Durka-Durka-Muhammed-Jihad!!
Today while I was getting ready to come off the dialysis machine, one of the dialysis techs solved a mystery that had been boggling me for quite a while.
Ever since I started dialysis last November, I'd always have a peculiar thing happen to me: my feet would tingle - like they were asleep.
I've made mention of this to the dialysis nurses, but it was the tech that answered the question as to why it happens.
Now, hemodialysis basically removes 'garbage' from the blood system that the kidneys would normally get rid of, i.e. urine. And depending upon how much your weigh at the beginning of the session determines how much 'garbage' is taken out (It's a semi-convoluted algebra equation that I haven't bothered to learn). Typically, I get anywhere from one to three kilograms of crap taken out. (It's also a drastic method to lose eight pounds quickly).
Now when you have excess fluids taken out of the body, most patients experience cramping which is basically clinical dehydration. The cramping I expect, but haven't had a serious case of yet - slight cramping in the toes and calves. But I'd also have this tingling sensation - sometimes before dialysis is complete, sometimes hours after I'm done.
What the tech told me was that it (basically) is the body's way of compensating for the decreased amount of blood/fluids in the body, i.e., the heart beats a little faster, blood vessels constrict slightly, etc. And this is why my feet would be tingling for hours - my body is dealing with the absence of that crap removed.
...when they take a little too much fluid off and your blood pressure drops like a stone...Read more in That 'Tingly' Feeling
Dazzler said:
But have you had a real hypo yet, when they take a little too much fluid off and your blood press
Read more in That 'Tingly' Feeling
Jeanne said:
Hi all
My mom had polycystic kidney disease and spent 7 years on dialysis. She also expe
Read more in That 'Tingly' Feeling
Sa SAr said:
Hey can u email me the answer. So is this tingly feet hting a serious thing.....does it go away?
Read more in That 'Tingly' Feeling
Da Goddess said:
It's funny, I've never had anyone report the tingling...but the cramps - yeah, they talk about th
Read more in That 'Tingly' Feeling
Mad Mikey said:
Oh, there are times when I'd risk having a shunt, especially when I have an 'intrusion' - where t
Read more in That 'Tingly' Feeling
Comments on That 'Tingly' Feeling
Here's an odd question.....
Do you piss less?
|| Posted by Geoffrey, January 27, 2005 06:24 PM ||My grandma used to get the tingly feet too.
|| Posted by Maeve, January 27, 2005 08:21 PM ||You should see the needle that they used to us 20 some odd years ago. That thing was scary! Luckily for grandma, she got a plug put into her arm. Just had to plug her in! No more needles.
Geoff: A little.
Maeve: I know what you're talking about - it's called a 'shunt'. I thought I'd be getting one of those, but doctors really don't like them cause they're prone to infections. It would be easier than the needles, but you gotta go with what works, huh?
|| Posted by Mad Mikey, January 28, 2005 06:21 AM ||Wow Mike, that's pretty cool. I would have thought it had to do with lack of oxygen because your blood flow changes. It's almost like having extra adrenaline. You should tell them it's your "spidey senses" tingling ;)
|| Posted by caltechgirl, January 28, 2005 10:51 AM ||That had crossed my mind - the decreased blood flow and decreased oxygen, but it didn't make sense as to why it was localized in my feet.
|| Posted by Mad Mikey, January 28, 2005 10:57 AM ||Ah yes, the shunt. I just always called it her "plug". It did get quiet infected twards the end of her life. Her poor body was just shutting down. I miss her a lot, she was a big influence in my life.
|| Posted by Maeve, January 28, 2005 01:37 PM ||Oh, there are times when I'd risk having a shunt, especially when I have an 'intrusion' - where the needle goes through the vein and blood starts to pool inside the arm.
|| Posted by Mad Mikey, January 28, 2005 01:46 PM ||It's funny, I've never had anyone report the tingling...but the cramps - yeah, they talk about that!
The explanation makes perfect sense, although I kinda like the Spidey sense explanation better.
|| Posted by Da Goddess, January 30, 2005 09:00 PM ||Hey can u email me the answer. So is this tingly feet hting a serious thing.....does it go away? I have had it. it just started yeseterday and it goes for the whole day a. ITs sorta like a mild version of pins n needles?> SO what should i do?
|| Posted by Sa SAr, February 11, 2005 01:09 AM ||Hi all
My mom had polycystic kidney disease and spent 7 years on dialysis. She also experienced a tingling in her feet which was intermittent at first but later constant and eventually led to permanent loss of feeling in her lower legs - it was apparently peripheral neuritis which is one of the many consequences of renal failure - and nobody told her this until it was too lat to try and do anything to alleviate the situation...
|| Posted by Jeanne, February 14, 2005 04:44 AM ||But have you had a real hypo yet, when they take a little too much fluid off and your blood pressure drops like a stone, mine kicked in on the bus home, standing room only, nowhere to sit but the luggage rack. You feel like your stomach has just emptied itself, you come close to losing conciuosness and your vision may blur, also accompanied by the feeling that you are going to die, not pleasant. I've not had any tingling though.
|| Posted by Dazzler, August 2, 2005 07:00 PM ||...when they take a little too much fluid off and your blood pressure drops like a stone...
Oh yeah, I've had that happen recently. It was so bad on two different occasions, that I was almost admitted to the hospital.
However, my nephrologist adjusted my blood pressure meds and it's back to 'normal' - I just have to keep from going below a certain 'dry weight' on dialysis days.
|| Posted by Mad Mikey, August 3, 2005 09:56 AM ||