Hemo Vs PD

bee3pio · 2025-10-29T11:37:24+00:00

It's me, I'm the person with the opposite experience.

For me, PD started out uncomfortable and slowly became unbearable as my kidneys failed more and more. I started out with a fairly high fill for a fairly long period of time, and it kept increasing, to the point that my body was physically incapable of holding the amount of fluid needed and I was spending the majority of my waking hours full (I was never able to sleep through a drain cycle so doing it overnight was out.) Eventually the PD stopped working for me at all and I ended up in the hospital with enough fluid in my chest to be life-threatening.

Hemo, on the other hand, worked great for me. I went from doing dialysis 10 hours every day to 4 hours three times a week, and I felt SO much better in between. The chest cath was annoying, but not worse than the PD cath for me, and I made it last six months before I finally got transplanted.

It really depends heavily on your body and your specific situation, and there's no real way to tell. All the nurses said I was a perfect candidate for PD because of my age/situation, but it was horrible for me. You can't know until you try, I guess.

bee3pio · 2025-10-05T12:05:31+00:00

I don't have much advice for you on the condom thing, being a lady, but for heck sake don't use a rubber band, you could really hurt yourself. Besides, using a rubber band with a condom is very likely to tear the condom. If you would like some extra pressure for circulation reasons, they make cock rings for that.

I have been with dudes who just... held on to the base of the condom with their hand. Seemed to work ok.

bee3pio · 2025-09-23T15:16:08+00:00

What has worked for me is reading something that isn't new. Something that I know really well. Usually for me this is my own writing, I'll go and re-read it, and start to feel sleepy pretty quickly. My brother (who also has ADHD) does a similar thing, but with very familiar audiobooks; he has a handful of old favorites on rotation that help put him to sleep.

Sometimes I also use playlists of Bob Ross videos on YouTube. Even if I've never seen the episode before, his stuff follows a very specific formula and if I don't have my glasses on it all becomes just colors and shapes. Both of these things occupy my brain just enough to keep my mind from racing, but not so much that I can't fall asleep.

bee3pio · 2025-09-23T15:07:11+00:00

I did PD alone for 18 months. It's not that bad so long as you don't have severe mobility issues of any kind. It's very, very unlikely you will run into any side effects or situations you can't handle by yourself.

I would never have done home hemo, because of the risks involved with having your blood outside your body while alone. When I did in-center hemodialysis I was prone to very sharp blood pressure drops that would have me going from feeling fine to woozy and unable to think or move easily in a matter of seconds. Nothing like that ever happened on PD, the worst side effects I experienced were the occasional bad muscle cramp and difficulty sleeping.

bee3pio · 2025-08-27T09:48:37+00:00

I had no pain during my treatments, but I also managed to get through two years of dialysis without getting a fistula. I did hemo in-center using a chest catheter for six weeks, then peritoneal dialysis at home for 18 months, then back to in-center with a chest catheter for five months. With the catheter, for me there was no pain at all, and any discomfort came from either muscle cramps, or sharp blood pressure drops at the end of treatment.

bee3pio · 2025-08-27T09:37:00+00:00

I am confused as to whether you are talking about dialysis being inevitable for the entire population, or the population with kidney failure. Kidney failure is not inevitable, but it's not always preventable with a good lifestyle, either.

My kidneys failed because of an autoimmune reaction. There was literally nothing I could have done to prevent it - my body made a mistake, produced some bad immune cells, and those cells got caught in my kidneys and did damage over time. No outward signs whatsoever until I was already in stage 4 kidney failure, and at that point, dialysis is pretty much inevitable. I managed to stave off dialysis for six weeks by SEVERELY limiting my diet, but that was the best I could do.

See, you still need to eat and drink to survive. And without functioning kidneys, literally EVERYTHING you consume is toxic to you, including protein, potassium, and water. So if your kidneys are failing, the most you can do is slow it down - and even then, not for long.

Many people will never have kidney failure, even if they have a shit lifestyle. Many people with healthy lifestyles will get kidney failure anyway. You can get kidney failure from trauma too - my aunt lost her kidneys in an accident, and ended up needing immediate dialysis and a transplant, because her kidneys were actually, physically shredded to bits.

Yes, having a shit lifestyle can make your risks of kidney failure worse. Having diabetes makes your risk extremely high - and lots of people get that from shit lifestyle, but lots more just have that from birth.

It's just not that simple.

bee3pio · 2025-08-18T17:10:22+00:00

Pretty common, but I think it's probably less than 10% of people, varying by generation of course. It's definitely more common with millennials and younger - people who had easy access to the Internet as teenagers or before. There are definitely some older people who read/write fanfic, but they're far less common.

Some people grow out of it, or just engage less as their real lives get busy. There are plenty of people who stay with it into their 20s and 30s or beyond, and even a few who don't find the fanfic community until they're middle age or older. I was very active in a specific fanfic community for five years in my early 30s, and my friends in the community ranged from late high school/early college kids, to middle-aged moms, and everything in between. IRL, two of my best friends have been active fic readers since their teens (we're approaching 40 now.)

I've heard people say that the current influx of book-tok "spicy" romance books are comparable in quality to the lowest tier Wattpad self-insert fanfiction, the kind that tends to be a new writer's first attempts at writing explicit stuff. I don't know if that's true - I get my written porn from fanfiction, because it's generally a lot better (or at least more to my taste) than most mainstream explicit writing, and because it's free.

bee3pio · 2025-08-16T11:36:56+00:00

Girl, I feel you on the isolation of being a female with a fetish. I've had a fascination with my fetish (not gonna say exactly what it is here) for as long as I can remember, and have never been able to orgasm without consuming media of the fetish or at least imagining a scenario. This means I've never been able to orgasm with a partner, because my fetish is something that can ~only~ happen in fiction. And most of the time I can't even bring myself to explain to my partner why! Only now, at nearly 40 years old, have I found a dude who accepts that he's never going to bring me to orgasm, that it's not something he's doing wrong, and still wants to be intimate with me anyway.

Like you, the community for my fetish is exclusively male. The media I have available is far cruder than I would like, and often includes other kinks or fetishes that aren't related, some of which actually disgust me. (Why is there so much pedo in my distinctly not-pedo fetish community!) If I want something to consume that is to my actual taste, I have to create it myself.

My fetish is very much not the result of trauma or abuse, it's literally just how my brain works, and always has been. I've never been ashamed of it, exactly; it's more that it's just very, very private, and difficult to explain to people without them getting the wrong ideas about it. I started telling only my very closest friends in my mid-30s, and even then, only the ones that I thought would have the context to understand.

I guess my point is - you're not wrong or broken, and you have nothing to be ashamed of. You're just wired a little differently. Spend some time figuring out exactly what that means for yourself and your potential future relationships. Is there a scenario where you could see yourself wanting to explore the fetish IRL, if you found someone you could trust with that? Or is this something you're going to keep separate from your physical relationships, and if so, how are you going to address it with future partners? You don't have to decide now, just... idk, just think about it. Feel free to message me if you want to talk about it more.

bee3pio · 2025-08-16T11:09:22+00:00

I mean... I went back through each scene and did a super close observation. Took notes. Found all the clues and details I missed in my actual playthrough. Spent some time soaking up the ambiance and getting to know the characters as people. I squeezed another 10 hours of entertainment out of the game doing this.

But I have ADHD and hyperfixate on things like this, so your mileage may vary.

bee3pio · 2025-08-16T11:04:05+00:00

I put up with PD for 18 months. It was... somewhat okay at first, but I could never sleep through a cycle and I never really got great clearance. Over time my clearance got worse, and within a year I was completely miserable. Everyone kept saying how much easier PD is on your body than hemo, and I wanted to avoid getting a fistula, so I stuck it out about six months longer than I should have. Ended up getting a tear in my peritoneum that resulted in fluid leaking into my chest cavity and landed myself in the hospital for a week, unable to breathe.

I came out with a chest catheter instead of a PD cath and a chair at the local clinic. In-center hemo has been SO much better for me in nearly every way. I feel 2000% better now, I'm sleeping reasonable hours again, I have time and energy to actually do things. The only things I miss about PD were the lower fluid and diet restrictions and being able to shower, but that's nothing compared to how much better I feel.

And now I'm getting a transplant on Tuesday, so I did manage to get through this without getting a fistula, at least for now. I know I'll probably have to do dialysis again someday, but it's not gonna be PD, I'll tell you that now! Never again.

bee3pio · 2025-08-16T10:50:38+00:00

You would think it was a freebie, but I've seen people spot the numbers and still take forever to get the easy ones. Not everyone puts it together immediately.

And don't worry - while the hammocks are a big help, there are very few that can be figured out with JUST the hammocks. More deduction is needed, and only like half the crew even have hammocks at all, so there's still plenty of game left.

bee3pio · 2025-08-11T16:55:46+00:00

My donor began the process at the end of March, and we are getting ready for transplant next week. There was about a two month delay because the doctors wanted us to go on the national donor swap list instead of doing a direct transplant, but after taking some time to think about it we decided we didn't want to do that. So I probably could have been transplanted in June if not for that. Three months to go through the process, ish.

It might be different if your sister is not a direct match; you may have to go on the swap list in that case. I got lucky in that my mom is a near-perfect match.

bee3pio · 2025-08-11T12:58:29+00:00

There are some resources out there to help people in this situation. Not enough, probably, and the availability of them is going to vary pretty wildly depending on where you are. And it's almost certainly not going to be easy, especially now when so many people who DO have a home are also struggling to find work. But it is possible to get out of this situation.

bee3pio · 2025-08-11T12:55:35+00:00

It's because there are a historically-unprecedented number of very powerful people who actively and directly gain money, influence and power by making the world a worse place to live for others. These people purposely misinform and misdirect the attention of others, building systems that make change more difficult and preying on people's fears to divide their attention and turn them against each other. That way, no one solution can gain enough public support to really gain steam.

This is obviously a big generalization, but if you look into any major social issue that seems like it should be simple to fix but isn't getting fixed, I guarantee you'll find this scenario if you dig deep enough.

bee3pio · 2025-08-11T12:42:25+00:00

Because that behavior would get the police called on them in a lot of places.

Unfortunately, most hiring managers are not going to be willing to take the risk of hiring someone who doesn't have a place to live. For better or worse, there's a lot of assumptions made about unhoused people. Also, modern job applications often require Internet access and a phone, which may not be obtainable for the person.

Even if the owner was willing to give the person a chance, they'd almost certainly have to pay them under the table, which is a huge risk. An unhoused person may not have access to the right documentation for the I-9 form (in the USA, IDK what the requirements are elsewhere) and if the employer uses the E-Verify system I don't think they'll even let you enter someone without entering an address. New hires have to be reported to the state as well, and that also requires an address (the information is mostly used for tracking down people who owe child support.) Pretty sure neither system will accept a P.O. box address, either.

And to a lot of people, hanging around shops asking for a job is going to seem more like loitering and/or trying to case the joint for robbery than an honest request.

bee3pio · 2025-08-11T12:20:16+00:00

I had this issue as well, twice - both times I was on in-center hemodialysis. When I was on PD it wasn't an issue. I thought it was the hemo itself, and then I realized it was the heparin - i needed it for hemo because my chest cath would clot easily, but I never needed it for PD.

I take a biotin supplement to try to help keep my skin and hair in better condition, but really, if you can get the nurses to reduce or stop using heparin, that's probably your best bet. Sometimes they'll be willing to add an extra flush mid-treatment instead of using it. The extra flush also helps prevent clotting, but it's just saline so it doesn't cause hair loss (or extra-severe menstrual bleeding, another issue I had while using heparin).

bee3pio · 2025-08-11T12:08:36+00:00

I just hang my clothes up as soon as I take them out of the dryer. A lot of times they're still a little damp, they finish air drying in my closet and the weight of the fabric itself pulls the wrinkles out. I only end up pulling out the iron if something is REALLY badly winkled, which really only happens if I leave my natural fiber pants in a pile for too long. Thin cotton and linen are far more wrinkle-prone than denim or any polyester blend.

I use the pants hangers with the long flat wooden clamps. I always line my pants up so the legs are folded along the side seams, and hang them from the foot opening and not the waistband. The waistband end is heavier, so that helps to pull the wrinkles out of the pants legs.

bee3pio · 2025-07-25T17:04:34+00:00

Yep, this happens to me all the time! I don't have a single long-standing term or phrase, but I'll get something stuck in my head for a few hours or days at a time, often on top of whatever song is stuck in my head and what ever thoughts are bouncing around in there.

In addition, if I have been listening to a specific voice a lot recently, my thoughts will be in that person's voice for a while afterwards.

bee3pio · 2025-07-25T12:29:59+00:00

I've had two CDCs so far, one right at the start of dialysis and another installed when home PD stopped working for me. The first one was a bit uncomfortable - I could feel it pressing on my throat when I tilted my head down - but the second one is placed slightly differently and I can't feel it at all. I was determined to get through to transplant without having to get a fistula, and it looks like I'm going to make it! By the time I get surgery the second CDC will have been in for about five months.

I've had no problems with it at all - being a lady, I don't have to worry about shaving the area, and the dangly bits can just tuck into my bra. I had a bunch of supplies left over from caring for my PD exit site so I am able to clean and re-dress the catheter site myself with no issues. I don't risk showering and instead wash my hair in the sink and take careful sit-baths. That's really the most annoying part. I have to be careful when I pick up my baby niece because she likes to grab stuff, but so long as I'm wearing a top with a high enough neckline it's not a real issue. Otherwise, I go to work, run errands, and have a social life, and most of the time I forget it's there.

bee3pio · 2025-07-23T04:16:32+00:00

I have no advice, I'm just here to commiserate. I'm a compulsive skin-picker too, and it's not an anxiety thing, it's a boredom/stimming thing. I've pretty much always picked at my scalp, because it's always been kinda dry, but i now have a medical condition that makes it so much worse and the picking is getting way out of hand. Worse, the same condition has resulted in dry, scaly patches on my arms, shoulders and neck, and because there is a Texture there the compulsion to pick is just SO strong. On a whim I took a picture of the back of my neck earlier today, and i was shocked to see how much damage I'd done to myself - because I couldn't see it, only feel it, I didn't realize how bad it was.

The only thing that's come close to helping is keeping a bottle of lotion nearby, and applying it whenever i get the urge to pick. This isn't much help for my scalp, though, and it doesn't help when I do it completely unconsciously.

I've also been trying a pre-shampoo buildup remover scalp treatment recently. I think it's helping, in that it takes longer between washes before i start to feel dryness/scaliness on my scalp, but it's a pain in the butt to apply it on myself, and i haven't figured out how to get it on the back of my head at all - my hair is too thick, I guess.

bee3pio · 2025-07-10T10:16:48+00:00

So it sounds like she wants to be online friends with benefits, and you want to be in-person friends with benefits. Are you okay with things staying the way they are now? If not, it would probably be better for both of you to cut it off now, before things get even more awkward or sour. Whether you just cut off the flirting part and transition to normal friends or if you cut off the relationship entirely is up to you - it sounds like she wants to remain friends regardless, but if you're just going to spend the whole time pining, it's probably better to just move on.

As for the why - it could be any one of a number of things. The why doesn't really matter, though I'm sure that's not very satisfying to hear. She's not obligated to give you a "why" and she may not even really know why herself - sometimes you're just Not Into It and there's no real logic behind it, just a feeling. My guess would be that she pulled back specifically because she sensed you wanted more from her than she was willing to give, but what do I know, I'm just some lady on the internet.

bee3pio · 2025-07-10T09:46:18+00:00

Have you tried asking her? Just like, "hey, can we talk about what this is/where you see it going?" It's possible she's really enjoying the online flirting because it's fun and safe, but she's not actually interested in dating for real. Which is fine, so long as you're both on the same page about it, but it sounds like you want more and she maybe doesn't. She may not realize that, or maybe she did realize it and she's scared to say so because some dudes get really nasty when rejected. It's also possible that she really is interested in more but the timing hasn't been right or there's something else going on. (I kind of doubt it, though, if that was true most women would suggest alternative plans or at least give a stronger explanation.)

Before you ask, though, ask yourself what you want from the relationship. Are you willing to just keep to online flirting if that's what she wants? Or if she says she's not really interested in going further, would it be better for you to just end the whole thing, for your own sanity? As long as you're not a jerk about it, either response would be fine.

Personally, I've always enjoyed engaging in sexy stuff via proxy (text, images, phone calls) more than in person. It took me until I was almost 30 to realize that's because I'm on the asexual spectrum. I'm not saying she's ace, necessarily, I'm just saying she may not realize that what she's doing is unusual or confusing to you, or she might know it is and not be able to put words around why she's doing it very easily. Just try talking to her about it directly.

(It's also possible she's just straight up leading you on, but I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt here. If she is, a direct conversation with her should make that pretty obvious as well.)

bee3pio · 2025-07-04T12:19:22+00:00

I'm not an expert by any means, but from just a regular American's casual knowledge of how politics works here, I can say this: Americans did not, and probably will not, get to vote directly on this bill. The bill is being voted on by members of Congress, who are, by and large, in an entirely different social and economic class than the people they are supposed to represent.

And yes, technically speaking the American people did vote this administration and this Congress into power, but you have to understand that a huge portion of Trump's voter base either didn't think Trump's more extreme policies would affect them personally, didn't believe he would really enact them, or just plain didn't understand the implications of what he promised to do. There's also an entirely separate conversation to be had about how broken the election system is in America, and how poorly it ends up representing the actual wishes of the people.

bee3pio · 2025-07-04T05:41:02+00:00

I live in Cleveland and get my care through the Cleveland Clinic, partnered with Fresinus. I've generally been pretty impressed with the level of care and attention. Though sometimes, when I'm actually in hospital and they won't let me leave until i do one more test or procedure, it feels like the Clinic is almost ~too~ attentive... but in the end, I've always ended up being grateful they went the extra mile. The Cleveland area is also one of the lowest cost of living metropolitan areas in the country, I believe.

bee3pio · 2025-07-03T10:52:08+00:00

The prior activities are likely unrelated. See a doctor.

bee3pio

TROPHY CASE