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Weaning off of immunosuppressants w/ Liver Transplant

Transplants | Last Active: Oct 24, 2020 | Replies (13)

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@danab

@bosco17 Hi and Welcome to Connect. My transplant was a Heart and not a liver but I would not advise lowering your meds without your Doctor's ok. I can tell you it is possible to either change meds or reduce meds but i would be concerned if done and you end up rejecting. I did last year go thru some GI issues with cdiff, Intestine tear i think they called it plus Parvo-B19 and a virus in my lungs at the same time. Because the the parvo was causing my blood counts to be low they took me off one of my immosupprests and lowered the other. This was to allow my immune system to help with the viruses. But i was in the hospital at the time monitoring my level of Tacrolinus (the only one i was on) to insure it didn't get to low. And also as a note i have never had any rejection issues in the 1.5 years out at the time
Now a year later i am still only on one but it was monitored very close since then. I also get a infusion each month of previgen to keep the viruses at bay.
Sorry for the long responce but I just wanted you to see the background and why they lowered it. So my point was it is possible but not ideal and done under close supervision. I also would add there are many treatments for GI issues, for my cdiff which can come back they have me on antibiotics and i also take probiotics to insure good gut health. I can relate to having a GI issue and its not fun. But now a year later it is a memory. I would definitely bring your concerns to you team for at least if it was at a Mayo Clinic they are great about follow-up care after a transplant. Keep us updated and please ask any questions you may have.
Have a Blessed Day
Dana

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Replies to "@bosco17 Hi and Welcome to Connect. My transplant was a Heart and not a liver but..."

Dana - well said! Certainly situations like yours with a virus can call for doctor's to change immune suppressant meds short term in order to fight something off but it's only advisable under close watch! I'm also fairly sure that if you reject an organ due to non- compliance with meds it can hurt your chances of qualifying for another organ in the future.