Switching from cycler to manual

[Billman13]

patricia0805, thank you for allaying the fear that 5 years from now, I won't be able to do PD. I'm just starting and don't want to go back to hemo. I guess I shouldn't believe everything I read on the internet. Haha.

[patricia0805]

I don't know who told you the peritoneal membrane "lasts 5 years"....but that is bologna! July13 will be my 10th year on PD

[Loganwon]

[QUOTE=mamasanford;n99673]Our cycler bags are 5000ml, and there are different sizes I think. I would think that your cycler is doing an excellent cleaning job, just trust it. Fooling around using cycler bags for manual exchanges is just asking for a boat load of trouble.......just sayin'.
Hook-up to your cycler, go to sleep and let the magic happen!!
Do check with your center with your concerns, isn't that what they're paid to do?[/

I have a slow exchange rate, which is good because my Peritoneal membrane should last longer. So I have delayed the last drain for 2 hours. So I am using both the cycler and manual. The cycler does not work the same for everyone. It works better for fast exchange rates, but that tends to burn out your Peritoneal membrane faster. My nephrologists told me that the Peritoneal should last at least 5 years and then either I will have had my transplant or go back to hemo dialysis.

[mamasanford]

Our cycler bags are 5000ml, and there are different sizes I think. I would think that your cycler is doing an excellent cleaning job, just trust it. Fooling around using cycler bags for manual exchanges is just asking for a boat load of trouble.......just sayin'.
Hook-up to your cycler, go to sleep and let the magic happen!!
Do check with your center with your concerns, isn't that what they're paid to do?

[Loganwon]

Loganwon I was just wondering don't they teach you how to go back to manual in case of an emergency anyway? Can't you just switch back to manual at any time or is it a different fluid you use? Do the cyclers have a way to lengthen the setting to dwell longer? Sorry for all the questions. Curiosity gets the best of me I guess.

The difference is the size of the bags. The cycler uses 6000ml bags and the manual are 2500ml bags. You could use cycler bags for manual just don't let them over fill you as that could hurt or possibly kill you. Your Peritoneal cavity is not designed to hold 6,000 ml. I can adjust the cycler that is not the problem, ordering the bags is the problem. Your center gets a report from the company (Baxter) and will take your cycler back from you if you don't us it. I want to use both so I have to be careful when ordering my supplies. The main cleaning happens the first hour after that the exchange rate drops 50% and the next hour another 50 % and so on, so after 4 hours there is very little exchange of waste products happening anymore.

[mamasanford]

My husband has been on cycler for over 4 years, he did manual exchanges for 6 months before that and I simply can't imagine going back. His program is set at 5 dwell times and cycles through 15000ml per night. He also does one manual exchange in the evening so that is his initial drain on the cycler......confused yet. His nephrologist just advised us that we could drop the manual exchange occasionally if plans for the evening would interfere. His numbers are just that excellent. The cycler allows us to have a much better quality of life rather than being tied down to trying to fit our lives around manual exchanges.
Cyclers can be programmed as to amount of "fill", length of dwell etc. The fluid used is identical but bags for manual can't be used on cycler or vica versa. I always keep a 2 week supply of manual bags on hand, just in case the cycler fails and that has happened on two separate occasions however Baxter has always replaced them the following day, which, considering we live in the middle of the Canadian prairies is excellent service. He was on manual for 4 months before being tested for cycler use, apparently not all patients are able to use cycler for different reasons and I'm not sure what the prequesite is, I just know we never want to go back to manual exchanges.
My two cents of advice is check with your nephrologist, perhaps your prescription needs a tweak

[DebbyRig]

Loganwon I was just wondering don't they teach you how to go back to manual in case of an emergency anyway? Can't you just switch back to manual at any time or is it a different fluid you use? Do the cyclers have a way to lengthen the setting to dwell longer? Sorry for all the questions. Curiosity gets the best of me I guess.

[Loganwon]

I am using a Baxter cycler and it does not clean my body like it should. The fluid is not left in long enough. How do I switch back to manual and get rid of the cycler?