What helps with diarrhea & nausea after kidney transplant?

@sarahdemare04 I had diarrhea like that after my liver transplant. My PCP recommended Nature's Bounty Probiotic 10 and my NY Presbyterian liver care team gave me the green light. It helped me end the chronic diarrhea. I would recommend you consult with his care team and make sure it's ok with them.

Best regards,
Jim

I had/have similar issues sometimes after my liver transplant and they taking my gallbladder out. I heard of Nature's Bounty Probiotic 10 elsewhere as being rally good. Don't recall if it was on this blog or where ? But I asked my Mayo care team if I could take it and they said no..... It very well could be some reason specific to me..... I don't recall the exact reason. It sounds like it works well in general. I would follow Jims very good advice and if your care team oks it then go for it. But it's possible they may not. Best of luck.

This was the rationale for my situation taking Tacrolimus:

Tacrolimus alters gut bacteria composition—often decreasing helpful species like Bifidobacterium and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii while increasing harmful pathobionts—which can cause gut imbalance (dysbiosis).

I still take the probiotic daily and diarrhea is a rare occurrence for me. Again, please don't do anything without checking with his care team.

@colleenyoung Thank you so much for checking in! He definitely has good days and less than good days, but he seems to be making steady progress. He started taking some Imodium for the diarrhea. It has helped, but he is still sore. Overall, he is doing as well as I could have ever hoped. I think the mental toll it's taking right now is a little much. He lives with my mom and his former college roommate. And people don't always get how careful they need to be around him with his immune system. If anyone has any tips about that, I would really appreciate it. He just feels like he wants to live his life as normally as possible, but he also does not want to compromise his immune system in any way. Thanks again for checking in. This has been the most helpful group I have ever been a part of. As a caretaker, it has been an emotional rollercoaster. And this has been a wonderful outlet. Thank you to you, Colleen, and to everyone.

@craigcraig Thank you so much. They actually said no to any probiotics. My father used to take probiotics, but not anymore. But Imodium seems to be helping. Thank you so much again.

@sarahdemare04 A little hope ? Both Mayo and my local docs said that over time my immune system could get stronger and it be ok. Over 2 years my TAC dosage has gone from 4 mg a day (2 am, 2 pm) to 1 mg a day (.5 am, .5 pm). But my monthly blood tests have been great. Maybe your dad too over time ? Wishing you guys the very best. (---:

You could ask his doctor for a lab test for C-Diff. C-Diff will cause diarrhea. You can catch this in the hospital & especially in ICU if you are on antibiotics & anti-rejection drugs. You could get a specimen container at the lab, collect the specimen & then return the specimen to the lab. My nausea went away after 3-4 months. I had a kidney/liver transplant. They decreased my Myfortic to help the nausea but it didn't really help. It just went away on its own. Good Luck!

I had a kidney/liver transplant 1 yr & 3mo ago. I'm 71 yrs old. I had tremors before & after surgery. It just took time to ago away. I think it was about 6-9 mo. before they went away. Now I don't have any hand tremors. I had trouble with the taste of food. Nothing tasted right & I had no appetite with the nausea. I couldn't even look at TV commercials with food or I would get nauseated. This lasted 3-4 months. Just like the tremors it just went away on it's own one day. I started feeling better in 3 month intervals. Every 3 months your father will start feeling better & more like himself. It just takes time to recover from such a big surgery! Stay strong! Good Luck to your father, he will improve with time!

Thank you all again for your helpful and kind words. Things seem to be progressing. He has to get his stent out soon which is our next hurdle. Any advice? He is very nervous because he needs to get a kidney stone taken out and then he can get his stent out. Thanks again. So much appreciation for this community.

Hello,
I'm a little late to the game but thought I would share some things that helped me with nausea/diarrhea. I had my kidney transplant 6 years ago.
1) Time - as meds come down, side-effect lessen
2) At one point they lowered my Mecophenolic Acid dosage
3) I eat 1 yogurt a day and put fermented onions, pickles or saurkraut on my sandwich each day. The probiotics and fermented foods keep gut health, while meds mess them up:)
Sending prayers for feeling better soon!