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Becareful, you dont want all the travel to undo the good work of the saline.
I wouldnt worry about veins bursting, abit of direct pressure, maybe an ice pack. you will expend less energy getting it done at home.
@heapsreal It is so good to see you (I love your posts and feedback and glad you are still on PR!) I hope you are doing well and wanted to ask without sidetracking Jeff's thread too much!
As far as my prescription, my cardio did not order home health for the IV's and don't think my new insurance would cover it anyway. He specifically wanted me to go to an infusion center 1x/wk to see how it goes and if I benefit from it. If I do, and the IV's become more frequent, I will inquire about home health. Right now I am not well enough to leave my home so I totally understand your point. I am going to try to find a closer place vs. traveling all the way to where my cardio is which is quite far.
As far as my veins, they are really bad and if someone came to my home and set it up and then left, I would not know what to do if the vein burst or the IV slipped out of my vein and got infiltrated and wouldn't know how to remove or fix it! I had a lot of problems in the hospital where it would take 3-4 different nurses to get the IV into my arm. I feel safer at an infusion center where there are multiple people around the entire time if something goes wrong.
If im lived near by i would do it for nothing, maybe a pepsi max and chat to ya for a couple of hours?? Enough of my rant, i could go on for hours, lol.
@Sushi, At the moment, I do not have a choice and this is the prescription that my cardiologist wrote. I see him again the first week of Nov so I can discuss it with him then. I am happy just to try it at all right now! Just curious, why do they recommend two liters vs. one?
Good luck tomorrow Gingergrrl. I've had good experiences with getting 1 L saline infusions 3x a week at the local infusion center. They help a lot with my OI symptoms. Wish the effects lasted longer than 24 hours or so but they do seem to help a lot. Mine are usually infused over 2 hours. I have also found having a warmer on the IV helpful as well so the fluid goes in warm and not cold. Triggers less autonomic symptoms for me.
Do most places have a warmer? They did not do this when I was in the hospital and I did not know to ask for it. What does it look like? I have a heating pad at home but it is huge and not something you could wrap around your arm!
@jeff_w Do you do that for your IV's? Also, how many hours do yours take? Sorry if I already asked you this!
Best of luck with the IV. Drink lots before your appointment to 'juice up' the veins and make sure your extremities are warm.
@Gingergrrl As for the heating pads, the infusion center I go to uses them to prep my arm in order to find a vein. The heat causes veins to expand, making it easier for them to insert the line successfully. So, they wrap my arm in a VERY warm pad for about 5 minutes before the insert.
I've heard from others that faster lines work better for OI symptoms, and that has been my experience. I do 1.5 hours per liter. Two hours per liter also works for me, and I will do that sometimes to better preserve the vein.
@jeff_w Are you going to an infusion center now instead of having the IV's at home? I will see how I feel after the three hours per liter IV today but thinking that two hours would be better logistically. Hopefully they have very comfortable chairs! And hoping I will be able to text and use internet from the room while having my IV!
The nurse said that cardiologists write the saline for a slower drip so it doesn't go in too fast so I doubt my cardio will change it from three hours to two but I will ask him.