The time has come when I need to make a decision about whether to go with hemo or peritoneal dialysis. That brings up many questions. If on peritoneal dialysis do you ever get a decent nights sleep or are you constantly awakened with alarms pain etc. Is the machine very loud - I have a hard time sleeping with noise. Also if the program finishes at 4 am do you have to get up then and disconnect and clean up or can you wait until the morning.
How did anyone decide which route to go. I gather peritoneal is easier on the heart and has better diet and fluid options. Any advice would be appreciated.
I am 82 years old and wonder if that could create problems. For those on hemo do you prefer to go to a clinic or do it yourself at home and why
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this is my 6th year on dialysis. When given the option I chose PD without really knowing what PD or hemo were about. No regrets. I've done hemo at the VA and I much prefer PD. With PD I can do it at home and in the winter months much more preferable for me. I do it while I sleep. The machine beeps are minimal. Usually I just have to change position. No pain whatsoever. I'm usually done by 5am. I wait until I get up to disconnect. Sleeping connected doesn't bother me. The machine noise can be bothersome to some. I drape something over the machine to help with that. You will need to have space for about 30 boxes of solutions. With PD you are much more involved with the process. It's a much more physical process than hemo. If you don't want to deal with the process then maybe hemo is best for you. Also, I preferred the catheter over a fistula.
I am going to tell you why I chose what I did. I am not on dialysis yet, I start next week. But I chose home hemo dialysis for many reasons. The biggest one was I can do this on my own, when I want, in my home. I chose hemo because peritoneal was not really an option for me. I am a person of size and did not want all that fluid on my already large gut. I also did not want a tube hanging out of me. I did not want to use a dextrose-based solution as I do not want to add calories to my day or added sugar. And I want to be able to keep swimming which I could not do with PD. Because I still have kidney function, I will have less time on dialysis, like 2.5 hours. And I will be getting great support from the Freedom Center I am using including being able to stay with my Nephrologist who I have been seeing for years.
I was on dialysis for 4 years and did both PD and hemo. The biggest advice I could give is that it depends on your preferences and whats easiest and comfortable for you. I started PD when I was 16 and this personally worked for me as I still got to go to school everyday. Downside is that I had a tube sticking out my abdomen 24/7 and had to have treatment for 9 hours every night (meant i couldn't go out at night with friends), couldn't leave dialysis until the full treatment had finished. But this personally worked for me as I felt more comfortable doing dialysis from the comfort of my home and on my terms. I was also surrounded by family and could normally do things like homework and watch tv from the comfort of my own bed. It did take a while to get used to (painwise) but you soon enough get used to the pain and the noise and becomes a second nature.
I did hemo too, and this didnt work for me as I had to go to the hospital (at this point I was at university), this mean't I missed a lot of days and lectures. I also got a lot of side effect such as muscle pain, breathlessness, dizziness, low bp etc. I also felt quite depressed whilst going to the hospital as I didn't have control over my treatment and was surrounded by patients who were also miserable (totally understandable though, nobody wants to be on dialysis!). But you also make friends while your at your local dialysis unit.
Personally, it depends on your preference. I know you can do hemo from home, but i never got to that stage. I preferred PD, but everybody is different! I have friends who prefer hemo as they are then not responsible for their treatment and can rely on the nurses to look after them. I wish you all the best !
Hi! It's complicated, isn't it, trying to figure out what works best for you. I hope you and your team can have a nice discussion about this so you're comfortable with the choices made. I found the two links below to be very helpful as my hubby was put in the same position as you when his kidneys failed - namely, trying to figure out what was best for him. The first link provides a nice overview of the types of dialysis available. And the second link is a questionnaire that you fill out and it then tells you your best option. My hubby is now 74 and has a transplant. He's decided that, if his transplant fails, he will likely opt for in-center HD because he senses that he won't have the energy or ability to do any form of dialysis well at home by then. Prior to receiving his transplant, my hubby was on PD since it used dialysate, not blood, with less impact to the blood vessels essential for a transplant. We are all so different, we all have different goals, we are all in different stages of life. So it's nice that options are indeed available. I'm confident you'll pick the one that works for you!
I started with peritoneal dialysis in Feb 2023. It worked well and I was able to continue working full time. In June it stopped working and I spent Aug and September in the hospital.
In Aug they put a chest catheter in and I’m doing in center hemo. I considered home hemo but I live in a small house so I don’t really have the room.
I’m 59 if that helps. I finally got a work release and started back on Wed. I feel good on hemo, all the issues I had with peritoneal cleared up. I got my appetite back and kind of like in center hemo. The nurses are nice and I’ve started to make some friends there. I live in a very rural are so I don’t see any one but my husband.
Thank you everyone for all your advice and support. I feel very blessed to have found this website. I look forward to getting to know you more as time progresses. I wish you all well on your journey.
I do pd not going to lie some people not all but I got terrible drain pain at the beginning . But now after 9 months it has calm down. I hardly never hear any beeping usually if it showing slow drain . Sometimes I put a shirt or something over the machince so I don’t see the light. You can drain in the toilet so you can get up to go to bathroom.The tube is longest enough if you have a bathroom close by. The bags weigh about 10 to 12 pounds so you have to lift them to set them up . If you do manual a lot lighter. I like pd cause my days are free where I can enjoy things .
I did not trust it, as it had suction issues on me once w/ killer pain.
The Bags were huge and complicated too. If electrical went you had to do manual anyway.
The machine was too heavy to travel. I chose manual bags. I could take them with me set up anywhere if power went out it was the same and I lived fairly normal.
I ended up looking at it as, well you have to stop and go to the bathroom so, diaylsis was like going to the bathroom 4 times daily. Although I still went to the bathroom daily too but, I could sleep at night free from attachments and could hook up under my time my control.
Received my transplant 12/14/21 so, blessed and hope it works well for many many years! 🙏🏻
Best decision ever was to get a transplant. Blessed with a live donor since my husband donated his kidney for me. Best gift anyone could get from a husband!
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