What tips have nocturnal patients found for preventing alarms at night?
This is what I do:
After treatment is started, I roll the machine a bit as close to bed as it goes, so that gives me plenty of slack in the lines.
With paper tape, I tape the arterial and venous bloodlines together at two points. One tape goes about a foot away from my hand, about where the two medication ports are, and another goes down further towards the machine. I find this second taping prevents either line from getting caught under the corners of the machine. Keeping the two lines together helps prevent tangling.
I have never had a kinked line during the whole time I’ve been doing nocturnal - and I’m talking something like over 300 treatments so far - not a single one.
Pierre
Do you get any other alarms and are there ways to prevent?
Haven’t been able to kink the lines, they seem quite difficult to kink. No alarms at all since I learnt to buttonhole properly! :lol:
Usually no alarms at all after the first half hour or so. Sometimes it alarms once during the first half hour or so, as arterial and venous pressures stabilize, but then no more alarms for the rest of the night. It’s really amazing how few alarms there are, but the slow speeds and low pressures seem to prevent the problems that cause alarms.
Every once in a while, I’ll deliberately lie on my fistula arm for a while, and eventually I get a pressure alarm from doing that after about 20 minutes.
Pierre
Thanks Pierre and Beachy…I’ll look forward to a good night’s rest then 
Hmmph! I’m still looking forward to a good night’s sleep! :?
What with being in a recliner (I may get a convertible bunk or something soon); the constant trickle down the tundish; the pump every 3-5 minutes clearing the waste water across thru my roof to the drain on the other side…I’m lucky to get 3-4 hours, up to now. Only the fact that I still work Mon/Wed/Fri, same as when I was on daytime dx, keeps me going, as I go to (real) bed for a couple of hours after I come off the beast about 5-6a.m. :roll:
Btw - do you all have moisture alarm thingies??? Our unit gave us 2 of those ‘bed-wetting cure’ little alarms to tape to our arm, either side of the cannulas & a larger unit to place under the dialyser. 
Sorry you’re not sleeping as well as I do, Bear. I wish I could help. How long have you been doing this? I had more frequent alarms early on when i first started. Most of it had to do with needle placement and not taping the needles down too tightly.
They gave me one of the little “urine” detectors for my needles - which I place behind the venous needle, in between both. Plus they gave me two leak detectors for the floor - one for the dialysis machine and one for the R/O.
Pierre
Hi Bear,
If you go to http://www.homedialysis.org/boards/viewtopic.php?t=812&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 you will find a discussion on this.
I swirl the lines up and clip them onto my shoulder on my nightie with those green scissor clamps. I tape the lines down with one bit of tape at the bottom of my needles. I dont use any more tape as I get more alarms with the more tape I use. I have only ever rolled on the lines once. I am pretty aware most of the night, so if I roll over I make sure the lines go with me.
Bear…I only got one water alarm thing for my arm…wheres my second one!!! LOL It was mentioned that everyone was eventually getting two, but I havent heard anything yet. At the moment I tape one in between my needles, with gauze wrapped around and under the needles so if it bled it would soak up the gauze and reach up to the sensor. Will have to remember to ask about that, as I would feel safer with 2.