Here’s a really good posting about consuming alcohol for kidney patients from the Renal Support Network. Read it here.
I find that it’s not the alcohol that I have to worry about, it’s the mixers. Fortunately I enjoy Vodka Gimlets that are mostly vodka and an ounce of Sweetened Lime Juice. And, I really enjoy single malt Scotch all by itself. I have a bottle of 25 year old Macallan that I’ve been working on for about 10 years.
The key to most of the holiday issues is Fluid Control. I posted about this in “Dialysis and Fluid Control“. Use small cups or glasses when you drink. It’ll seem like more but you don’t consume as much.
Also, watch the Phosphorus and Potassium! I skipped the mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving. Instead I stared at them like a teenage boy at his first center-fold. As much as I wanted some, I passed. Small success! It wasn’t easy. And pass on the nuts. The phosphorus content is just too much. Take your binders with you at all times. This time of year everyone is eating everywhere and all the time. Be prepared.
But this is supposed to be about drinking, right? Watch the ounces.
DevonTexas © 2012
About DevonTexas
I am a person with ESRD (End Stage Renal Disease) which means my kidneys don't work. Forty or so years ago that would have been a death sentence but today there is Dialysis which means I could be hooked up to a machine that would clean my blood as the kidneys should. Three days a week, I went to a dialysis center and had too very large needles stuck in my arm to remove and replace my blood as it passed through a process where it was cleaned and the fluid was removed, a process taking a little over four hours each time.
In November 2017, I received a kidney transplant from a deceased donor. My life went into overdrive. With a "new" functioning kidney, I no longer had to go to a dialysis center and my days were not open to be lived rather than recovering from dialysis which meant dialyzing for three days and resting for 4 days a week. I work full-time and often 50 hours per week. It is something I never imagined. I highly recommend it! HeeHee
I want to advance knowledge about dialysis and transplant so that others can learn from my experience and mistakes. We shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel, eh? There is so much to be learned and experienced about our predicament. There are vast resources available to support us and enrich our lives but many patients don't know about them. There are also many issues that we have to deal with whether we want to or not. So I blog about them in www.DevonTexas.com
All comments are confidential until I approve them. If you don't want your comment public, let me know and I will respect that. So, feel free to leave a comment.
I also blog in LegacyTales in WordPress if you are interested in the ramblings of a Old Man. Give a peek and let me know what you think. https://legacytales.wordpress.com/
Enjoy.
DevonTexas 
Heh. I’m with you, skip the mixers altogether. My go-to drink of choice when out in public is an old school 7 & 7. At home however, I’ll sip on a shot of legal moonshine or good vodka.
How often do I do this? About once every two months. 🙂
Probaly as rarely as that for me too . Depends on the weather. I really enjoy Happy Hour on the veranda with my pets.
I really am not a drinker in the first place, but have read many articles that are against drinking while on dialysis at all. There is a woman in my unit who comes in a 6:30 in the morning with the smell and evident behavior of having way too much to drink. Sometimes her dialysis is not so good. To each his own, I say. But for me I would have to start and it isn’t worth it to me.
Reblogged this on THE NONO SLEEVE and commented:
What is your opinion of drinking while on dialysis? Seems to be the question of the month. Being a non-drinker I have to say to each his own. But I personally don’t see any advantage to it.
The short discussions I’ve had with the doc about this are basically that moderate drinking is not a problem for dialysis patients. As I mention in the blog, it’s not the alcohol as much as the mixers. And beer is a definite “no-no” (like the sleeve, heehee). However, I do drink a beer now and then. Something in it puts my to sleep. When I have difficulty getting to sleep I take a few sips of a short (7.5 can) beer. Sometimes I wake up with most of it still left. It only takes a little!
HI Devon Taxas, My mum is just about to start on dialysis. She has been given the ok so far to have alcohol, so will have a drink half beer half water. Why is beer a no no?
Beer contains phosphorus as I understand. Here in the US we have 1/2 cans that contain about 6 ounce. I have one occasionally. Take a couple binders with it and it should be okay to have one beer with water. It may take some getting used to for her. Perhaps if you start off with 1/4 water and the gradually increase to 1/2?
I Know how it feels living life with dialysis. Since 2 years I am on dialysis and had some complications in between because of uncontrollable blood pressure 240/140. I had brain seizures in two occasions. So, here main thing is not about drinking or whatever rather we need to keep eye on the things that can lead us to my kind of disaster. I nearly died as the pressure reached up to my brain and became unconscious for about a month. The blood pressure is triggered with food we take that are high is sodium and some what with potassium as well. Drinking alcohol is not so bad and not really good either but if one really need to consume then he/she can have it considering the chemical (Potassium, Phosphate and sodium) contains like in white wine, vodka, gin, scotch; they are very low in those minerals which are low in what we need to control. Just about the fluid intake does matter, if one starts drinking there can be enormous units results huge fluid to wash out. That can give us with headache, dizziness and weakness. So, I am not that much of expertise but as I experienced, that is what I am writing. Any comments are warmly welcomed and Wish you all the best and keep safe. God bless you all.