Exercising with a Fistula

[JamesE]

   Well I have an AV fistula in my left forearm and it is the best thing that i could have done for dialysis. But iv lost alot of muscle tone and weight since i began dialysis. Im just wondering what would be the best course of action for exercising with a fistula. I want to begin lifting some weights but im worried that i might do something to ruin it and I just cant go back to using a catheter.

[mcclane]

Yes, you can exercise with a fistula, I do it (that includes weight training too).

However, I found out this tid bit from my pharmacist.  If you become muscular your veins become fibrous, making it roll easy, which means it will be much harder to needle.  I use blunts and I find if I do an intense bicep exercise, it becomes next to impossible to needle (I highly suspect that the hole in the vein has rolled elsewhere, even upside down).  If you use sharps, then it might not be as bad.

[Riki]

I was told not to lift anything overly heavy with my fistula arm, but that could just be because I haven't got the best veins, and they don't want me to do anything that might harm my fistula.

[Rain]

I was told as long as your fiistula is doing well you can exercise but not to over do it.  If you are lifting weights and it starts getting too "heavy" drop the weight instead of strain yourself since straining could be bad for your fistula.
So far I do between 5-10 lbs of free weights.

[mcclane]

everyone is different, but i've had to stop weight training.  I find it really makes the vein squirrelly and hard to find the 2nd hole in the vein.  If I just keep it at cardio training, I can get the flash relatively quick.