Chills after 2 hours during treatment

[jo]

My mom had really bad chills today after 2 hours of starting the treatment. We asked the tech to give her tylenol. The chills disappeared 20 mins after taking tylenol and then we stopped the treatment halfway and came back home. Has anyone experienced this before? I am very worried about that and we are monitoring her right now to see if she gets those chills again. What could have caused those chills? Thank you.

[Michael Murphy]

I assume your mother was undergoing hemo and was cold.  In my center the workers wear paper coats that make them hotter ( the paper coats are coated to stop blood so they don't breath like cloth.). Now they are on their feet constantly running between patients.  They want the room cool.  The problem is the patients are sitting without moving much for 3 to 5 hours.  This is made worse for the patients whose blood  pressure is dropping, they generally feel the cold sooner they patients with high or normal pressure.
Now wat to do,  I during the winter stop using a blanket and move up to a comforter,  this usually keeps me warmer.  When I am still cold I ask for my blood to be warmer when they return it (sounds strange but heating my blood up a couple of degrees actually makes me feel warmer.  Good luck, dialysis is bad enough without feeling cold as you sit there,

[Xplantdad]

Hi Jo-In general...

In center they can choose a setting on the machine to warm the blood a bit as it's circulated through the machine. You have to keep in mind that the blood it outside of the body cycling through the machine constantly..so it's very common for people to get the chills during treatment. That's why most centers provide new patients with blankets....and most veteran patients will usually have a bag with at least one more blanket (and a pillow, etc)

On NXStage home hemo, there are a few settings that you can choose to help with the chills...including heating the dialysate (either hanging bags or the pureflow)...to help alleviate the cold/chills.

That being said, people who are more predisposed to getting chills/cold (i.e. poor circulation) will get colder quicker. Also, if someone has a fever while on treatment, they can experience chills as well!

Finally in our Fresenius center (and us at home doing home hemo) wear the white "SMS Versa Gowns" which meet certain criteria for being liquid repellent See here: http://amdritmed.com/bin/Medicom/public/uploads/catalogs/530762713b848.pdf

Hope this helps a bit! 

[jo]

Hi Jo-In general...

In center they can choose a setting on the machine to warm the blood a bit as it's circulated through the machine. You have to keep in mind that the blood it outside of the body cycling through the machine constantly..so it's very common for people to get the chills during treatment. That's why most centers provide new patients with blankets....and most veteran patients will usually have a bag with at least one more blanket (and a pillow, etc)

On NXStage home hemo, there are a few settings that you can choose to help with the chills...including heating the dialysate (either hanging bags or the pureflow)...to help alleviate the cold/chills.

That being said, people who are more predisposed to getting chills/cold (i.e. poor circulation) will get colder quicker. Also, if someone has a fever while on treatment, they can experience chills as well!

Finally in our Fresenius center (and us at home doing home hemo) wear the white "SMS Versa Gowns" which meet certain criteria for being liquid repellent See here: http://amdritmed.com/bin/Medicom/public/uploads/catalogs/530762713b848.pdf

Hope this helps a bit! 

Last night, she had a fever but no chills and we gave her tylenol. Again, she experienced slight chills today. Today is not her dialysis day. I think we should take her to the ER if the fever and the chills continues.

[trenton6013]

whenever I have the chills, I always think my blood sugar levels are really low.  I have noticed that if my blood sugar levels are high like 180 and above, I'm warm which is weird