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There’s no getting around it – dialysis will take a significant chunk of time out of your week. For most people, dialysis takes several hours, up to around three times a week.
However, how long your dialysis takes may vary, depending on your personal circumstances, method of dialysis, and your kidney health.
The average dialysis period is between 3 and 5 hours. This will need to be repeated around 3 times a week. So, your dialysis will take between 9 to 15 hours every week.
Your doctor will work with you to determine how often you need dialysis and how long it should last. This might change as your treatment continues. Dialysis times can always be adjusted if necessary.
Dialysis treatments at a dialysis center take between 3-5 hours, 3 times a week. However, if you have dialysis at home, you may have 2-3 hour treatments up to 6 or 7 times a week.
Nocturnal dialysis is a way of getting your blood filtered while you sleep. The frequency of this kind of dialysis will depend on your health, but nocturnal dialysis can be spread out over around 8 hours, while you sleep.
Just because the average dialysis time is 9-15 hours a week doesn’t mean that’s the exact period you’ll spend hooked up to a dialysis machine. Certain factors and lifestyle choices can slow down or speed up the dialysis process.
For example, if you have better kidney function than some other dialysis patients, your kidneys may be able to do some blood filtering on their own, the process may not take as long.
On the other hand, those with very poor kidney function will spend longer on dialysis. You can also slow down dialysis times by not sticking to your dialysis diet.
You’ll be given a diet by your doctor and/or nutritionist. This diet will include foods to cut down on or avoid altogether, as well as a maximum daily fluid intake. If you don’t stick to your diet, you could fill your body with too much fluid and toxins. Since your kidneys aren’t able to filter the fluid from your blood, the fluid and toxins can start to build up in your body.
This can be serious. In fact, this buildup can be fatal if not dealt with – that’s why dialysis is necessary in the first place. To counteract a poor or unbalanced diet, you’ll need to spend longer on a dialysis machine.
Essentially, dialysis is a necessary but boring procedure. In fact, once you’re hooked up to a dialysis machine, you’ll find yourself with several hours to kill.
If you have dialysis in a dialysis center, it’s a good idea to bring along something to do. You could read a book, sort your mail, write in a journal, or just nap. Dialysis centers may have something for their patients to do while they wait, like crosswords, puzzles, or TV. However, it’s always a good idea to make the best of your time – especially if you’re spending 9-15 hours a week at a dialysis center.
At-home dialysis is usually preferable, as it allows you to have dialysis in the comfort of your own home (where Netflix and the TV are readily available!).
Nocturnal dialysis is even better – you can just sleep as usual while the procedure goes on.
