I get very bad headaches during dialysis -... - Kidney Dialysis

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I get very bad headaches during dialysis - any suggestions?

Ginkjr profile image
4 Replies

ever since I have been doing dialysis I get headaches - it is getting more frequent - any suggestiond on what to do - my doctor seems at a loss

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Ginkjr
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4 Replies
Charlene_Coxhead profile image
Charlene_Coxhead

I get headaches when I've taken to much fluid off, or taken it off to quickly.

Do you think you might have gained some weight?

What type of dialysis do you do?

Does you BP drop too?

I'm amazed your dialysis nurse hasnt suggested this or your renal doctor as headaches the main symptom of fluid issues of you do HD I might be able to give some suggestions, if you tell me your dry weight, wet weight wash back, pump speed and length of time on the machine. I no doctor or nurse but do home haemo so control all my own fluid take off.

Take care

Charlene

Brut profile image
Brut

Is your blood pressure very high when you come off dialysis? Mine was and I had something called PRES. They stopped the headaches by keeping my blood pressure low, so when it raised on dialysis, it didn’t go sky high.

mhawk123 profile image
mhawk123

Hello Ginkjr,

I can relate to this happening, while I was on home peritoneal dialysis. But, I would experience on the days I was due for my dialysis treatment. My biggest concern for changes in HA was fluid overload as my doctor explained. I would suggest discussing this with your dialysis nurse and try taking the blood pressure during the dialysis treatment. I had to increase my blood pressure medications at this time to reach equilibrium. Also, have the dialysis nurse explain your lab parameters which may also be the target of your headache. Be encouraged that many are available to assist you through this process.

KidneyCoach profile image
KidneyCoachNKF Ambassador

Dialysis is tough! In center treatments are focused on processing the largest liters of blood per treatment as humanly possible. This requires a very fast pump to pump the blood or blood flow rate (bfr). Some will crank it up as high as 600 ml/MN. This will also require large bore needles for your access like fistula, graft. Often the centers will start with 17 gauge needles and gradually move to 14 gauge needles. The amount of fluid gain between treatments must be completely removed in 3-4 hours. So if someone gains 5 kilos (2.2 lbs per kilo which equals 11 pounds of fluid) it requires high fluid volume removal. This can cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fast heart rate, light headedness, fainting, cramping (muscles seizing to try to hold onto the fluid) and HEADACHES or migraines. The high flow rates can cause damage to the heart and Fistulas or grafts.

The kidneys work 24/7 = 168 hours per week. Conventional dialysis or Renal Replacement Therapy (RRT) offers 9-12 hours per week. Not much really, not even 10% of what normal kidneys offer.

To determine a standard dose of dialysis, patients were given 2 hours tx per week. They all died. This was increased until they reached 9-12 hours per week where they all stayed alive and thus the standard dose of dialysis was born.

We have a right to individualized treatments which includes time, bfr, needle size and more.

The very best way to lessen chances for headaches is controlling or limiting fluid gains. Limiting sodium intake and sugar intake and processed foods will lower your "thirst" or fluid intake. The second thing is to slow down the BFR. Most clinics/docs will refuse this because the only other way to get adequate or premium treatments is to increase time. The clinics are there to make a profit so getting as many patients in and out is the goal. If a patient spends more time in the chair they lose out on more patients utilizing that chair/machine and thus profit. So they want lots of patients in short fast turnover. This is not good for patients and often why so many die within years 1-5 of beginning dialysis.

If you're gaining large fluid loads and/or have high pump speeds this could likely be the cause of your headaches. Have you considered or doing HOME like PD or home hemo?

Have you checked out kidneyschool.org

Blessings

Amy

Dialysis nearly 18 years

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