Too much dialysis ?

[KICKSTART]

Firstly i know i do CAPD but didnt want to put this in that section because i didnt think i would get a lot of opinions ! Is it possible to do too much dialysis? I am a high transporter which iirc means that most of my toxins are drawn off in the first few hours of an exchange. Some days when i am at home all day i could do 5 or 6 exchanges if i wanted to. Would this benefit me or actually cause some harm apart from dehydration ?

[Ang]

i'm  guessing  to  much  dialysis is  not  a  good  thing, but  hey  when  is  to much?

i  guess  it  would  throw  your  labs  out.

some  one  will  prove  me  wrong.

[del]

You can have too much dialysis. Will bring your electrolyes, phosphorus and potassium too low.  That's what we were told for home hemo. 

[Adam_W]

From what I understand, the best way to get more dialysis without getting too much, is to run longer and slower (this is referring to hemo). For instance right now my catheter is dying (along with my graft), and my labs have been suffering because of the poor access. To help compensate for that (with a nurse's advice), I'm running three hours right now instead of my usual two, but I have my flow rates set lower, so it will be a longer, gentler dialysis, and the slower flow rates will be easier on my dying access, and the extra time will allow the dialyzer to process more of my blood. I'm still using the same amount of dialysate. I definitely wouldn't want to try "dialyzing the crap out of myself" by using more dialysate in a shorter treatment, or doing multiple treatments in one day, etc. because that could do really nasty things to my electrolyte balance. Any change in duration or frequency of dialysis should be discussed with a doctor. I'm sure someone with more experience on the subject can elaborate/correct all my mistakes if I've made any, which I probably have. I hope that helps at least somewhat.

Adam

[KT0930]

KS, some people who do CCPD who are high transporters did more frequent exchanges, but dwelled for less time. For instance, I believe Susie did six exchanges through the night, and her dwells were around an hour and a half each. I'm a mid-transporter, though, and did four exchanges with two hour dwells. You might ask your nurse if you could do more frequent exchanges, and what the effects would be. Like you said, doing more frequent exchanges, you might be at risk of dehydration, but then you'd just have to drink more, and since when is that a bad thing?  I'd be really interested to know what your nurse has to say about this, so please let us know!