← Return to Joint Pain after Organ Transplant

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Joint Pain after Organ Transplant

Transplants | Last Active: Apr 18 1:25pm | Replies (79)

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@rosemarya

@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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Replies to "@tylererinm, Welcome to Connect and Congratulations on your liver transplant in June! I'm a liver and..."

Thank you for the info
I would say my recovery is going pretty well overall. I have had minor issues here and there but nothing very serious and I was able to return to work full time 10 weeks after my transplant.
At this point I believe this pain is either CIPS from the tacrolimus or withdrawal from prednisone. And if it’s prednisone withdrawal I would rather deal with this pain than go back on prednisone even at a small dose. I was on a very high dose of prednisone for over a year and have no intentions of introducing it back into my system.
This forum has been very helpful- just to see that I’m not the only one experiencing this pain and it’s likely somehow medication related.