Starting Treatment

The weeks and days just before you start treatment are likely to be the worst you’ll feel, both emotionally and physically. Wastes in your blood are at their peak, so your thinking may be fuzzy and you may feel like you have the flu. You don’t yet know what to expect from hemodialysis, which can be scary and raise anxiety.

Once you start treatment, you’ll begin to feel better—and more hopeful about the future. It may take a few weeks, but as the wastes and extra fluid are cleared from your blood, the swelling will go down, food will start to taste normal again, and you may realize just how bad you were feeling before.