Dialysis Treatment

Dr. I have a brother in-law that is currently under dialysis treatment. From tim to time he gets sick and it usually occurs after eating certain foods but not the same foods ever time. When he is sick hes constantly putting pressure on his back. He will often lay on a shoe or some type of hard service. He says that it makes him feel better. My question is why does this make him feel better; and is there an alternative that could be more effective? Please help I wish I could but I know very little about treatment. Thank you in advance for your help.

Oh dear … this is hard to answer - indeed I don’t think I can help here without an enormous amount of additional information - information that, in truth, only his treating physician(s) are likely to be able to access.

His problem may or may not be dialysis-related. It sounds more likely that, if food is a trigger, his gastrointestinal tract is in some way involved … and with pain going through to his back, issues with pancreatic pain may need exclusion. Ulcer pain can also radiate to the back and be food-triggered.

While the fact that he seems to relate the onset to eating maybe a key clue, other skeletal causes need exclusion.

I think this is a problem that I certainly cannot resolve for you here.

I would suggest he sees his physician as soon as he can and undergoes the appropriate investigations that are needed to track the cause of his symptoms down.