Question: My dad has been on dialysis for 2 years and has only recently been getting pounding headaches 1 hour into dialysis. He says they are pretty painful and it only occurs in his forehead and just to the right of the forehead. It does not make him sensitive to light, sound or any vision changes. He was in the hospital a month ago for a left leg amputation and while in the rehab unit, he had a seizure that we witnessed and it took him 2 days to wake up from it. The MRI showed Posterior Reversible Encepholopothy, caused by very high blood pressure. Luckily, he is almost 100% neurologically and memory regained. I bring that up because only after the seizure and PERS MRI result is when the headaches started on dialysis. He never had headaches before on dialysis prior to the seizure/headache. The doctors did not put him on any new medications after this and tylenol helps the headache greatly but it still bothers him, and I do not like him taking tylenol almost every day. He is on Metoprolol 50MG Extended Release 1x per day usually in the morning and his blood pressure is fairly controlled(usually in the 130's/70's) however sometimes it gets high during dialysis . I have an appointment with a neurologist in January, as that was the first available.
Any answers?

Thank You!

1. Usually blood pressure before dialysis is 140-150/70, 1st hour gets a little lower, 2nd hour around 140-150/70 and the end of dialysis gets high if the do a rinse back, if not it stays at the 140-150/70 range.
2. He goes 3x times a week for 3.5 hours each time.
3. He has been a diabetic for 20 years. His blood sugar has never been checked at the dialysis clinic, but I will have them do that next time. When I check it at night(sometimes when he has a headache), its almost always under 200.
4. He usually gains 1.2-1.5kilos between dialysis, although he has been urinating a little more then he used too.
5. I will ask them or have him ask them the next time he sees them.

Thank you doctor, I will talk to them about UF profiling. He spoke with the Neophrologist at the facility, and he prescribed him a new blood pressure medication because his blood pressure was getting high both before, during and after dialysis. He said the Metoprolol has a high chance of getting wiped out during dialysis, so he prescribed a drug that has less of a chance of that.

He has said to continue taking Metoprolol and also prescribed Nifedical 60mg before dialysis