beaches
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38251
posted
Hi all,
Would you mind answering some questions?
1. When a picc is inserted how soon afterwards can it be accessed?
2. If abx are pulsed 4 days on/3 days off how is the picc maintained on the off days? Is it flushed? With what? How many times a day?
3. Have you pulsed abx with your picc line? What was your experience?
Thanks!
Posts: 1885 | From here | Registered: Jul 2012
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Jane2904
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 15917
posted
Hi Beaches,
Hope this helps you:
1. I believe right away, our daughter's first infusion was the next morning after insertion only because we had to do the first infusion at Dr's office.
2. Our daughter's was flushed with heparin, once daily to maintain the line on off days.
3. One of her meds was done every other day and the line maintained on off days.
Hope this info helps you. Our daughter has only had one picc line, so maybe others will come along that have more experience.
Best of luck to you and I hope IV treatment goes well for you.
Posts: 1357 | From Massachusetts | Registered: Jun 2008
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beaches
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38251
posted
Hi Jane and thanks so much for the quick reply! Did you do saline flushes along with the heparin? How long is/was your daughter's picc in?
I hope she is feeling well.
Posts: 1885 | From here | Registered: Jul 2012
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gmb
Unregistered
posted
1. The facility that inserted my Picc gave me my first dose of Rocephin immediately following the procedure
2. I did just (1) Hep flush on each of my days off.
3. Initially I did Rocephin 1 times a day, then went to twice a day at four days on and three days off.
Had the same PICC for 16 months. Might have been a bit too long cause it was stubborn to come out.
posted
They started my infusion right after I got the PICC inserted. They did the first dose at the office, just in case of any reaction.
What you flush it with depends on the line. Previous ones that I've had required saline and heparin, now they only have me flushing with saline. Once a day, and I try to do it at around the same time I'd be running the meds.
The best results for me have been from doing IV antibiotics in conjunction with an oral antibiotic, it's what I'm doing now. I've been on Rocephin (which is 7 days a week) and Zithromax (which is 5 days on, 2 days off).
The zithro seemed to hit me harder, and the first week or two is pretty unpleasant. After that, it's just nice to have a few days a week that I don't have to worry about making time to do an infusion.
If you have PICC/IV questions, I just got my sixth line placed, so I'm getting pretty good at them Posts: 306 | From Brownsville, PA | Registered: Jul 2007
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Razzle
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 30398
posted
1. When a picc is inserted how soon afterwards can it be accessed?
Immediately. Usually the person who inserts the line flushes it to verify the line is functioning correctly.
2. If abx are pulsed 4 days on/3 days off how is the picc maintained on the off days? Is it flushed? With what? How many times a day?
Flushed yes - usually with just Heparin, and best if done at least once a day (they tell you it only needs to be done once a day, but if you have thick blood or tend to develop clots in the line, it may need to be done more often).
I personally find that the line stays in better shape with a saline flush done followed by the Heparin as lock flush on days I'm not using the line.
3. Have you pulsed abx with your picc line? What was your experience?
I've not pulsed abx before...I've had all the PICC lines I've had for the purpose of TPN and the use of abx was secondary to that...
-------------------- -Razzle Lyme IgM IGeneX Pos. 18+++, 23-25+, 30++, 31+, 34++, 39 IND, 83-93 IND; IgG IGeneX Neg. 30+, 39 IND; Mayo/CDC Pos. IgM 23+, 39+; IgG Mayo/CDC Neg. band 41+; Bart. (clinical dx; Fry Labs neg. for all coinfections), sx >30 yrs. Posts: 4166 | From WA | Registered: Feb 2011
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beaches
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38251
posted
Thank you so much gmb, ladycakes and razzle.
gmb, 16 months of a picc sounds like a good run. Are you better after that many months on the rocephin?
ladycakes, wow! 6 picc lines?? You are an expert for sure!
razzle, what do you mean by "heparin as lock flush?" And btw I hope you're doing better...
Posts: 1885 | From here | Registered: Jul 2012
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Carol in PA
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 5338
posted
If you have "thick blood" you may want to look into taking systemic enzymes.
It helps the antibiotic work better, as it reduces biofilm that coats bacteria, so that the white blood cells can find them and phage them.
Systemic enzymes reduce excess fibrin in the blood and should reduce the biofilm that forms on the PICC line. You would tend to have fewer clotting problems too.
Posts: 6947 | From Lancaster, PA | Registered: Feb 2004
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gmb
Unregistered
posted
Beaches,
It was actually 14 Months on Rocephin and the last 2 months on IV Doxycyline. This was in combo with other orals like Zith, Mepron, Bactrim and pulsing tindamax.
Yes, all of my arthritic Lyme sx resolved with IV and I felt much better. When I stopped IV I also weened off Mepron to try some Burhner herbals. Since then I've been in a Babs/neureo back-slide and searching to find a the right combo.
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