Low Blood Pressure and Pulmonary Rehab (Dialyisis)

Low Blood Pressure and Pulmonary Rehab (Dialysis)

 

    Typically, at the end of a dialysis session, my blood pressure would be extremely low, usually around 90-70/50. Having low blood pressure made my pulse quite high, sometimes, as high as in the 130s range. It was hard to even walk with my blood pressure this low. I could feel a burning sensation in my shoulders, and I felt very weak and light-headed. I would drive myself home and immediately take my beta blocker to lower my pulse. Next, I would make myself something to eat, which took some effort as my blood pressure was so low. I often ate something that was a little salty because I needed to raise my blood pressure a little bit. I didn’t normally eat salty foods other days, just mostly the first meal after dialysis. Then, I would lie in my bed for a while, waiting for my blood pressure to come up a bit, and my pulse to go down some. As I mentioned earlier, dialysis can remove some protein as well, and I thought it would be in my best interest to attend pulmonary rehab once again. There was one day a week where I would end up needing to go to rehab the same day as dialysis. So, on that day, I would schedule rehab for the last possible session, and after I rested up, I would change into exercise clothes and head to rehab. I only went to rehab for about 3-4 months as insurance only pays for 3 months at a time. I would sometimes miss a day here or there, which extended the length of my time at rehab.

    I would get the occasional lung infection while on dialysis. Luckily this just required a round of IV antibiotics. This happened twice during my time on dialysis. It was just one antibiotic twice a day. One of the doses would be administered during my dialysis treatment. It was only a mild inconvenience. The thing I really disliked about it, was, although it was a very small IV ball, it meant that it would cut into the amount of fluids I could drink. It might have amounted to 6-8 ounces of fluids in total, but I would much rather have drunk that.

 

 

(Port accessed for IV antibiotics on one side and chest catheter for dialysis on the other.)