How To Stop Headaches

How To Stop Headaches - Headaches and vomiting are common symptoms in patients undergoing dialysis. This usually occurs as a result of the low pressure caused by the treatment. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to alleviate headaches, nausea and vomiting both before and during the dialysis treatment. Just see Step 1 below to get started.

How To Stop Headaches

A. Before Each Dialysis Treatment

1. Reduce your fluid intake to 2L in the 24 hours before treatment. Reduce your fluid intake to no more than 2 liters (0.5 US gal) during the 24 hours before the dialysis treatment.

• Dialysis removes excess fluids from the body, so if there is a large quantity of fluid in your system, a large quantity fluid will be removed during the treatment.
• When too much liquid is removed from your system very quickly, it causes your blood pressure to drop, leading to headaches, nausea and vomiting. Therefore, having a lower level of fluid in your system will help to prevent this from happening.

2. Avoid eating foods that contain a lot of sugar. In the day leading up to the dialysis treatment, it is recommend that you avoid eating foods or consuming drinks with a high sugar content, such as candy, chocolate, donuts, fruit juices and sodas.

• Too much sugar induces nausea by triggering the vomiting center in the brain.
• In addition, dialysis causes the electrolytes in your system to be out of balance. Eating sugar throws this balance off even further, making nausea and vomiting more likely.

3. Reduce your portions to half their normal size the day before dialysis. The day before your treatment, you should reduce your portion size at each meal by half. This prevents you from overeating.

• Eating too much can cause you to feel nauseous at the best of times, but dialysis can make feelings of nausea even worse (due to electrolyte imbalances) and lead to vomiting.
• Eating less than usual helps to limit feelings of nausea and prevent vomiting. Try using a smaller plate at meals - this will make your plate appear full and trick your brain into thinking you're eating more than you actually are.

4. Limit your salt intake in order to control blood pressure. In the days before your treatment, reduce the amount of salt you use in cooking and avoid adding additional salt to pre-packaged foods. Check the labels on food products and avoid any with high sodium contents.

• Salt increases the amount of fluid in your system, as it attracts water from the blood. Consuming a lot of salt also raises your blood pressure.
• Dialysis, on the other hand, removes excess fluid from the system and causes your blood pressure to drop. This sudden loss of fluid and drop in blood pressure comes as a shock to the system, and increases the likelihood of headaches and vomiting.
• Therefore, reducing your salt intake helps to keep your blood pressure more stable.

5. Avoid taking any medications before the treatment, unless your doctor advises it. Avoid taking any medications in the 24 hour period before dialysis, unless your doctor tells you otherwise. This is especially important for patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.

• Most medications cause your blood pressure to decrease even further during dialysis, which makes headaches and vomiting worse.

6. Manage your stress levels to avoid increasing your blood pressure. It's important to manage your stress levels in the days coming up to a dialysis treatment. Stress leads to high blood pressure, which is best avoided during dialysis if you want to avoid headaches and vomiting.

• You can manage your stress levels by balancing your work life with relaxation and exercise. Try doing yoga or meditation and make an effort to get 30 minutes of exercise per day, even if it's just a brisk walk outdoors.
• You can also reduce stress by talking about any worries or fears you have with a trusted friend or family member. Seeing a therapist can also be helpful.

7. Stay away from coffee and other caffeinated beverages. Headaches often occur as a result of caffeine withdrawal. Therefore, it is important that you wean yourself off coffee and other caffeinated beverages in the days before the dialysis treatment, so you are not experiencing withdrawal headaches at the time of treatment.

B. During Each Dialysis Treatment

1. Take Tylenol to relieve headaches. Over-the-counter pain medication such as Tylenol (acetaminophen) can be taken during the dialysis treatment to alleviate headaches. One tablet can be taken immediately, then another can be taken several hours later if the headache returns. No more than three tablets should be taken in a 24 hour period.

2. Use Pepto-Bismol to reduce feelings of nausea. Pepto-Bismol is an over-the-counter medication used to alleviate nausea. It contains the active ingredient bismuth subsalicylate. It is available in liquid and chewable tablet form and should taken according to the instructions on the packaging.

3. Make sure your weight is taken correctly on the day of the treatment. The amount of fluid that is removed from the body during dialysis is determined by your body weight. The heavier the weight, the more fluids that are taken.

• If your weight is measured incorrectly, the dialysis machine may be set to remove too much fluid from your system, which leads to low blood pressure, vomiting and headaches.
• Make sure your weight is measured accurately be removing any heavy clothes or shoes before the weigh-in. Also ask the medical professional to ensure that the dialysis machine is set to the correct weight.

4. Ensure that your blood pressure levels remain stable. In order to avoid nausea and vomiting, it is essential that your blood pressure remains fairly stable during the dialysis treatment.

• If your blood pressure drops too low, you may be injected with a saline solution to raise your blood pressure and keep it stable.
• You may be injected with up to half a liter of saline over a 4 to 6 hour period throughout the treatment.

5. Lie with your feet elevated above your head during treatment. One simple measure you can take to avoid headaches and vomiting is to lie down with your feet elevated above your head during the dialysis treatment.

• This position increases blood flow to the brain and increases your blood pressure in general, helping to keep you stable.

6. Ask the medical personnel about the measures they are taking to prevent disequilibrium syndrome. Disequilibrium syndrome is a condition where the brain becomes swollen during dialysis due to increased fluid. This is one of the most common causes of headaches during dialysis.

• Medical staff can prevent disequilibrium syndrome from occurring by carefully monitoring the amount urea being removed from the body and by slowing the rate of blood flow if it appears to be moving too quickly.
• If disequilibrium syndrome occurs, the dialysis treatment may need to be terminated earlier than anticipates, however this depends on the condition of the patient and the amount of fluid that has already been removed.

7. Ask your doctor for stronger medications to prevent vomiting. If the nausea and vomiting persist, you may be able to ask your doctor for an injection of a stronger medication that will stop the vomiting. The most common medications used in these circumstances include.

• Meclizine hydrochloride
• Dimenhydrinate
• Emetrol

Source : www.wikihow.com

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