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Im planning to do my own IVs and buy saline from ebay

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
Im completely fed up with things, fed up that I can NEVER leave my house alone and need to be pushed in the wheelchair when out. I WANT some freedom! Im fed up with having to be ambulanced to hospital so much this year for saline IVs and then having the stress on whether I'll get a decent doctor who will research POTS and then give me one (which gives me a lot of anxiety each time). Everytime that happens, Im also stuck in casuality (feeling very dreadful!) for 5-6 hrs before admitted in the short stay ward (often it takes that long before they give me the drip Im needing).

It would be in my best interest to say.. good riddance to the ambulance (I got treated like crap by an ambulance officer last time who didnt listen insisted I sit and had made me have another near seizure) and good riddance to the hospital. Only getting the saline once Ive already collapsed, rather then when Im getting close to a collapse is also putting my kidneys at risk as indicated on my blood tests earlier in this year which showed my kidneys were struggling after a collapse.

Maybe with regular saline I could say goodbye to that wheelchair????

(this is reminding me back when I taught myself to give myself B12 injections and worked out how to get the ampules myself without a dr for several yars.. it was the best thing I ever did back then and the only thing at that time I found which helped me).

I understand a post like this probably would freak some out but some of us like myself do not have good options going on for us and NEED to be doing something. My current situation is shocking and has been for 18mths now with me just getting worst and worst (probably cause Im struggling so much here). I need to do something which is likely to make my life a bit easier and hopefully stop this slow progression Im having due to the struggle with things.

So Im looking at saline on ebay for me http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SALINE-S...ecial_Needs&hash=item27daeb4bdb#ht_2705wt_682 $17 for 1000ml .SALINE SODIUM CHLORIDE IV FLUID STERILE 0.9% 1000ml BAG

Can someone please tell me if 0.9% is the standard saline solution given in which I'd be getting whenever Ive had one at hospital? (I didnt think to write it down).

Can someone also please tell me.. what is the name of the other equipment I need to do this? (I'll just do it in the normal area they put it in the vein inside my arm at elbow.

Your help will be very very much appreciated.

.....

I want to sell some stuff and my mother is having a stall in August. I asked if if she could sell the stuff I want to sell for me but she just then said she'd expect for me to be helping and just said when I get too sick I can sleep in the car.. I do not want to have to do that thou (its highly uncomfortable and I cant rest there properly) and for me to help her on the stall which is her expectation if I want to sell stuff, there is 80% chance Im going to collapse and end up in hospital again.. so if I can figure out these IVs, I'll probably be able to prevent that occurring.

So are very desperate to sort this out, the whole I cant do much thing cause Im going to collapse (by this I mean literally almost nothing, I cant even cook my meals) is ruining my whole life and I HATE HOSPITAL!!

So please, please someone advise me of what the names of the rest of what I need to buy for this is called?
.........

Another question I have if anyone knows.. is this sort of saline IV bag. PVC free? It says its a VIAFLEX BAG .
 
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taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I just went throu my drawers as I thought I had some needle thingies with little tubes attached and found them. They are winged infusion sets 25gx3/4 (0.50 x 19mm) .. are these what drs use with saline bags? If so I just need now to get hold of whatever that connection tube part is called.

(I had the winged infusion sets back when I used to go to drug addicts place to get all the suringes and needles in bulk (by the box) free of change there, when I was doing B12 injections .. even back then I was considering saline so grabbed these wondering if they would be suitable years ago).

Would an drug addict place have tubing to go onto an IV bag too???
 

xks201

Senior Member
Messages
740
Have you tried desmopressin and florinef at the same time? IVs are obviously a temporary fix unless you plan on walking around with one everyday.
 
Messages
15,786
@taniaaust1 - 0.9% is what is used in my IV infusions, with and without antibiotics mixed in.

The infusing is probably pretty simple (the nurses think I can be taught to do it myself), but inserting a catheter one-handed is probably impossible. Hence you might need someone to do that for you weekly, or get a port surgically installed.
 

PNR2008

Senior Member
Messages
613
Location
OH USA
I admire your resourcefulness and would like to do the same thing, for now midodrine and electrolytes are doing the job. I'd like to know how to infuse myself with saline when the need arises instead of going to the ER and explaining the whole problem to them again and again.

Just a note: Military dog handlers in the Middle East always carry saline and lines to infuse dogs that pass out from the heat.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,335
Location
Southern California
I've recently read about thiamine deficiency causing POTS. It seems to be either a thiamine deficiency or an inability to properly utilize thiamine, which causes the symptoms, also causes fatigue. Here a couple of links:
http://www.dinet.org/index.php/community/member-stories?start=28
http://www.hormonesmatter.com/thiamine-deficiency-causes-problems/

One woman posted in the first link above that she used to have to take a ton of sodium to function, and no longer has to since she started supplementing with 500 mg. of thiamine daily.

Mary
 
Messages
2,565
Location
US
I had a quick internet search. I wonder if the writer of this blog has any idea. http://potsgrrl.blogspot.co.il/p/in-support-of-iv-saline-therapy-for.html

I read most of this page and another page on her site. She had a supportive doctor, she got a PICC line. Then there was a problem with it, and she got a chest port. Both covered by insurance. A nurse taught her how to change the dressing and everything that is needed. She says using the needle isn't practical to do daily, but know the risks involved with PICC or mid-line port or chest port.
 

ahimsa

ahimsa_pdx on twitter
Messages
1,921
Just a note: Military dog handlers in the Middle East always carry saline and lines to infuse dogs that pass out from the heat.

I think that those dogs get subcutaneous saline and not IV saline. It's not that hard to give fluids under the skin for animals. It's much harder to give IV treatments because then you have to find a vein.

The only reason I happen to know a little bit about this is because I gave subcutaneous fluids to my cat over the last couple years of her life. My cat was suffering from kidney failure so my vet showed me how I could do this at home (easier on my kitty, cheaper for me).

@taniaaust1, I wish I could help but I know nothing about IVs. Good luck finding the information and equipment that you need!
 
Messages
10,157
.9% Saline would be what they would use in the hospital to hydrate you. It's standard. The might use something different if they have done bloodwork depending on the nature of the results.

You would need to have a sterile field, gloves, IV solution, tubing, the proper sized catheter for you, alcohol swabs to clean ports etc, tourniquet, somewhere to hang to IV solution. You would also need to learn how to calculate drip rate because if you infuse too rapidly it can cause issues. You would also need to learn how to set up the bag and tubing re: air bubbles in the line and keeping it all sterile including the needle. A sterile field is a must because if you contaminate the catheter needle, you are putting the contamination directly into your blood.

It's not easy to insert an IV catheter even for a seasoned nurse and it does require extra training. It takes a lot of practice to hit a vein properly. I can't imagine starting an IV on myself. I really don't think I could.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
Have you tried desmopressin and florinef at the same time? IVs are obviously a temporary fix unless you plan on walking around with one everyday.

No I havent tried desmopressin. Florinef and Clonidine are the only two meds Ive been able to get a doctor to give me for the POTS. It took five years just to get a doctor to do that. (POTS doesnt seem to be well known about at all in my state, there is only two hospitals in the whole state that actually have a tilt table).
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
@taniaaust1 - 0.9% is what is used in my IV infusions, with and without antibiotics mixed in.

The infusing is probably pretty simple (the nurses think I can be taught to do it myself), but inserting a catheter one-handed is probably impossible. Hence you might need someone to do that for you weekly, or get a port surgically installed.

Yeah.. heapsreal sent me a pm and that is one of the things he's just pointed out to me, that one cant do this one handed :( .

I wouldnt be looking to do them myself if things were that simple. I dont have anyone to do one weekly (there is a doctor right in the city who said he would, he runs a once a week clinic but I cant get there, its an hour drive from me.. and its very early in the morning) and no doctors will agree to anything like a port. The doctors seem to be only happy to give me one only after I collapse and cant get up again. :( . My state a lot of the time is very close to collapsed, its why I cant cook myself meals and stuff.
 
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taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I've recently read about thiamine deficiency causing POTS. It seems to be either a thiamine deficiency or an inability to properly utilize thiamine, which causes the symptoms, also causes fatigue. Here a couple of links:
http://www.dinet.org/index.php/community/member-stories?start=28
http://www.hormonesmatter.com/thiamine-deficiency-causes-problems/

One woman posted in the first link above that she used to have to take a ton of sodium to function, and no longer has to since she started supplementing with 500 mg. of thiamine daily.

Mary

That is very interesting that you brought up thiamine. Once when I was in the ICU for something else, they gave me a thiamine injection(s). I still dont know why the reason for that (and they werent aware I had POTS at the time), so Ive always wondered if a thiamine deficiency showed up in my hospital blood tests?

I really should try to get hold of all my hospital notes and try to find out.
 

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
It's not easy to insert an IV catheter even for a seasoned nurse and it does require extra training. It takes a lot of practice to hit a vein properly. I can't imagine starting an IV on myself. I really don't think I could.

We have the added issue with low blood volume that it can hard to hit the vein.