Skin getting cut easily

Discussions for Patients, Family, and Friends HD For Patients
1

I have been on dialysis for about 14 years now - the last 5 on daily nocturnal home hemo.

For the last few months, I have noticed that my skin, especially on my right arm and hand cuts easily. I barely scrape a wall and I have a scratch. I barely touch a sharp edge and I have a scar. I also keep getting clots below my skin - small circular areas that are black and soft to start with but then over time they become hard and eventually fall off. I get these on my toes and fingers. My platelets are around 120,000. Apparently, the platelets need to be way lower for them to cause these kinds of clots.

I talked to my nephrologist about this and he said it could be a deficiency of vitamins since I would be losing a lot of vitamins during my long dialysis hours. He put me on an additional multi vitamin and Vitamin C for a month. There has been no change in this condition however.

Any idea if long term kidney disease can cause this kind of condition. Anything that can help?

Thanks
Kamal

2

sorry, nothin from me as far as help, but just wanted to say that hubbys skin is much thinner since being on dialysis. Well, either that or age started getting to him about the same time. Wish i had some help for ya …

3

I’d suggest you post your message to Dr. Agar. Since he supervises patients doing nocturnal dialysis, he mayave an idea of what may be causing this and what could help.

4

I have that too. I thought it came with longterm heparin use.

(Looking now I have 10 scabs and one blood blister (that’s what we call them) on my hands - I’ve been careful!)

5

I just visited to my nephrologist again. He examined the scars and thought these cold be initial stages of calciphylaxis. He went on to suggest that I get a renal transplant soon. He said that since I was on dialysis for about 14 years now, these kinds of things will keep coming and bothering me and affecting my quality of life.

The problem is that my native disease is atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome and I have a genetic abnormality because of which the chances of recurrence of the disease after a transplant is 80%. There is a new drug that is under clinical trials called Soliris that has shown a lot of promise in this disease, post transplant as well. But I think it will be many years till I can get access to that drug.

Could this really be calciphylaxis? Is there any other way to check this?

Thanks
Kamal