Hi everyone. I am thrilled to have just found this site.
My husband is on PD. He’s a newbie. We’ve been on our own now for almost 2 weeks. So far things are going very well.
Last night when he drained, he had a negative drain. (He put in 2000 and took out 1700) I wasn’t concerned as he had some salt yesterday and the day before.
This morning he had another negative. This time took off 1600. (I should add that 99% of the time he uses a 2.5)
He tends to drain very well and always drains 2000 and often more. He has no swelling to indicate a leak in the membrane. Sometimes he is a bit in the negative esp after a long dwell. But not by 300 or 400.
I called a PD nurse this morning who wasn’t concerned (his BP is stable, weight is stable) and said not to worry yet.
But i have anxiety and if he has more negative dwells he will be more anxious and look to me for answers.
What are some reasons for a negative dwell? Aside from a leak. Could 2 days of salty foods do this? I don’t think he’s been dehydrated. He usually drinks well and still pees a lot.
Any tips to help a worried and anxious wife keep it together would be helpful. This is still very new to us and its been hard to remember every bit of information.
Don’t stress. My first place to look would be for if your husband has even mild constipation. We almost want our patients at a state of loose stools. We recommend a sen lot daily and sometimes morning and night. Any even slight constipation will trap excess fluid. It’s always alarming. If he’s on a high dose diuretic as he should be per new standards, then all excess will be removed via kidney. Don’t forget it’s preferred to remove excess fluid via urinary system to keep kidneys functioning vs via the PD solution.
Thank you so much for your reply!
Last night he did say he hadn’t had many BMs yesterday and I told him that was probably it. This morning he said he’d been using the washroom but yes, he could still be even slightly backed up. He takes 3 stool softeners a day. Senacot if constipated. I didn’t even think about the fact its preferred to remove fluid through the urinary tract.
It was alarming and since its so new we are afraid of complications. Thank you so much!
Alternatively depending on what brand machine you use, there could have been a setting that was not set correctly and leave some residual behind. Call the nurse too.
How is the negative drains coming? Just wanted to check on you!
For my husband there were two reasons that he would have a negative drain
- The position that he was laying in, he ended up using a recliner when he did it overnight as in bed, he did not drain well. Sometimes he needed to stand up for a drain, especially for the final extra drain.
- If your bowels are not emptying as they should that makes a difference in the draining. Use the chart they give you and don’t be afraid to take meds to help with this as it really does make a difference.
Just remember there is nothing wrong with a negative drain. If you urinate and your weight is stable then it doesnt matter. Nephrologists get upset claiming you don’t remove fluid. If you are keeping stable with your weight and not gaining, what does it matter? If you take it out of your abdomen with PD, then you won’t have it to urinate. It’s better to urinate then to remove via dialysis, it keeps the kidney working.
Agree with constipation as culprit as well, but my patients often are negative when using 1.5% but they stay stable with the weight