There has to be a clause in the Geneva Conventions for this kind of torture

[Riki]

I was wondering if anyone else has this problem.  About 2 hours into my treatment I get so cold that I don't just shiver, but my whole body quakes.  My joints and my muscles, especially in my legs, get incredibly sore and I usually have a headache caused by teeth chatter.  No amount of warm blankets will make a difference, and there really isn't anything else the nurses can do.  I got the nurse to check the dialysate temp on the machine, and it was set to half a degree below my body temp, so that isn't the problem.

This is torture.  Once my blood is back, the full body quake stops, but I do a normal shiver for hours afterward, and deal with the muscle and joint pain.  A couple of times this summer, I've come home and turned on my heater fan to warm myself up.  Anyone in the Northeast knows that this summer hasn't exactly been cold either.  It's been unusually hot and humid, and I had to turn on an artificial heat source to warm up.

Does anyone else have this issue?  How do you deal with it?  Have you any tips?  It doesn't happen with every treatment, but when it does, I feel like coming off early and going home,  but I know I can't do it, so I suffer it out.

I think the CIA should start using this as an interrogation technique

[Michael Murphy]

Had the problem several years ago brought in electric blanket.  Stopped when there was heated chairs.

[cassandra]

Are you allowed to have the dialysate temp higher than your body temp? It was the only thing that helped for me.


Good luck Riki, Cas

[Rerun]

My machine is set at 36.3.  What is your set at?  My body temp is in F and my machine is in C so that makes no sense to me.  But, I know at 36.3 I do OK.  And I know I can go higher.  I also have heated chairs and that is a God Send.  Maybe layer your clothes up.  Wear an extra shell under your top.  I hate being cold! 

Look at the machine yourself to see the temp.  Don't trust the sadistic staff.

[GA_DAWG]

I don't know that it would work for cold from dialysis, but when the weather is really cold, the only way I can warm up is a really hot shower. Something about the hot water running down the back warms me much better than any other source of heat.

[Riki]

Had the problem several years ago brought in electric blanket.  Stopped when there was heated chairs.

We're not allowed electric blankets or heating pads.  I'm not really sure what the reason is.  I don't see them ever getting heated chairs.  It's government.  They always go cheap.

Are you allowed to have the dialysate temp higher than your body temp? It was the only thing that helped for me.

It's supposed to be set at half a degree below my body temp.  That's the standard for everybody.  My temp is usually around 36.4, and last night I was told that the machine was set for 36.  It used to be set every time at 35.5 because I have low bp, but I managed to get the doctor to discontinue that practice.

My machine is set at 36.3.  What is your set at?  My body temp is in F and my machine is in C so that makes no sense to me.  But, I know at 36.3 I do OK.  And I know I can go higher.  I also have heated chairs and that is a God Send.  Maybe layer your clothes up.  Wear an extra shell under your top.  I hate being cold! 

Look at the machine yourself to see the temp.  Don't trust the sadistic staff.

I wear a tshirt with fleece pj pants or jogging pants and slippers.  That's just what I walk in wearing.  Once I'm in the room (after I'm weighed) I put on a hoodie with the arms cut off cuz I have an upper arm fistula, and to compensate for no sleeves, I have fingerless gloves that go up to my elbows. And once all that is on, I have a fleece throw blanket to cover myself with

[kitkatz]

Get skier hand warmers and put them under your blanket during treatment.  I use one but you may want two.
When I get cold I will put the hand warmer on my chest under my blanket and let it warm my core.
Also wear a warm woolen hat. The head can be a heat sink or cold sink.

[Charlie B53]

A couple of things.

Talk to your Dr about raising the machine temp much closer to your normal temp as .4 C is more than .5 F

Feet and head are both heat losers if not dresses properly.  The hoodie is a good thing, covering y our head.  But only slippers on your feet may not be enough to prevent chills, especially if you have lower than normal BP's.  Blood circulation is critical to maintaining an even temp.  Slow flow can lose temp, then the feet feel chilled and can begin the shivers in attempt to warm the body.

I always bring a second fleece blanky for those times I feel a bit cooler than normal.  I use it to cover my chest shoulders and non-fistula arm.  It makes the difference for me.

[Riki]

Our unit has a blanket warmer, but they use regular hospital blankets in it.  They only stay warm for about 5 minutes or so, and after that, I just find them heavy.  A few people in my unit wrap themselves in these blankets, like they are in their own little cocoon, but I can't do that.  I feel like I'm being buried alive

I do have a heating pad that I bought that is USB powered, but the power bank I was going to use no longer holds a charge, so I need to find a new one.  My thought is that if I have that over my chest, under the blankie, it might help some.  I'd have to hide it, since technically, we're not allowed heating pads

[GA_DAWG]

I go ahead and pulll the blanket over my head, and if they say something about it, I tell them to turn up the F'ing thermostat and I will gladly uncover it.

[Rerun]

    

[Riki]

Our heating is controlled by a central system.  Since the unit is in an ambulatory centre and most of the clinics in that section of the hospital are closed by 7pm, I think that the heat is automatically turned down because they don't believe anyone is still there, but we're there till after 10pm.  The unit is supposed to be open till 11:30pm, but the nurses usually leave once all the patients are gone

Some nights, I see the nurses with heated blankets over their shoulders, so it's not just me that is cold.  Last night, in the last 10 minutes of my run, one of the nurses put a couple of heated blankets over me because she saw how badly I was shivering

[coldhoist]

At my center, they keep the air cranked up. I sit right under the air vent and the cold air kills me.  My blanket does no good. It is sheer torture. I am totally uncomfortable for four hours. I am at a point where I dread going to dialysis. Yes, it truly is torture.

[Paul]

I go ahead and pulll the blanket over my head, and if they say something about it, I tell them to turn up the F'ing thermostat and I will gladly uncover it.

Sort of tried that the other day: We had the air conditioning on, on a cold day. I was so cold I was cocooned under the blanket. The head nurse asked me to lower the blanket, so I responded with "I will if you turn the bloody air conditioning off." To my surprise he did!
 
However his shift ended an hour before my dialysis ended, and his replacement turned it back on again.

[GA_DAWG]

At our center, there was a day where the high temperature outside was 36 degrees, and the AC was runnig full blast inside. You would think that with all the cost cutting  being done, corporte would look at the electricity bills and tell them to  knock it off with the AC. Even with a blanket, the AC blowing directly down in your facw makes it impossible to stay warm.

[Riki]

Fall has kicked in here, so the AC is turned off and the heat is on, so it's not quite as bad.  I still need my blanket, sweater and gloves, but I'm at least comfortable now.  That could change, though

[Michael Murphy]

The CMS has just lowered the minimum temperature however it requires clinics to allow reasonable accomidations for patients who are cold,

[GA_DAWG]

Here, it is colder inside the center than it is suring summer. They run the A/C just the same. I swear, one day it was 46 degrees outside, and they had the A/C runni g inside, and the techs were still yelling they were hot. Kevlar aprons do not allow any air through and the face shields keep out cool air and lock in hot breath. No amount of A/C changes that.

[SweetyPie]

I wish my clinic had heating chairs but I don't know if that will happen or not. What I do is I always wear a hoodie so my head is covered. With that I have an undershirt. I wear two pairs of pants. Thermals or pajama pants then sweats on top. Sometimes I tuck in my long sock into my long pair of socks on the colder days but yeah I wear long socks. And I don't use a blanket. but lately Ive been hating myself when I wear so many layers of clothes because how crappy and hot Ive been feeling at dialysis.

[GA_DAWG]

I have been told that any new chairs at Fresenius will be without heaters. More good news.

[Riki]

We will never have heated chairs because government

[kitkatz]

I have never been to a Fresenius or Davita that has heated seats.  Must be nice.

[GA_DAWG]

I have also been told that the director at our clinic has told the techs not to plug in any electric blankets.

[Riki]

I have also been told that the director at our clinic has told the techs not to plug in any electric blankets.

We're not allowed electric blankets or heating pads, and no one has ever explained to me why

[Michael Murphy]

In the US new CMS regulation require accommodations for patients who are cold.  In my clinic I plug in a usb charger for my iPad and iPhone.  If  I plug into the street power not the power receptacle for the Dialysys machine no complains.  Once some one did since someone plugged my dialysi s machine into street power.  Pointed out it was against code to plug in a dialysis system into street power made them move it, to say the least the tech was reamed by the charge nurse for not moving the system earlier.  After that no one has bothered me.  Plus if it’s cold out I bring a heating pad in case I get a chair that is not heated.