Changing start time of APD

My Dad has been doing APD in the evenings. We’d like to change the start time to early afternoon so he is awake for most of the process. His low drain alarm goes off frequently and my mother loses sleep dealing with it. How do I safely make the switch?

Some people prefer to do their APD treatments at a different time so the alarms, if any, don’t happen while sleeping. The home training nurse at your father’s clinic should be able to advise him or you how to do this. Another option would be to do manual PD exchanges. Those are most often done 4 times a day – breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime. Results from a peritoneal equilibration test (PET) can show if this option would work for him. Doing manual exchanges that take about 20-30 minutes each would keep him from having to be connected to a machine for several hours while awake.

Thank you for your suggestions! I’ll talk to my Dad’s nurse.

You can let your dads nurse know as an FYI, that your dad would like to do his treatments during the day vs. at night. APD treatments can be done whenever the patient prefers to start treatment. As long as your dad is okay being connected to the cycler during the day for the duration of his PD treatment. As mentioned by the above comment CAPD is also an option but this will depend on your dads membrane status if longer dwell times are beneficial for him. Also maybe try and find out the root cause why he is getting low drain alarms.

Constipation is an issue for sure. We’re looking at more effective laxatives. Thanks for your insight.