Since having my dialysis catheter fitted in June I've been experiencing sharp twinges almost round my bladder/back passage area. The nurse thinks it might be because the catheter is sat on a nerve above the bladder and it tends to happen when I've got little or no dialysis fluid in me. Does anyone else get this? I find it extremely uncomfortable and painful at times. Sometimes it's not there at all but then other times it just comes on randomly... This happens when I'm not dialysing on the machine at night.
Is this pain ever going to go away? The doctors aren't too fussed about doing anything about it because its not happening all the time but its really uncomfortable and frustrating...
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cassie-brzoza
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I had the same thing, although it did start to feel better over time. The doctors decided to always leave 250ml of fluid inside me all the time which did make it much more comfortable, although sometimes I just absorbed the fluid. Stick with it, and insist in having some fluid in for comfort if you need it.
I always have 300mls left inside me after my APD at night but it still sometimes happens. That saying though, I do sometimes absorb the 300mls and I struggle getting even 100mls out on the initial outflow. But when more fluid goes in it does make it more comfortable and the pain goes away. Either way, I'm glad I'm not on my own with this uncomfortable pain.
It's what we call, "drain pain". You do get used to it over time and believe it or not it does start to lessen as time goes on. Hang on in there as it beats the hell out of 5 hours every other day at the hemo unit!! You can try throttling back the valve on your set, this reduces the flow and eases the pain. Takes longer to drain though. Peace. T
I know the 'drain pain' that you're on about... I get that pain during my initial outflow and last outflow on the machine. This is a different pain. It happens when I'm not connected to the machine... I'm guessing it's the catheter rubbing on a nerve above my bladder or something... But it's nice to know the drain pain will lessen over time though as I hate it! The drain pain on the Baxter machine is horrendous! I had to change to Fresenius instead because of the drain pain.
Yes this is quite common but does wear off . Alternatively you could try some senna laxatives to empty your bowels which might move the catheter inside yusually ask my doctor for Picolax which is very strong and usually works for me ! It's a few hours near a toilet but worth it just to get rid of the drain pain !
I've tried the Picolax several times. Maybe I need to have another go of it as I am very prone to constipation with the catheter. To be honest, the constipation has been a nightmare for me. I've actually been in tears with it sometimes and I take laxatives everyday!
Yes I do take laxatives every night before bed 2 or 3 sennokot and that helps me out tremendously the constipation is nasty feeling bloated . The dialysis fluid lays heavy on the bowels and squashes everything .Picolax is good because it makes your bowels absorb water this then soften things up to help . Hope you get on ok with it
if you have prolonged use of a laxitive you can cause more harm than good to your bodies natural ability to get rid of waste products.i have been subscribed a tablet called Docusate which i take two at night for constipation and they seem to work and keep me quite regular although at times it does depend on what you eat as well.may be worth talking to your dialysis nurse or doctor about this
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The doctors aren't too fussed about doing anything about it because its not happening all the time but its really uncomfortable and frustrating...
undecided :/
Burning sick feeling 
Hi I am a 62 man been on dialysis 6 months.