Sleep position and drain cycle alarm during PD

[Coolhandpaul]

What is the best Sleep position during PD with the Baxter APD cycler so as keep the alarm from going off (several times) during every drain cycle?

[RhenDutchess123]

My Exit Site is on tge left side of my belly button....so I sleep on my left...sometimes I roll to my back, but they told me to never sleep on my stomach..Make sure your tubing and transit set are laying freely and without kinks and watch for fibrin if you are having multiple drain alarms, as you may have some restriction from it

[Coolhandpaul in reply to RhenDutchess123]

Thank you RhenDutchess123!

My exit site too is left of my belly button but I have been sleeping on my right most of the time (for the 15 months that I have been on PD) so as to avoid pressure on the exit site and catheter (my own rationale; nobody told me to do so). I will see what happens when I sleep on my left. Thanks also for letting me know never to sleep on my stomach. I am guilty of doing that too once in a while.

Thanks again!

[RhenDutchess123 in reply to Coolhandpaul]

I was asked which side I slept on ...I told them usually the left, so they recommended my exit site be on the left. Which makes sense for the draining ..because the fluid is going to lay at the lowest point....We need our "Dipsticks" to be able to reach it...lol

And never sleep on tummy...the pressure build up could cause a hernia

[RonZone]

Sorry for the late reply, just seeing this. Not sure if you've ready any of my posts, but after not having success with manuals, my PD nurse and Neph said to try using the cycler. I did so for a couple of weeks before having to stop and get hernia repair surgery, so I've been off the cycler again for the last three weeks while that heals, but should be starting back the middle of December. During that initial two weeks, my Baxter Amia cycler would wake me up with alarms initially 5 out of the 5 drains, then toward the end of the two weeks, 3 out of the 5 drains. And the alarm would not be resolved just by changing positions. I would have to get up and turn the alarm off, then hit resume, and then stand there by the machine or pace around it a bit to get it to fully drain. I noticed on the reports I would get at the end of the night that the drains I did sleep through were partial. I don't have a good track record on what position I was lying in during those I did sleep through, but it seems I was on my left side (my catheter exits to the right of my belly button). Once I'm on the cycler again, I'll hopefully have a better idea on that. But the point is, this thing makes me wake up between 3 and 5 times a night and stand up for a complete drain. Not happy about that. The reason for going the cycler route is so I could do dialysis at night and work during the day, but it's difficult to work when you're half asleep still. So jury is still out for me. You and I both will be on the same journey to see if we can resolve these issues. My pd nurse said I couldn't talk with Baxter directly about it, I have to talk to her, then she talks to the Baxter folks. This is the first time one of her patients has used the Baxter Amia so she has no experience with it other than just the two days of training we did together, learning how to use it. It is easy to use, but the alarms are not supposed to have been part of the bargain.

How long have you been on the Baxter APD? Definitely keep me posted what you discover. I'll do the same. Oh, I'm 69 years old with Polycystic Kidney Disease (inherited).