Headache And Itchiness In Kidney Dialysis Patients

Headache and skin itchiness are very common among end stage renal disease patients. What is more annoying, these discomforts can not be cured with dialysis because they often continue to bother the patients while they begin dialysis treatment.

Headache and kidney dialysis

Many kidney dialysis patients suffer from headache and in some conditions it may become unbearable. Headache can be due to dialysis disequilibrium syndrome or dialysis encephalopathy. Another cause is sleep problem which is very common in dialysis. Patients on dialysis often suffer from restless leg syndrome and this will significantly affect their sleep quality during nights. And during the daytime, they will feel headache, depression, etc.

Fluctuating blood pressure can also be one cause of headache. Renal parenchymal lesions or vascular lesions often cause patients to have elevated blood pressure. While during dialysis low blood pressure may develop due to rapid ultrafiltration. Unstable blood pressure often make patients to have headache and other discomforts.

Itchiness and kidney dialysis

Many renal failure patients on dialysis complain about dry and itching skin. This may be due to accumulation of toxins or electrolytes in the blood that can not be efficiently removed by dialysis. High phosphorus level in the blood is one cause of itchiness, low-phosphorus foods and phosphorus binder can help alleviate itchy skin symptom.

Some moisturizing creams and antihistamine medicines are also helpful.

Another important cause of headache and skin itchiness is the continuous decline of kidney functions because dialysis can not reverse renal damages or illness progression. The residual renal functioning units will cease to work when patients become dependent on dialysis. Therefore it is very important to seek more effective treatment to help recover certain kidney functions or at least protect residual kidney functions and prevent further worsening of kidney damages.

Besides headache and itchy skin, dialysis can bring a lot of unfavorable side effects and complications to the patients such as muscle cramps, low blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, acquired renal cysts, arrhythmia or even heart failure, etc.

Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy can be combined with dialysis to help reduce its side effects, gradually recover kidney functions and reduce the frequency of dialysis.