MY MOTHER IN LAW CRAMPS WHEN FILLING HER CAVITY. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SOLUTIONS TO THIS PROBLEM. WE HAVE TRIED SEVERAL THINGS BUT NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK
Hi Micaela,
Does your mom do manual exchanges or use a cycler?
I’ve heard patients say that they get cramps when the PD fluid draining in is cooler than their body temperature. For this reason, CAPD patients are taught how to warm their dialysate bag enough to get the solution close to body temperature to prevent cramping. When a patient uses a cycler machine, it warms the bags so the solution going in is around the person’s body temperature.
I don’t know if your mother-in-law has pain any other time, but I’ve also heard patients say that they sometimes get cramps when they drain and their peritoneal cavity is dry. Patients avoid this by stopping the drain when they start to feel cramps. I’ve heard patients complain about pain near their rectum when they drain, especially when getting used to a new catheter. I usually don’t hear them complain of rectal pain once they get used to the catheter.
I would strongly suggest that your mother-in-law talk with her home training nurse and/or doctor about the cramping she’s having. Some things she should report include when pain starts, how long it lasts, how often it occurs, and how painful it is (scale it on a zero to 10 scale where zero is no pain and 10 is unbearable pain). PD should not be a painful process.
How soon after eating is she starting her dialysis? We have found that you need an hour or more between.
I’m concerned that if someone postpones doing an exchange for an hour or two after eating, it may affect dwell times or make someone have to stay up later than their normal bedtime. If you do your exchange after eating and you have pain from feeling too full, try doing your CAPD exchange before eating. Then if you feel full when you eat, try eating smaller more frequent meals. Be sure to talk with your dietitian about how to adjust your phosphate binders for smaller more frequent meals.