Hello All-
Hoping someone could provide advice.
my grandmother started dialysis the beginning of November. After a few weeks of the normal 'getting used to symptoms' she started to feel better.
Within the past two weeks, her blood pressure goes extremely low during dialysis and therefore she has been vomiting, weakness etc. The symptoms are starting to last for longer and longer periods of time.
During her last visit two days ago, her BP went so low that they were afraid to send her home. She left after two hours of resting and has been extremely weak and vomiting ever since.

Needless to say, she is now in the hospital, vomiting, diarrhea(sorry to be so graphic) and extremely weak. Doctor does not know why. They say it is not an infection. They also mentioned perhaps a reaction to low potassium levels. In addition, they are skipping todays treatment because she is so weak.


Also, they take off between 3.0-3.5 (sorry I am not very techical). Which, from what I hear, is not a substantial amount to gain in between sessions.
Any suggestions would be very helpful.
Thanks so much.
Denise

Hi Denise;

My Mom always seems to feel nausea. We're told that it relates to older veins and arteries reacting to the dialysis action.

Hope your Grandma is doing better. It is a tough situation for older dialysis patients.

Cheers, Joanne

I don't know if I can help, it appears that aging has an affect on the out come of dialysis, other things that cause nausea include high urea, which can come from two sources, 1) eating too much protein; and 2) not eating enough (the body relies on muscle protein instead). Low, low blood pressure or eating on dialysis can sometimes reduce blood pressure as well. I hope that this will give you some questions to ask the doctors. Good Luck

[This message has been edited by Michael Williams (edited 05-03-2000).]

My Mother has had both Kidneys removed due to cancer.
Her surgery was over two years ago.
She has not had more then a handful of "good days"
She understands that her life will never be the same; however she is in very bad shape.
I feel they are not getting of all the toxins, as she is Nausea all the time.
She can not eat or vomits shortly after eating.
As we know, diet is important and her not eating at all is causing all type of complication.

We need help fast as this will cut her life very short.

Dear Worried: I am sorry to hear that you Mom is having such a tough time. Some things you might ask about her diaylsis, is her filiter the right size? Is her run long enough? ( the average here is 4 hours though some are less). Does her dialysis prescription fit her blood work, you might ask to have it explained to you.
As for eating have you tried the meal replacements (ensure or nepro)? How about small frequent meals. Even a few bites might help rather than a whole meal. Often when there are this many eating problems our dietition would rather something was eaten rather than sticking to the diet and not eating at all. Also really watching the fluids will make a huge diffence, Many people who come on to dialysis overloaded feel nauseated and tired afterwards. these are just a few suggestions I hope they help
Nancy

Nancy
Thank you for your respose. I posted as worried , because I forgot my password.
She now gets diaylsis 6 Days a week for two hours each. This still is not helping. I will ask all these questions about filter size, etc. She has tryed both ensure and nepro. Small frequent meals works some times,but not often.There is no dietition, they tell her she can eat anything, just eat somthing. She does not take much fluids.
She has been in the Hostpital for 3 weeks now, and they just do not know what to do..