Does anyone know the effect of alcohol on a trnasplanted kidney?
Should you be wary of what and how much you drink??
Transplant & Alcohol
Moderator: administrator
Alcohal
Not sure how far out you are from your transplant, but I am about ten weeks out. And I still can't really drink alcohal pain-free. Meaning, my face flushes completely red, and painfully so, like there are little knives slashing my face, the red is very noticeable, and it's very, very hot.
I never flushed before my transplant. My doctor said it should be fine to have an occasional drink, which is all I've ever had to drink throughout my adult life. I'm not much of a drinker, but i enjoy red wine with a steak, and to have an occasional drink when socializing, all of which was to be fine to do.
However, my doc suggested not having the alcohal close to the time of my medication, which is a challenge since I take my meds at nine pm. But I had a glass of wine this past weekend, and after the flushing left, and I had some food, it was okay with that one glass.
As a general guideliine, I wouldn't personally suggest drinking with any regularity. There's not much of anything in it that's good for you per se, and it's known to interact with medications. I found that the lower dose I am on, the less I flush or have a painful face. That said, I am no where near my maintenance dose of of medication. So I would suggest asking your doctor what his thoughts are. And realize too that every doc is different.
I think an occasional drink, re: special occasions, is fine. Anything more, personally, why risk it. We got a gift, don't want to lose it.
I never flushed before my transplant. My doctor said it should be fine to have an occasional drink, which is all I've ever had to drink throughout my adult life. I'm not much of a drinker, but i enjoy red wine with a steak, and to have an occasional drink when socializing, all of which was to be fine to do.
However, my doc suggested not having the alcohal close to the time of my medication, which is a challenge since I take my meds at nine pm. But I had a glass of wine this past weekend, and after the flushing left, and I had some food, it was okay with that one glass.
As a general guideliine, I wouldn't personally suggest drinking with any regularity. There's not much of anything in it that's good for you per se, and it's known to interact with medications. I found that the lower dose I am on, the less I flush or have a painful face. That said, I am no where near my maintenance dose of of medication. So I would suggest asking your doctor what his thoughts are. And realize too that every doc is different.
I think an occasional drink, re: special occasions, is fine. Anything more, personally, why risk it. We got a gift, don't want to lose it.
Hi,
I was quite well advised on the alcohol issue, so I hope that the benefit of my experience will help you and others if they need to know.
Basically, I was told to consume alcohol "in moderation and sensibly". I know this may sound misleading, as I guess, ALL people should consume alcohol like that (although in this day and age it doesn't and certainly will never happen). My consultant then went onto explain that, particularly those patients who take a lot of their anti-rejection medicines in the evenings, should try to cut down or avoid alcohol, as it can interact with the drugs.
From my experience I think it is quite true, though some might choose to say it's coincidence, but I seem to notice a change in my urine output if I drink maybe 3-4 pints of beer (that is quite rare for me now, if at all) and I go a few hours maybe 7-8 hours, without passing water again. Now that doesn't automatically mean that my kidney function is deteriorating any, it's just a change that I have picked up on once or twice.
I might also add that I have had hangovers even when having only maybe 1-2 units of alcohol, so I try to keep away from it.
On the other side of it, I was advised that I should try and keep fluids up whilst I was out, as I did say that I drunk mostly water whilst I was out. (Around the time I spent a bit of time in nightclubs) but not to drink just water, maybe add in some other soft drink such as Coca-Cola or indeed 1-2 units of alcohol.
So in my opnion and from my experience, I do think the alcohol will affect the way in which your drugs work, not necessarily kidney function itself (although I might add if the consumption of alcohol is without moderation then you might give yourelf problems).
Hope this helps.
Steve
I was quite well advised on the alcohol issue, so I hope that the benefit of my experience will help you and others if they need to know.
Basically, I was told to consume alcohol "in moderation and sensibly". I know this may sound misleading, as I guess, ALL people should consume alcohol like that (although in this day and age it doesn't and certainly will never happen). My consultant then went onto explain that, particularly those patients who take a lot of their anti-rejection medicines in the evenings, should try to cut down or avoid alcohol, as it can interact with the drugs.
From my experience I think it is quite true, though some might choose to say it's coincidence, but I seem to notice a change in my urine output if I drink maybe 3-4 pints of beer (that is quite rare for me now, if at all) and I go a few hours maybe 7-8 hours, without passing water again. Now that doesn't automatically mean that my kidney function is deteriorating any, it's just a change that I have picked up on once or twice.
I might also add that I have had hangovers even when having only maybe 1-2 units of alcohol, so I try to keep away from it.
On the other side of it, I was advised that I should try and keep fluids up whilst I was out, as I did say that I drunk mostly water whilst I was out. (Around the time I spent a bit of time in nightclubs) but not to drink just water, maybe add in some other soft drink such as Coca-Cola or indeed 1-2 units of alcohol.
So in my opnion and from my experience, I do think the alcohol will affect the way in which your drugs work, not necessarily kidney function itself (although I might add if the consumption of alcohol is without moderation then you might give yourelf problems).
Hope this helps.
Steve
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alcohol
Hi, I was told that it was ok to drink alcohol in moderation since alcohol is metabolised by the liver and not the kidneys. Must admit that I sometimes used to drink more than I should do. My transplant lasted 10 years and it was chronic rejection that saw it out, not bad as the average for a kidney transplant is 8 - 10 years. I was told that the worst damage occurs long before there are marked changes to lab results, in the early days of my transplant I didn't drink much alcohol and biopsy revealed damage due to cyclosporine toxicity. Amanda
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Can't put it any better than what Steve has said.. the main threat from alcahol to your kidney is through dehydration and impairment of your judgement (eg you might forget to take meds, do something you might not normally) etc..
Otherwise its fine, just be sensible..
J
Otherwise its fine, just be sensible..
J
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