What does HD feel like?
How an HD treatment feels has a lot to do with how much water must be removed. The treatments themselves are painless. But if there is a lot of water to remove, painful cramps, headaches, faintness, nausea, shortness of breath, and other problems can occur. This is why it is so vital to follow prescribed salt and fluid limits.
Needles are a big worry for many patients. Some people get used to the needles in time. Others ask for skin-numbing products—like EMLA® cream or liquid lidocaine—to "freeze" the skin. And others find that it hurts less when they learn to put in their own needles.
Most people who do HD receive their treatments at a clinic. In-center HD is so common that many people think it is the only kind of dialysis. It's not. There are other options.
What is HD Treatment Like?
Here is what a couple of people on HD say about their treatments:
"Sometimes I do feel tired after a treatment but, for me, not nearly as tired as I was before I started dialysis! That's really the only after-effect. The needles hurt some going in, but once you're over the treatment, you're over it until the next time." –Robin
"After my first dialysis treatment I felt wonderful. I'd been pretty ill before starting (uremic—my blood was full of toxins, swollen from fluid, I was coughing a lot from water in my lungs, and I had no energy at all). But after the first treatment most of those symptoms were gone." –Barney
