My Mom was told she is a slow transporter and will have to do the cycler machine at night and two more exchanges during the day. Am I wrong in thinking she could just do a “quick” exchange at night and continue the four times a day? She is not clearing enough with her current four times a day. Is it necessary to jump right into the night-time cycler and not see if the one quick one will help??
If regular CAPD with daytime exchanges and a long exchange overnight doesn’t provide enough clearances, there are two alternatives - to increase the exchange volume or to add another exchange during the night.
A “quick” or short exchange isn’t the answer. In individuals who are low or slow transporters, it takes longer for the wastes to transfer from the body to the dialysate. Ideally, the exchanges should be spread out as evenly as possible.
If your Mom is already at the maximum exchange volume she can tolerate or that her doctor is comfortable with, another alternative is to continue to do CAPD exchanges with a mini-cycler to do one exchange in the middle of the night. This is essentially the reverse of what you described (with most of the exchanges on the cycler at night and a couple of exchanges during the day).