Download Fluid Balance in Home Hemodialysis Patients: Preventing Too Wet or Too Dry States and more Lecture notes Fluid Dynamics in PDF only on Docsity! Fluid Balance 1 Hemodialysis Unit Fluid Balance – When You Are Too Wet or Too Dry In order to get the best results from Home Hemodialysis, it is very important to keep the amount of fluid in your body balanced. When fluid is balanced, you are at your ideal body weight. Your doctor determines your ideal body weight based on: your blood pressure how well you feel clear lungs, no shortness of breath or trouble breathing no swelling Too Wet What does being too wet mean? This means you have too much fluid in your body so you are above your ideal body weight. This is called fluid overload. It is important to remember that fluid comes from what you drink and eat. Anything that is a liquid at room temperature is a fluid. Some examples are soup, yogurt and ice cream. Why is being too wet a problem? When you have fluid overload you have an increased risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease such as heart failure, heart attack and stroke. Your lungs may also be affected and cause breathing problems. What can cause you to be too wet? This can happen for many reasons such as: drinking and/or eating too much fluid; having too much salt in your diet missing dialysis treatments not able to remove target fluid during dialysis the therefore you are above ideal weight after treatment taking your water pills such as Lasix or Furosemide incorrectly loss of appetite for several days decrease in the amount of urine you pass Fluid Balance 2 How may you feel when you are too wet? You may have some or all of these symptoms: feel full or bloated; feet, ankles, legs, hands and/or face look or feel swollen blood pressure is high weight is _____ kilograms above your ideal body weight short of breath and/or not able to lie flat and breathe well constant cough or feel congestion in your lungs What do you do when you are too wet? If you feel any of the above symptoms of being too wet, contact your home hemodialysis nurse Call the Home Hemodialysis Unit if: fluid continues to build up in your feet, ankles, hands and/or face you continue to gain weight the bottom number on your blood pressure is above 100 you have shortness of breath you have a decrease in the amount of urine you pass If it is after hours, a weekend or holiday other than Christmas Day and New Year’s Day: Monday to Friday: 4:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. 905-522-1155 ext. 38253. Say you are a home hemodialysis patient. After 11:30 p.m. if you feel your concern cannot wait until the morning, go to the nearest Emergency Department or contact the Nephrologist-on-Call for advice at 905-521-6049. Tell the operator you are a home hemodialysis patient. Saturday and Sunday: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. 905-522-1155 ext. 38253. Say you are a home hemodialysis patient. After 5:30 p.m. if you feel your concern cannot wait until the morning, go to the nearest Emergency Department or contact the Nephrologist-on-Call for advice at 905-521-6049. Tell the operator you are a home hemodialysis patient.
