Low bp but fluid overload

[AaishaDar]

Hi all,
So last Sunday I woke up feeling swollen which isnt likely now that I have really controlled my fluid intake. I know I did not drink much so my next thought was it was probably salt. When I calculated everything it did seem I was consuming too much salt. So Tuesday was my treatment. I was 41.6 kg and my dry weight is 38 kg. Yeah. I know. I was way over. My mac to handle is 2.3 at the most sometimes 2.5. I was set to take off 2.3 that day but now a days my bp has gotten so low they havent been able to remove much. My bp has been 80/60 And I left dialysis still fluid overloaded. Same story Thursday. Then today my bp was extra low about 83/40. I really pushed to try and take off 2.5 i had to turn off the water when I had 30 min remaining. I could tell I did take some off because weight was a tiny bit better 39.3 kg. Towards the end all of a sudden I felt really sleepy..
 Could that be because of my blood pressure?  I was given some saline afterwards. I would like to take all my water off especially during the weekends because then i just catch myself staring at people drinking water or juice... it can be really hard to restrict myself from drinking. Im doing pretty good it just gets hard.

[cassandra]

Hi Aaisha I'm sorry if I asked before, but you're not on bp meds or diuretics? And are you eating enough protein?


Wishing you love, luck and wisdom, Cas

[Michael Murphy]

There are various  problems in calculating dry weight if you have gained a few pounds the attempt to reach dry weight can be dropping your BP. In my case this occurs when my digestive tract has stopped processing and the resulting backlog of solids push my weight up.  My only suggestion is to take your concerns to your nephrologist for a evaluation. 

[AaishaDar]

Im not on any bp meds. I feel like Im eating enough protein my albumin is at 4 so I think thats great. So im sure you guys know adult doctors dont really seem to do much... my bp has been low for a while now and they dont seem concerned. This is way different from my other doctors ive jad before.

[Rerun]

Sweat it off!  Either exercise or find a sauna.  That is what
I do but not saying it is safe...  Sauna's have rules...

[Charlie B53]

Maintaining very low gains between treatments takes a lot of practice.  Changing diet is near the top of the list.  Eating far less PROCESSED foods, especially wheat flour and sugar.  Natural forms of starches, bean, sugars, fruits, and a large selection of vegetables.  Limiting fluid intakes as the vegetables and fruits contain much of the necessary daily fluid.  I start my day with a large cup of coffee, but generall I only allow myself a single mouthful of cold water when my mouth and throat dries out enough that a few grapes won't 'wet' me well enough.  Surprisingly, that mouthful is all it takes.  I am 224 but I've always been told that I have a BIG Mouth!  Your results may vary.

Caffeine has to be limited to the minimum amount you need.  Excess can cause other strange symptoms depending upon your individual system.

I often suspect many of our problems may be resolved with the appropriate changes in how much and what we eat.  Nothing wrong with more natural.








Sp mod Cas

[smartcookie]

I would ask if you can get a blood pressure medication to raise your blood pressure before dialysis treatments.  It will help you not crash when pulling fluids.  Our physicians prescribe Midodrine a lot.  You just take it an hour before dialysis and it gives you some wiggle room when trying to pull fluid.  Hope this helps!

[GA_DAWG]

At first, I was on two BP medicines, lisinopril and carvedilol. I had problems with bottoming out and passing out. Thedoctor told me not to take any BP medicine before dialysis, and that pretty much ended the carvedilol. Since then, I have not really had problems, though occassionally it will still drop into the 90s during the first couple of hours of dialysis.

[Charlie B53]

My BP's have always run very high.  High enough Dr is happy if I can maintain 150's.

I did have to switch my lisinopril from a.m. to p.m. as I occasionally would have those pressure drops when bending over to pick up the dead-fall sticks in the yard from the trees.  Actually passed out a couple of times.  Surprising.

Neph has also had me switch another BP med from early mornings to just after Dialysis treatment as the med can be filtered out and wasted.  All meds should be reviewed with your Neph to be sure which should be taken either before or after treatments.












Sp mod Cas

[Riki]

My bp has been running low for years.  It's to the point where as soon as I'm on the machine, my bp dips into the 90s.  My thing is, I have no symptoms.  I don't cramp, I don't get lightheaded, and if I'm sleepy, it's probably because I've just done a full day of college classes and I'm tired. *L*  The drs have given me different parameters.  The nurses don't need to react to my low bp unless I'm having symptoms.  The hard part is getting the nurses to adhere to that.  Because they feel the need to put the machine in minimum the second I go below 100, when the doctor has said to leave it.  One of the doctors, when I asked him about it, said that even if my bp drops below 90, as long as it's not too low, and I"m not symptomatic, it should be left.  The nurses won't do it, though.  They've even been known to change my goal without telling me, so I end up not getting the fluid off.  I know that low bp isn't good, for a lot of reasons, but I'd rather get the fluid off if I can, because I've had pulmonary hypertension, caused by excess fluid.  It was a scary time, because of how hard it was to keep breath, and there is so little information out there about this type of PH.  Everything I read said that my heart was damaged or in failure, when that wasn't the case at all.  I don't want to go through it again.

I do carry, on the rare occasion that I need it, the flavor packets from ramen noodles.  IF I'm feeling the low bp, like feeling lightheaded, I'll have one of the nurses dump the packet into a cup of hot water, and then I'll drink it.  Within 10 minutes, my bp tends to go back up and I"m feeling better

[kitkatz]

Same thing has happened to my BP.  I have no symptoms and feel fine while on the machine.
The nurses and techs and I have a rule to let it go until it falls into 80s, then sit me up and take the bp again.

[GA_DAWG]

I don't have any explanation for it, but my bp drops, usually into the 90s during the first two hours of treatment. Then it slowly begins to rise again. Usually thy just leave me to sleep now instead of waking me.

[Charlie B53]

The salt in the ramen packet causing a new immediate increase in BP makes me wonder.  Can BP be affected by a change in electrolytes?  This would require a few lab tests to be done, sort of a baseline, then an immediate sample when the condition begins then another immediately after the recovery after the administration of the salt packet.  Seeing a swing in electrolyte ranges of three samples may provide an important clue to the cause and also help figure out a method of drug/salts administration during treatments to prevent future episodes.    Talk to your Dr again.

The body is a marvelous electro-chemical machine that does respond to cause and effect.  Careful testing is required to figure out the how's and why's without doing further damage.

[Riki]

The salt in the ramen packet causing a new immediate increase in BP makes me wonder.  Can BP be affected by a change in electrolytes?  This would require a few lab tests to be done, sort of a baseline, then an immediate sample when the condition begins then another immediately after the recovery after the administration of the salt packet.  Seeing a swing in electrolyte ranges of three samples may provide an important clue to the cause and also help figure out a method of drug/salts administration during treatments to prevent future episodes.    Talk to your Dr again.

The body is a marvelous electro-chemical machine that does respond to cause and effect.  Careful testing is required to figure out the how's and why's without doing further damage.

Considering that it's something that my unit has been doing for years, putting bullion cubes in hot water and making those of us with low bp drink it to bring up the bp, I would say that there is either some kind of research done on the subject, or it's just a trial and error method that actually worked

[Michael Murphy]

Bullion cubes are loaded with salt.  They work and so does a saline drip. Coffee also is used in some places and the guy sitting next to me swears by a piece of chocolate. 

[kitkatz]

Floored the new tech yesterday when my 70 BP sitting went over 100 when I was standing.   Yes, I have weird BP.