Peritoneal dialysis in your lifestyle

Finally at home!

The nurse responsible for your training will come to your home to offer support. We will advise you on:

• Material: How to save it / Where to save it
• First cycling exchange / connection at home: Positive reinforcement / Solves last minute doubts

You will have telephone support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by specialized staff in nephrology. She is not alone!

Finally at home!

The nurse responsible for your training will come to your home to offer support. We will advise you on:

• Material: How to save it / Where to save it
• First cycling exchange / connection at home: Positive reinforcement / Solves last minute doubts

You will have telephone support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by specialized staff in nephrology. She is not alone!

 

Weight control

Weight control

The total amount of fluid you can drink per day will depend on:

• Daily ultrafiltration (UF): It is the amount of extra fluid that is removed from your body through dialysis. You will keep a daily record of the amount of fluid taken to monitor the fluid you lose.
• Residual diuresis: With dialysis, the amount of urine you make will decrease. It is important that you monitor the amount of urine. If you decrease, you need to control your fluid intake more.
• Blood pressure and weight: Blood pressure and weight should be monitored daily. Better at the same time. The weight with the same clothes.
• Presence of edema: Edema is swelling due to excess fluid in your body. They usually build up on the ankles, legs and face. Pressing a little with your finger, the finger sinks and is marked.

In case of any variation of the above parameters, you should inform the peritoneal dialysis team. It may be necessary to adjust the dialysis dose and / or control fluid intake.

Body image

Body image

2 liters of peritoneal fluid increase its perimeter by one size. In addition, part of the peritoneal catheter is outside your body. These two factors can affect your body image and interfere with your personal and / or sexual intercourse. Wearing wide clothing will encourage the catheter to disguise. In the summer you can also choose swimwear that further disguises the catheter.

Staying in shape and exercising to strengthen your abdominal muscles can help. The catheter does not have to interfere with intimate relationships.

You have to learn to look in front of the mirror with your new catheter and your new look. Accepting it will make it easier for you to handle the subject naturally and other people will not care about it.

Emotional state

Emotional state

The onset of dialysis, and the changes that it involves in your life, can make you feel a set of totally normal emotions that are part of the process of adapting to those changes. These emotions are part of the grief over the loss of health and a “normal” life. You may feel:

• Stress
• Anxiety
• Depression

These emotions, in addition to you, can also be manifested by your loved ones. Talking often and honestly about your feelings with your family members will make you focus on the important things for you.
 

Stress

Stress is the body's response to the changes in situations that people go through. One of the causes of stress are changes in your life, such as:

• Learn the technique.
• Make important decisions that affect your life.
• Modifications in your lifestyle and that of your family.
• Replacing projects.
• The loss or change of job prospects.

These are all situations that can make you feel overwhelmed. Talk to someone who can understand your situation (other patients, your family, your medical team ...). It is advisable to:

• Sharing your feelings can help you better cope with the illness.
• Defer important decisions for when your thoughts are clearer
• Do activities you like.
• Do some type of physical activity.
• Relax listening to music, reading, yoga, meditation, etc.
• Take a short break or even a vacation.
• Individual or group therapies (coaching).
   

Anxiety

It is a state of tension, which is usually accompanied by stress, caused by a situation of threat, conflict or frustration.

Symptoms:

• Physiological: sweating, increased heart rate and blood pressure, increased or decreased hunger, sleep disorders.
• Intellectuals: difficulty concentrating, reduced ability to solve problems, difficulty in short-term memory and learning.
• Emotional: feelings of fear, guilt, shame, sadness.
• Social: insecurity in decision-making, bigotry.
• Spiritual: difficulty giving and receiving affection, loss of interest in things hitherto important, lack of meaning in your life.

Anxiety will be driven by concerns about how the illness will affect your personal relationships, work, economics, quality of life or management. Think about the things you can do to feel better, talk to someone who can understand you, learn everything you can about your illness, and take an active part in making decisions. Get out, go for excursions, exercise or relaxation techniques.
 

Depression

It is normal to feel sad and wanting to cry sometime, but if sadness is transformed into a feeling that accompanies us most of the time, it becomes depressing. It may be due to the difficulties that you represent:

• Loss of previous lifestyle.
• Loss of independence.
• Changes in body appearance.
• Problems with sex or having children.

Sharing your problems and feelings with someone who understands you can make you feel less alone. Sometimes taking antidepressants for a short period of time can help.

Psychological attention

Feel free to consult with your doctor or nurse / or the possibility of asking for psychological help. Psychological care is designed to guide you and your family members in the changes that start treatment.

Psychological treatment should be personalized and focused on helping you overcome problems that limit your personal and emotional development. It will help you modify behaviors for better adaptation to your illness.

Emotional health and physical health are strongly linked. Therapy can improve your overall health.

Exercise

Exercise

With peritoneal dialysis most sports and exercises can be performed: walking, biking, tennis, running, dancing. Sports that are not recommended are those that require abdominal strength. Check with your doctor before starting an exercise routine.

Moderate physical exercise is beneficial: Not only will it help you eliminate risk factors that may be linked to your illness, it will also make you feel better.

You can practice swimming, but with some precautions. It is recommended to swim in the sea and in private pools; elsewhere such as public pools, rivers and other freshwater sites, water may be contaminated. Use a protective bag to prevent the catheter and orifice from getting wet, and always cure the catheter after bathing.

El limit of physical effort during exercise you should put it yourself according to your age and physical condition. An easy way to control your effort is to be able to have a conversation while you exercise. You should stop the exercise if you have difficulty breathing, cramps in the legs, irregular heartbeat or prick in the chest.

Work

Work

Continuing work can be beneficial to you: People who continue to work find it easier to maintain their lifestyle and feel better, feel less depressed, have higher self-esteem and have higher incomes.

Talk to your peritoneal dialysis team before assuming you can no longer return to work. There may be options that you may not have considered and may help you keep your job. Peritoneal dialysis can be adapted to your work (DPA with a cycling machine, you can make exchanges at your workplace, value organizing out-of-hours exchanges, etc.)

You can contact the Social Worker of your Health Center to evaluate if you can apply for the disability card or non-contributory pensions. Some companies collaborate in hiring people with a certain degree of disability. There are also social workers in your hospital center who can help.

Trips

Trips

• Short trips: you can take the material you need to do the dialysis yourself.
• Long journeys: you can contact the commercial house to send the necessary material to the place of vacation.
• Trips with organized circuits: contact the commercial house and they will send the necessary material to the accommodation in each city where you will be.
• Abroad: commercial houses also work worldwide, just comment with them and they will inform you about the best option.
• Travel by plane: If you are performing peritoneal dialysis with a cycling machine and you are going to travel by plane, there is no problem, please inform the company that carries a suitcase with the cycling machine and that it is an essential material for its treatment.

Sexual activity

Sexual activity

Some kidney patients never have sexual problems, but they can and do occur. Some possible causes are changes in your physical appearance, medication, fatigue, emotional factors or relationship problems with your partner.

• The most common alteration in man is the sexual impotence. Talk to your doctor about it, which may be due to anemia, insufficient dialysis, and / or some medications. Viagra is an effective drug, but in a few cases there is no answer.
• The woman is more present diminished sexual desire I inability to reach orgasm. Tell your doctor about it, which may be due to hormonal disorders, anemia, insufficient dialysis, and / or some medications.

It's important to remember that relationships are more than just sex, and intimacy can take different forms. Talk to your partner about how your illness affects him / her. Do not assume that your partner is not approaching you because he / she is no longer attractive to you or you may be afraid to damage or damage your catheter.