I noticed the time I was spending on evening dialysis was creeping up, going from a 10-hour-plus range to over eleven hours. (Actual data: 10-52, 10-42, 10-24, 10-47, 10-58, 11-3, 11-0 indicating hours-minutes) (Mean 10-49 and Std Dev 12.44). This indicated something was not right. So I started a three-day regimen of using Heparin, one dose in my 2000 ml evening static fill (4 ml) and one dose in my 6 liter overnight fill (12 ml). After the first evening, I fell back to 10-39, a big jump in the right direction.
I suspect that I had/have a buildup of stuff slowing the process down, especially the drain cycle. Perplexity suggests “Heparin helps peritoneal dialysis patients primarily by reducing peritoneal inflammation and preventing fibrin formation, which can improve peritoneal fluid transport. Intraperitoneal heparin has anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant properties that reduce peritoneal permeability to small solutes and increase ultrafiltration volume, potentially leading to better fluid removal and reduced complications like fluid overload, hypertension, and peritoneal membrane damage. It also helps maintain catheter patency by preventing fibrin-induced blockages in the dialysis catheter.”
Whatever, two more self-inflicted treatments to go, and we should be good to go. BTW, had frost in places this morning here in North Texas, and it’s predicted to get down to 25F tonight. Getting to “burrr” weather.
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