What advice would you give someone starting dialysis?

[KelliC_NKF]

What have you learned "along the way" that might help others? What advice would you give someone starting dialysis?

[Debbie057]

I have learned no salt I would tell someone to watch their fluid intake and stay away from the salt

[KelliC_NKF in reply to Debbie057]

Great! How did you succeed at staying away from salt? Do you use other seasoning? Was it hard for you to cut salt from your diet?

[Debbie057]

I use garlic power,fresh garlic and minced garlic

[3kidney]

I was always worried about whether or not dialysis would hurt. I asked the nurse right before my first treatment and they said it wouldn’t hurt. They were right.

[Ladybug_05]

I learned a lot along the way this past year of being on dialysis! I learned how to better read food labels for sodium and phosphorus and I also learned how to regulate my thirst with my fluid restriction by using gum or strawberry icebreaker mints! I primarily shop around the perimeter of the store with the exception of frozen or canned veggies *which you can get with no salt added*. I also have a struggle with keeping my protein up, so learning what different foods were high in protein besides meats was very important to me. All natural peanut butter (in the right portion of course) proved to be a good option for me, since I could pair it with different things as a healthy snack.

I highly recommend that you visit your clinic so that way you know what to expect when starting dialysis. I saw my PD clinic before dialysis, and it was nice because one of the nurses showed me what the rooms looked like, what my catheter would look like and what equipment would/could be used. I could also take that time to ask last minute questions. I didn't have that opportunity with hemo since it was a temporary thing at the last minute, so I was a lot more nervous since I had no idea what I was getting into.

[Readingrainbow]

Try to stay within your fluid restrictions! You'll feel a lot better during and after each session if you do. It gets harder in the summer, trust me I know, but try frozen snacks to take the edge off. Frozen grapes and orange slices helped me a bunch.