Why after Dialysis blood presure still high?
Patients with end-stage kidney disease on dialysis have volume overload as their kidneys can’t take the fluid (water) off, thus the blood pressure is high. Besides, many changes happen in the body once the kidneys are shut down. For example, calcium and phosphate levels are messed up. They may form complexes and deposit in the wall of the blood vessels making them stiffer, which can contribute to the elevated blood pressure. Also, patients on dialysis have low hemoglobin (have anemia). Sometimes, they receive shots (called epo shots) to stimulate the bone marrow to make more red blood cells. The epo shots can contribute to elevated blood pressure. After all, the patient hasn’t reached the point where he/she’d need dialysis unless there’s a medical problem that hasn’t been controlled – mostly diabetes and hypertension. So the patient already has some problems with blood pressure. That’s why many of the dialysis patients are on many blood pressure medications.