I am currently working with a dialysis patient who is experiencing extremely debilitating nasal congestion, usually an hour or so after treatment, but at other times as well. Sometimes the congestion is so severe it can cause vomiting and loss of appetite.
I know many ESRD patients have congestion problems. Benadryl and its substitutes are common sites at many dialysis clinics. However, Benadryl doesn’t always work, neither does Flonase nor Sudafed-like drugs. Sometimes saline nasal sprays help, but the relief is short-lived.
I would appreciate hearing from patients who present with these symptoms. I’m interested in the causes and treatments. One nephrologist told me he believes the congestion is due to either a compromised immune system (the kidneys aren’t filtering the blood 24/7) or allergic reaction to a dialyzer or blood-tubing set. Some fell excess fluid removal may play a role, causing dehydration and sinus dryness.
Sounds more like allergic reactions to me…that patient must be very sensitive to certain substances…
Latex is one of the most problemetic substances found in most clinics…to find out whether Latex is the culprit try isolating any latex products from the patient…from there start pinpointing and recording your findings…if that fails, you need to evaluate the pre-meds he/she is taking before dialysis…
Heparin has also been reported to cause reactions in some patients as myself…there are many things that can be causing it but you know it happens mostly after being dialyzed for a while so the problem is mostly related somewhere during that treatment.
You can also try flushing the dialyzer with 2000 of saline (2 bags)…