All the Best in the New Yr to everyone..can u please share your experiences

[Thalia]

on this.  My Mom (90) was doing extremely well for her first month on dialysis.  As of this week she's regressed considerably...euremia (shaking to the point where she's fallen twice..unhurt), severe fluid overload (no urine output in about 3 days)they'd not removed any fluid for the last several sessions due to cramping and the fact that she was still producing urine. I had them do 1k on her last tment but that did not help much.  Her nephro will be seeing her this afternoon when we go in for treatment..but I was just curious about other's experience. 

Also, her appetite's gone from bad to non-existent. One of the techs mentioned that the machine's take away the appetite..anyone else encounter this?

[Lori1851]

Thalia,
My son really doesn't have an appetite. He eats when he is hungry and thats not alot. I know from reading kidney disease can cause food to have a metallic taste. Is that not right friends?
Lori/Indiana

[Thalia]

Lori..it's so strange..she went from not eating at al pre-dialysis to been ravenous all the time (post-dialysis..very small meals)..then that tapered off an we're now at 2 protein shakes a day.

i'm thinking we must be at another threshold.. where her kidneys have failed completely...they were at 6% pre-dialysis.

guess this will mean more time on the machines...she's currently 3.5 hrs

[boxman55]

From producing an amount of urine to not at all will increase your fluid retention and you must be aware of your fluid intake. They need to determine your mom's dry weight and get the excess fluid off of her. Fluid retention will cause tiredness, walking difficulties, very hard on the heart, and so on. She won't need more then 3.5 hours at a time as they can pull fluid as much as they want in that amount of time. As you said she needs to meet with her Nepth. The appetite problem will come around once you get her under control...Boxman

[BigSky]

You should also ask for her to be put on a crit-line.  It will tell them roughly how much fluid she has on her and they can then pull it accordingly.

[orphans_mom]

My husband went from little appetite to no appetite. He has been on dialysis since 8/12. He eats very little and is hardly ever hungry. He has had no problems with cramping. He has regained output but not "quality" output. They take off about 2-4 kg each session like clockwork 3 days a week.

I hope things get under control quickly. Is she drinking a lot of fluids? Could other medications be a problem?

[Thalia]

thanks guys...aside fram the "as needed meds" for cramping, itching, stomach pain, diabetic neuropathy (and we no longer need them much) she's not on any meds....she does tend to drink a fair bit...Nepro is the only thing keeping her going and she craves ice...anyways they removed 3.5k with no side effects thank goodness and is doing much better..somehow how she also picked up a nasty infection in her cheek..swollen..painfull..can't open her mouth..the Nephro took one look at her and suggested she be admitted for treatment with intravenous antibiotics..she refused...really hoping the oral ones do the trick..so far so good...except when she yells at me for wakiing her up at 3AM to take them..lol

I'll enquire about the crit line..i just googled it..

another question..she no longer produces urine..but has the urge to pee several times a day..is that usual? She's always surprised when there's no output

[Loretta]

I often have an urge to urinate and then find
I don't have any urine to pass.  I have a nephro tube at the present time and so sometimes I make urine that drains to my bladder, other times it drains out my tube in my back and into a bag.  I find I just try to urinate when I have an urge.  I try not to worry about it when I have no urine.  This may be hard for a 90 year-old woman to understand.