graft blocked from the dehydration - and I don't even take fluid off during dialysis.  I haven't had to.  I had surgery on Sunday and then did massive amounts of research to determine what the underlying problem is.  The hospital just stick a bandaid on the problem and send you home. Have managed to keep the little residual function I had left by doing short hours more often.  I tried everything to fix the acid reflux but evidently rife in dialysis patients.  Anyhow, after hours of research, I dropped my somac and sodibic because with the concentration of sodium bicarbonate in my dialysis prescription, I was overdosing on sodium bicarbonate that will cause nausea and vomiting.  It also makes your body over-produce acid to compensate for the massive doses of sodium bicarbonate.  So make sure your medications are not a contra-indication to your dialysis prescription.  I went through six years with no issue at all and now, as they say, long term side effects are settling in.  But, as I have found out, that is just the usual line from nephrologists.  There is always a reason and I don't believe anything can't be reversed if it has been ok in the past. It is just easy for the docs to fall back on long term side effects.

Anyhow, I hope you feel better soon.  But measure your meds up against your dialysis prescription and make sure you are no taking too much of any one chemical.

[kristina]

Thank you Lucinda and welcome back !
Apart from my daily antihypertensives, daily water-medication plus "my" regular Epo, I don't take any further medication.
I have read, that it is very important for "us" on dialysis, to keep the medication to an absolute minimum,
as a precaution for our body not to get "run down" too quickly...
I am very sorry that your dialysis-team is not much of a help and like yourself... that makes it so much harder for you... 
... I have read that taking off too much fluid during dialysis can cause dehydration and/or severe cramps ...
I did not quite understand when you write that the hospital "just stick to bandaid the problem" ? What does it mean ?
... I am very sorry for your acid-reflux, it sounds terrible and it is so sad that it is connected to dialysis,
because that makes it so much more difficult to do something about it whilst being on dialysis...
Could it be that the acid-fluid-problem starts to become a problem after being on dialysis for several years?
It is also very sad that you were medically "overdosed" on bicarbonate-soda. That sort of thing seems to be easily done by medics these days :
Before I started with dialysis I was medically severely "overdosed" with calcium and it started quite a few years earlier
without me - as the patient - to have a chance and realize the great danger of it ...
... Perhaps the dosage of such medicines is very much connected with the precise weight of patients
and doctors have not yet sorted it out precisely... ?
... I have a suspicion that "my" medically prescribed overdose of calcium caused some completely dormand cancer-cells
to "get inspired" and start growing ...
Fortunately I reacted very quickly, had the operation and radiotherapy "done" very quickly and so I could carry on with my life...
...Naturally I have avoided calcium ever since and I have also completely avoided the doctor who overdosed me with calcium
and fortunately I had no cancer-relaps ever since and have been medically cleared by my cancer specialist to go ahead with a kidney-transplant ...
Thanks for reminding me to check-up on my medication, I shall take great care about it in the future.
Thanks again Lucinda for your thoughts and thanks for coming back to IHD
and I do hope that everything that has medically gone wrong for you, reverses itself back so that you soon get better again.
Thanks again from Kristina.