As a dialysis patient, maintaining fluid balance is critical to protecting your health. Unlike individuals with normal kidney function, your body is unable to properly eliminate excess fluid, which can quickly accumulate between dialysis sessions. This fluid overload may lead to high blood pressure, swelling, breathing difficulties, or even dangerous strain on your heart. But with the right approach, you can take control of your fluid balance and reduce the risk of these complications.
Simple lifestyle changes, such as tracking fluid intake, reducing sodium in your diet, and following your care team’s guidelines, can make a significant difference. Staying informed and proactive empowers you to live more comfortably while managing dialysis. If you’re concerned about your fluid balance or overall urinary health, visit us at Doral Health and Wellness Urology Center. Our expert team of nephrologists and urologists in East New York is here to support you with personalized care and guidance.
What is the fluid balance?
Fluid balance refers to the delicate equilibrium between the fluids you consume and the fluids your body eliminates. It’s crucial because over half of your body is made up of water, and every beverage you consume—whether it’s water, tea, juice, or even alcohol—contributes to your total fluid intake. For individuals with healthy kidneys, maintaining fluid balance happens naturally. The kidneys regulate how much fluid stays in the body by eliminating the excess through urine, along with smaller amounts lost through sweat and stool.
However, for patients on dialysis, achieving fluid balance becomes much more complex. When the kidneys stop functioning properly, they can no longer remove extra fluid effectively. Dialysis plays an important role in compensating for some of this function, but it isn’t as efficient or continuous as natural kidney function. This is why fluid balance must be closely monitored and controlled.
Failing to maintain proper fluid balance can lead to fluid overload, a condition where excess water builds up in the body and causes swelling, high blood pressure, difficulty breathing, or heart strain. These complications can severely impact your quality of life and make dialysis sessions more difficult and uncomfortable. By understanding and actively managing your fluid balance, you can avoid these outcomes.
It’s also important to recognize that fluid balance isn’t just about the water you drink. Many foods, especially those with high water content like soups, stews, fruits, ice cream, and even ice cubes, contribute to your overall fluid levels. On hotter days, or if you still pass urine while on dialysis, your fluid needs might increase. This means your fluid balance may require adjustment depending on your daily activity, weather conditions, and personal dialysis schedule.
If you’re gaining significant weight between dialysis sessions, it may be a sign that your fluid balance is off. Reducing both salt and fluid intake can help restore it. Sodium directly impacts fluid balance because it causes your body to retain water. By controlling your sodium levels, you can better manage your fluid balance, avoid cramping, and reduce the risk of low blood pressure during dialysis treatments.
In some cases, if you don’t consume enough fluids—especially when you’re sweating more—you might experience the opposite issue: dehydration. Poor fluid balance in this direction can lead to dizziness, fatigue, and drops in blood pressure, particularly when changing positions. That’s why it’s essential to find the right fluid balance for your body and lifestyle.
In summary, achieving and maintaining proper fluid balance is one of the most important aspects of staying healthy on dialysis. It requires awareness, discipline, and support from your care team. If you have questions or need guidance on how to manage your fluid balance effectively, visit us at Doral Health and Wellness Urology Center. Our team of experienced nephrologists and urologists in East New York is here to help you create a fluid plan tailored to your needs and ensure your dialysis journey is as smooth as possible.
Signs and symptoms of fluid overload
- Fluid overload can cause many symptoms, including:
• Swelling: You can notice swelling in your feet, ankles, wrists, and face when there is too much fluid in your body. This type of swelling is called edema.
• Discomfort: Experiencing headache, cramping, and abdominal bloating that makes you uncomfortable.
• High blood pressure: Excess fluid in the bloodstream can make it difficult for your body to maintain healthy blood pressure.
• Shortness of breath: When extra fluid in your body enters the lungs, it makes breathing difficult.
• Heart problems: The extra fluid in the body can also affect your heart rate, and heart muscles, and may increase heart size.
Prevention
There are several strategies you can use to prevent fluid overload:
- Be aware of your fluid intake:
Your doctor, renal nurse, or dietitian will tell you how much fluid you can drink to prevent fluid overload. Patients who are on hemodialysis can drink two pints per day and patients on peritoneal dialysis can drink up to 3 pints per day. On hot days they can increase their intake a little more. Over time on dialysis, you can notice a decrease in urine production which enhances your restriction on your fluid intake.
Limiting your water intake can be difficult, so you should look for different ways to help you manage your water intake. It can include:
• Drinking water in small cups.
• Frequently rinsing your mouth.
• Sucking on sugar-free candy, ice chips, or frozen grapes.
• Freezing your favorite drink in small bottles to drink from it as the ice melts.
2. Manage your sodium:
Sodium is available in the form of salt, and consuming too much salt increases your thirst and increases water retention in the body. It also makes it difficult for dialysis to remove fluid from the body. So, you should limit salt consumption in your diet to prevent the chances of fluid overload. To replace salt, you can use spices and herbs in your cooking to make it tasty and healthy.
3. Be aware of your weight:
You need to know your base weight because when you gain a few pounds quickly it means you gain water weight. That’s why you should check your weight regularly and if your weight is more, you need to drink less to manage it. If you’re not sure about it, you can consult with your renal nurse, doctor, or dietitian.
4. Keep yourself cool on warm days:
Use a fan that produces humidified air to lower rapid fluid loss due to sweating. Wear loose clothes to reduce sweating.
5. Adjust your dialysis:
If the fluid overload is a major concern or issue or you’re not able to handle simple adjustments, you should talk with your healthcare team to make some adjustments in your dialysis treatment. Usually, longer, and more frequent dialysis treatments can be used to remove extra fluid.
Fluid balance and dialysis disequilibrium are closely linked with each other because when your body is not able to maintain fluid balance it leads to severe complications in the body, leading to dialysis disequilibrium. That’s why it’s essential to manage fluid balance in the body by drinking water in the targeted range your renal doctor or healthcare team has recommended. Follow the above-mentioned tips to manage your fluid overload and keep yourself healthy.
If you need help with fluid overload or kidney problems, visit our urology clinic in Brooklyn to get professional medical help. Call us to book your appointment now!!!!
Going through dialysis is never easy. And having your family with you is an important part of your healing journey. So, if you have symptoms of losing kidney functions, talk to your medical provider immediately. Never take any symptoms of kidney problems for granted. It is better to have it checked early on, before it progresses. Doral Health & Wellness provides in-center hemodialysis that is managed by our highly trained medical team. To schedule an appointment, please visit us at 1797 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11212 or call 1-347-384-5690. You can also visit our website at https://doralhw.org/solution/dialysis/.
