Update: I got the supposed solution to my supposed AV fistula's arterial pressure problemsteemCreated with Sketch.

in life •  last year 

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After one try of my simple experiment I discovered the lasting solution.

A day ago I was talking about this new threat to my wellbeing, my finances, and literally my life when the dialysis machine went on alarming frequently because it is reading a low pressure in my AV fistula's arterial part. I was told to exercise it because it is seemingly dying on me. However, the button scars of my AV fistula is showing that it has more pressure unlike before when I still got my unsightly bump on my left arm. The new graft had made the fistula get more pressure because of the radial size of the artery which was connected to a wider old arterial part of my AV fistula.

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It is great that I experimented on the factor of pressure as my dialysis nurse was pointing out and I came out with the idea of just placing my arm down while I elevate my body more into a sitting position to add more pressure to my AV fistula which worked as a result.

So it prompted me to look for answers and one of them is to have my blood's RBC count for testing which I would do this morning. The reason for that is to see if the cause was a higher amount of red blood cells because it causes blood clots and it shortens the use of dialyzers because blood clotting damages the dialyzer and it is hard to replace them for the reason of their expensive costs. Anyway, I will be looking to see if the main culprit of the problem was those extra red blood cells which the head nurse is not pointing as the cause but rather about the pressure of the arterial part of the AV fistula.

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I still want to see if I have a high count of red blood cells if it has to do with clotting while under dialysis.

But I also suspected that lowering my body and raising up my arm by putting or laying it on the armrest of the "Lazy boy" chair has an effect of lowering the pressure of my AV fistula and I noticed that. Meanwhile if I would sit, the pressure increases along with dropping my arm down to my side. So this morning I decided to put my left arm down and not use the armrest while hooked-up at dialysis. I also tried to sit up as high as possible without compromising my comfort and pain although it is a bit uncomfortable for me because I just prefer on lying flat on my back. Sitting up also raises pressure to my AV fistula.

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Sitting in a "lazy boy" chair is also hard for me particularly if i would be in a sitting position rather than laying down on it as it affects my breathing difficulty as my lungs are getting squeezed if I would sit more upright but I have to do some compromise to make my simple experiment work and it did!

Well, what you know? it worked, it seems that my head nurse was quite right indeed, it was the factor of low pressure of my AV fistula because the dialysis machine never alarmed like it used to do a couple of dialysis ago. So because of this solution I have never been more relieved because it just dissipated away my worries about this impending threat to my wellbeing and financial resolve. I can already breathe a sigh of relief because of the swift resolution of my problem that alarmed me a lot and had made me to panic, but all is well now and I can just relax already.

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My peace of mind is restored again and hoping that I will not get anymore trouble because I am already in neck-deep of complications.

However I have to still see the result of my complete blood count test because I want to know if I also can taper-off my use of EPO if it is still necessary to get an injection of it every week or maybe every two weeks because I really do not want my body to be dependent on EPO injections because my body is still producing it which is why my hemoglobin is still not crashing. but I still want to nudge it a bit to raise it up some more.

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I am not a stingy person but I just do not want to spend more on things that is not yielding good results because if my red blood cells (RBC) is elevated and not making me feel any difference, I would just rely on my body's own EPO production which would definitely save me some money that I can use for some of the things I also needed.

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Upvoted! Thank you for supporting witness @jswit.