How to find out the Dry Weight exactly in HD dialysis.
Dry (or target) weight is an estimate of what you weigh without any excess fluid. Here’s an article written by an Australian doctor on this topic. A Primer on Haemodialysis “Weight” - Home Dialysis Central
Thanks Beth for the article.It is indeed quite helpful to understand.
Still, I am confused of unable to reach to dry weight ever and dialysis unit doctor is not of any help either.He deals in guesses by looking at the numbers of SPo2 readings - if it’s low then it’s fluid overload and require more fluid removal. Although SPo2 reads 75-78 but my wife has no breathing difficulty of shortness of breath.
Scenarios I am struggling with - is the weight gain never happening and actually it’s the weight loss happening meaning all excess water goes to lungs and unaccounted for weight gain.
In my experience as a social worker working with patients on dialysis for 18 years it seemed like it was hard for patients to gain real weight, but easy to gain fluid weight. That would often show up as swelling in the ankles or hands, higher blood pressure, shortness of breath, etc. I had patients who said they gained fluid in their abdomen, which was harder to tell. However, if fluid accumulates around the heart and lungs that can affect how well the heart can expand and contract and the lungs can fill with air.
Are you sure your pulse oximeter is working correctly and that she has her finger all the way into the monitor? What is the reading for you? As you probably know, a normal oxygen saturation is 94-100. This 14-minute video on YouTube by a British cardiologist explains oxygen saturation and causes for low oxygen saturation, including testing the oxygen saturation when wearing fingernail polish. Check this out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AZtgvXdyf4
Yes, Beth. In hospital we have changed bed one after dialysis to make sure there is no fault with oxymeter at hospital but still oxymeter reads low despite of removal of fluid more than the weight gain and below dry weight assessed.
Just Yesterday we met her pulmonologist to rule out or confirm any problem with lungs . He said ,all fine with lungs function.
One odd thing noticed recently in last 10 days with 3 tests results of CRP and Alkaline phosphatase,both are gradually rising for which pulmonologist said “there could be an infection inside which could have caused these inflammation marker tests to go high”
CRP as high as 60 and alkaline phosphatase as 184. Range of CRP 0-5 and alkaline phosphatase max range 120.
Pulmonologist advised to consult Nephrologist for starting her on antibiotics asap.