How Long Does It Take to Die Once You Quit Dialysis?

[kristina]

I am very thankfull that PD is working so well.  How long?  I can only hope, as my needle phobia would make going on Hemo a traumatic experience, every time.

Hello Charlie, I "do" Hemo in a good Dialysis-Center and with my "tunneled" (for greater safety) Chest-Catheter,
I don't experience any pain at all (touch wood it may continue like that)...
... I was told by doctors that tunneled Chest-Catheters are very safe these days ...
... Have you considered this option?

[noahvale]

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[kristina]

Thank you noahvale for all the useful information about catheters
and I shall read it all and "take in" the information you have so kindly provided.
It is true, perhaps I come over as being a little "euphoric" about my brandnew well working catheter,
but that is understandable, because I was horrified at the thought of dialysis before I started with it
and now, after having started with dialysis, I feel a bit euphoric, because dialysis does not seem to be as petrifying
as I imagined whilst fighting all those years to remain pre-dialysis...
Thanks again from Kristina.

[noahvale]

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[gothiclovemonkey]

i wonder, how many bananas would it take to kill us? what would happen?

[Whamo]

I did hemodialysis for two years.  Then I went to PD.  I had trouble adapting but it was tolerable.  Now, after six years, it doesn't work anymore, and the doctors put me back on hemo.  The first session wasn't bad, until the end.  The second session, on a Monday, was horrible, they took off four kilos.  I watched my fluids like a hawk.  Then this morning, dialysis ended with a cramp in my left lower leg.  My nurse helped by lowering my feet.  I drank my pickle juice and it worked.  They took off two kilos.  My weight keeps going down because I hardly eat anything and don't drink much.  But afterwards I was wiped out all day.  I have four surgeries coming up because of skin cancer.  Last night they poked me five times taking biopsies.  I can barely walk out of the kidney center to my car.  At a restaurant people open doors for me because I'm so slow.  I take sponge baths, but feel dirty anyways.  I have my PD tube on my belly, and a new access on my left shoulder.  I can't perform my usual chores.  I just took a Norco and drank eight ounces of water.  That, and two eight ounce cups of coffee, was my total fluid intake for the day.  At 67, on dialysis, skin cancer tumors all over my body, I feel so suicidal, I even hate my rock and roll.  I want to finish my screenplay about Disneyland, but its hard work unless I'm stoned.  I feel I've had a great life: surfing, drugs, drink, dolls, travel, great jobs, bad jobs, and a great wife and I love my step son and his new son a lot.  I published books on Disneyland, Real Estate Ethics, and got to meet great people.  I think the easiest way to pass would be to eat a lot of potassium.  I'd rather OD on heroin, but I couldn't score at my age.  I hate to leave my wife alone.  Even though I paid off the mortgage to the house, have gold mining stocks that should make a fortune soon, and I'm pretty sure my mother would give her a portion of my inheritance.  Has anyone else gone through doing chemo, switching to PD, and then switched back to hemodialysis, and adapted? 

[kristina]

I did hemodialysis for two years.  Then I went to PD.  I had trouble adapting but it was tolerable.  Now, after six years, it doesn't work anymore, and the doctors put me back on hemo.  The first session wasn't bad, until the end.  The second session, on a Monday, was horrible, they took off four kilos.  I watched my fluids like a hawk.  Then this morning, dialysis ended with a cramp in my left lower leg.  My nurse helped by lowering my feet.  I drank my pickle juice and it worked.  They took off two kilos.  My weight keeps going down because I hardly eat anything and don't drink much.  But afterwards I was wiped out all day.  I have four surgeries coming up because of skin cancer.  Last night they poked me five times taking biopsies.  I can barely walk out of the kidney center to my car.  At a restaurant people open doors for me because I'm so slow.  I take sponge baths, but feel dirty anyways.  I have my PD tube on my belly, and a new access on my left shoulder.  I can't perform my usual chores.  I just took a Norco and drank eight ounces of water.  That, and two eight ounce cups of coffee, was my total fluid intake for the day.  At 67, on dialysis, skin cancer tumors all over my body, I feel so suicidal, I even hate my rock and roll.  I want to finish my screenplay about Disneyland, but its hard work unless I'm stoned.  I feel I've had a great life: surfing, drugs, drink, dolls, travel, great jobs, bad jobs, and a great wife and I love my step son and his new son a lot.  I published books on Disneyland, Real Estate Ethics, and got to meet great people.  I think the easiest way to pass would be to eat a lot of potassium.  I'd rather OD on heroin, but I couldn't score at my age.  I hate to leave my wife alone.  Even though I paid off the mortgage to the house, have gold mining stocks that should make a fortune soon, and I'm pretty sure my mother would give her a portion of my inheritance.  Has anyone else gone through doing chemo, switching to PD, and then switched back to hemodialysis, and adapted?

Hello Whamo, when reading your thoughts about your life etc., it becomes very difficult to give you any advice. After all, you have done a lot, seen a lot and it sounds as if you have really enjoyed every minute of it ... until now...
But ... despite all that ... there are still “things” and ideas waiting to be sorted out like finishing your screenplay about Disneyland and I am sure you ponder about some other interesting ideas as well... and then, of course, you hate to leave your wife behind and your stepson and his son. Are you sure you want to miss out on seeing how they are going to do in the future?
Of course, the skin cancer has to be treated urgently, it needs to be sorted out a.s.a.p. and it needs to be observed in the future as well, but at the same time you are with your family. Do you really want to miss out to see the Little One growing up? Your future-life sounds very interesting to me, especially after you have sorted out the cancer treatment and have accepted to go along with hemo-dialysis...
"My" own cancer was diagnosed when I was still pre-dialysis and that was the reason why I had to wait such a long time on the transplant-waiting-list for my kidney-transplant to “come along”. But at least I was put on the transplant-waiting-list and did go through it and then my transplant-treatment came along and gave me a much better survival-chance. This situation was not easy either, especially since my husband was diagnosed with cancer during his work-up to donate a kidney to me. Fortunately right now, we are both still “here and kicking” : me with my kidney-transplant and my husband is cancer-free right now and I do wish you good luck and all the best and please think it all over again and I do hope you decide to carry on and get this bad patch behind you a.s.a.p. and enjoy your family whilst you recover and get better. I was on hemo-dialysis as well and it was no fun, but in order to continue living I continued with it and have no regrets because of the good result after my transplant. Mind you, the first year after my transplant was pretty difficult, but I am still here and “things” are going much better now.
I send you my good-luck-wishes from Kristina and please re-think and please don’t forget that nothing is ever eaten as boiling hot as it is being cooked... (=that is an old Continental saying ...)

[Leektone]

I wanted to address the topic of how long it takes to die once you quit dialysis. I was told I was about to die from kidney failure in 2007. I had no symptoms. I was 45 years old. I was hustled onto dialysis before I even knew what it was. i had both hemodialysis and the peritoneal kind. After about nine months, I hated it so much, I quit. I was told I would die very shortly.

Well, that was 14 years ago. I kept waiting to die, but the only effect of quitting dialysis was that I felt much better. I got a great job, enjoyed my life and kind of forgot about dialysis. Finally, last year, I started to have edema and other symptoms. I will not be going on dialysis, but I consider the 13 symptomless years I had a great gift.

Sadly, they refused to put me on the transplant list in 2007 unless I stayed on dialysis. If they hadn’t been such jerks about it, I could have had a transplant several years ago and never have been on dialysis at all.

If you are young and in good health, I would recommend not letting one doctor railroad you into dialysis. There are new managed care strategies for people like me that not all doctors care about. I wonder why. But I could have spent years on dialysis waiting for a transplant unable to get a decent job, suffering from side effects, etc.. but it turns out it would have been completely unnecessary.

So if you are young and don’t feel sick, before you are rushed into the dialysis clinic, I recommend you get a second opinion.

[Hereware]

Wow! That's very encouraging. Thanks for sharing your story,.

[frugallyzing]

No can really tell us how much we have in this world. It's how much you want to stay and what you're gonna do about it.

[Qswee]

It's important that we live each day with a grateful heart. Be happy and be at peace that you lived well.