In my unit when a patient first enters diialysis they are crashed repeatedly to determine their dry weight. This seems barbaric to me. We were never properly warned and then when we crashed no procedures were done to help us. It was humiliating too to crash, in the worst pain (similar to childbirth), losing all composure with every eye in the room watching. Do all dialysis units operate like ours or are there more humane ways to determine dry weight? It totally traumatized me. I don't know if I'll ever forget it.

Dry weights are a hard thing to determine, but I don't think that crashing is the best way to get to that point. Our unit will challenge the weight until the patient has symptoms, but once a patient cramps or the BP drops too low, we support the symptoms. We will also run a patient an extra run if necessary. I would talk to my Nephrologist about this. If you don't get satisfaction, go to the Medical Director of the unit. You can always put in a grievance to the Network too. You also need to become more involved in your care. Ask to see what amount of fluid they are taking off during the treatment (and how they arrived at the figure) and ask that they adjust it if it seems like too much (say something like "My BP got too low last time when you tried this. Maybe we could aim for....). Best of luck to you. Ruth