Transplant anti-rejection medications. What's your advice?

This is why I love this group, you all validate things I thought were my own quirks! We can gripe to our doctors and nurses but they just read about side effects where we all live side effects. I don't get up so much at night as I did when I was first transplanted but I notice how frequently I need to "go" after taking my evening meds. My husband and I typically watch TV in the evenings and I have him pause our shows every 40 mins to use the bathroom after taking my meds. I always thought it was just me but I guess not. I also find myself much more thirsty after taking meds and I wouldn't ever want to restrict my liquids.

Jump to this post

Hair loss! One of my first side-effects showed up just days after being released from the hospital when I noticed gobs of hair falling out in the shower. I was so grateful for the new kidney and it seemed petty to care about my hair but I worried if it would never stop. One of my doctors at Mayo Clinic theorized that my hair loss was caused from a combination of trauma to my body from surgery, being severely anemic and as a side-effect from one of my anti-rejection drugs. She prescribed Vitron C (an high-potency iron supplement with vitamin c) to treat the anemia but there was nothing else she could do. My hair continued to fall out to a lessening degree for the next two years until it finally rebounded. I will never have the same hair but it got better. I was recently told hair loss should be treated by a dermatologist which I think is interesting.

Jump to this post

@gaylea1
Wow! 1 mg of Tacrolimus every 12 hours, that is the lowest dose I have heard of! Is that because you were such a good match to your donor?

Jump to this post

I was told to stay out of the sun as much as possible after my transplant and put on tacrolimus. Hard to do when you like to fish and disobey the suggestion. I year post transplant I developed skin cancer on my cheek that was surgically removed. Nothing in the 10 years after that but now wear a big brimmed hat, long sleeves and >30 sunblock. No other noticable effects.

Jump to this post

Welcome to Connect, @gphetteplace
You have brought something up that I never knew but that may be affecting me also! I googled sirolimus and that too can cause nocturia. I take sirolimus as my immunosuppressant after a liver transplant and I also have nocturia. No one ever suggested that the immunosuppressant could cause that, I assumed it was just typical incontinence. I also find that even when I stop drinking early, the urine tends to come out during the night. One doctor offered an explanation for that -- when you are upright during the day the fluid goes down due to gravity but when you are prone it moves up within your body. Sounds plausible.
I have had Botox two times for incontinence and it has helped a little bit. Unfortunately having Botox for incontinence very often causes a UTI too and both times that has happened to me. The urogynecologist gave me an antibiotic to take for four days, starting with the day of the injections, to try to ward off a UTI but it didn't work, not too surprising since we are more prone to infections. I did not have any pain with the UTIs just a tingling. I wonder if that's because the Botox numbs the nerves, I plan to ask the urogynecologist about that.
I am 3.5 years beyond my transplant so if my incontinence is from sirolimus I would have to say it does not go away. It is possible though that mine is simple incontinence from other causes. I hope that yours will go away, I know too well how much getting up a lot at night affects you, it is very disruptive to your sleep. I often find I need a nap during the day.
JK

Jump to this post

I was told to stay out of the sun as much as possible after my transplant and put on tacrolimus. Hard to do when you like to fish and disobey the suggestion. I year post transplant I developed skin cancer on my cheek that was surgically removed. Nothing in the 10 years after that but now wear a big brimmed hat, long sleeves and >30 sunblock. No other noticable effects.

Jump to this post

I didn't have hair loss after my liver transplant or if I did I didn't notice it. My transplant was 4 years ago. I'm on 1mg tacrolimus twice a day and still no issues. I hope your hair loss issue subsides!!!

Jump to this post

I was told to stay out of the sun as much as possible after my transplant and put on tacrolimus. Hard to do when you like to fish and disobey the suggestion. I year post transplant I developed skin cancer on my cheek that was surgically removed. Nothing in the 10 years after that but now wear a big brimmed hat, long sleeves and >30 sunblock. No other noticable effects.

Jump to this post

@jerrynord You really learned the hard way that using sunscreen is imperative for us post-transplant patients on immunosuppressants. I really hate the feel of sunscreen on my skin so I just try to avoid the sun whenever possible, but do use sunscreen if I cannot avoid it. I'm glad you are now using sunscreen.
People often forget about their hands, but they are in the sun very frequently and there are hand creams with SPFs specifically for that reason. When we are driving our hands are in the sun, and in these days of frequent handwashing, it's more important than ever to reapply a hand cream with an SPF of at least 30. Supergoop and Eucerin both make good hand creams with SPFs of 40 and 30 respectively, and they do not have a feminine scent to them.

@kidsmomof9 I notice you have been on Connect for a while but I do not recall welcoming you before. If I didn't, please let me now.
I'm glad you are finding this discussion helpful. Do you think your incontinence is from childbirth or from your medications? Did you have it prior to being prescribed Cellcept and prednisone? That's one of the things I am trying to figure out, if the medications are contributing to my incontinence, or if it is just due to other factors.
JK

Jump to this post