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Joint Pain after Organ Transplant

Transplants | Last Active: Oct 9 8:39am | Replies (85)
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@tylererinm

Hello,
I had a liver transplant in late June 2023 and in early September started experiencing severe joint pain and stiffness. My legs, arms, shoulders, fingers and wrists primarily. This started around my last prednisone taper and has continued since I stopped the prednisone altogether. It’s worse in the morning. I have mentioned this to my transplant team but haven’t gotten any solid answers. I’m hopeful it’s medication related somehow and will just go away over time. Has anyone had the same issue and it’s gone away on its own eventually? Thank you!

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Replies to "Hello, I had a liver transplant in late June 2023 and in early September started experiencing..."
grateful76 | @grateful76 | Nov 8, 2023

Thank you so much for your post. My liver transplant was in January 2023 and have been also experiencing a severe joint pain mostly in my upper body: shoulders, fingers, I can’t make a fist with my left hand, can not raise my arms., etc…

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Rosemary, Volunteer Mentor | @rosemarya | Nov 8, 2023

@tylererinm, Welcome to Connect and Congratulations on your liver transplant in June!
I'm a liver and kidney transplant recipient. I has both organs at same time from the same deceased donor. I was prescribed prednisone when I transplanted, and it was reduced over the weeks/months after my transplant. However, I did continue to take a lower dose for a long time afterwards. The research , at that time, showed that with my medical history and double organ transplant that it was best for me to do so. I don't remember any joint pain as you have mentioned. However, years later (I transplanted in 2009) I was approved to be taken off the prednisone. I needed a longer taper than one of my transplant doctors had suggested because that is when I did have painful joints and swelling in my fingers similar to your description. My transplant nurse and my local PCP helped my to go more slowly, My reaction could have been because I had taken a low dose for 4-5 years. Anyway the slower taper worked for me. We are each different, and our bodies respond differently, but I wanted to mention it to you just in case it is something that you might want to discuss with your own doctor or pharmacist.

Overall, How is your recovery going?

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